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With all the emphasis on inflatable paddleboards these days, sometimes it’s nice to get back to basics and take a look at hardboards like ISLE Voyager SUP. In the world of hardboards, one type reigns supreme: wood boards.

With these sorts of iSUPs, we need to give a disclaimer before talking about their performance: this is not a performance board and is not designed for racing or anything of that sort. This is a board designed to be more of a means to an end. That being said, the changes this year do actually make for a better-performing iSUP.

In the paddleboard world, a 10’6 board is considered the standard size since it’s right in that Goldilocks zone — not too short, not too long. So, it makes perfect sense that the 2020 ISLE Pioneer is a board designed their truest all-around iSUP, would come in at that very standard length.

Right off the bat, we’ll start by saying that this board is designed for calm water. It’s too long and has too low a rocker to really help you in choppy conditions, let alone any sort of surf. Because of that, we would recommend only using it in calmer waters like in lakes or large ponds.

While not impossible, it can be difficult to find a decent iSUP for under $500. But if we’ve said it once, we said it a thousand times: paddleboarding shouldn’t be a sport just for people with money. We firmly believe that even if you need to save up a little bit, buying a quality iSUP shouldn’t send you to the poor house.

Since this board is extra wide and on the shorter side, it’s no surprise that it doesn’t come in at the top of our speed tests. So, we would say this is better for someone who just wants to get out on the water without too much fuss.

Since no board can be perfect for every purpose and person, there are specialty boards made like this Peak 10’ Yoga Fitness paddle board. Stability if the name of the game here, giving the user the ability to do what they want to do without easily falling into the water.

The Expedition is also a very comfortable board which is an important factor in a touring board since they’re designed to be used for multiple hours or even multiple days at a time. With the design of the board plus multiple available colors, no matter where you find yourself you can always be sure that you’ll have one of the sharpest looking SUPs in the water.