Quick little review...
I was coming back from Tassie on the boat the other night and happened to run into Matt from GSI. It was good to
see someone on the boat to hang out with and knock back about 20 x JD n Cokes.
Anyway, when we got off the boat Matt was kind enough to lend me the new 7'10" 7S Sup. I got to ride it that day
and then again on the weekend just past. Here's my views on this board.
Dimensions 7'10" x 31.5" x 4.5"
Initially the first surf I really struggled but after a few waves got the hang of it. (conditions were a sucky fast
perfect 3' to 4' glass). The second surf was again glassy but not as critical and only 1' to 2'.
PRO's
- Stability was fine without even a wobble and paddled out without any dramas.
- Catching waves was extremely easy, as easy as any 9'+ board I've surfed
- Speed on the wave was suprisingly fast
- Super loose, I got some backhand corkers and the board felt great. A couple of tail slides on the forehand.
- Weight is very good for a production board
- Strength feels fine and priced very well
CON's
- Width made it hard to really get it on it's rail at times on the bigger sets, hence the tail slides.
- A couple times the rail struggled to hold in steeper faces possibly due to width and thickness
- You need to get back on the tail to make it turn hard and then get weight forward to keep it moving
- Lacks a little glide compared to longer narrower boards
Overall a great fun little board, ideal for smaller waves in the 1' to 3' range or the fatter 4'ers. Paddles really well,
catches waves easy and very loose and stable. It would probably suit a slightly taller/heavier guy than me so they
can really tip it over and carve a turn. I would imagine it would be a great top to bottom board for the heavier guy.
For me it would probably go a bit better if it was 1' narrower and 1/2" thinner. But it's definately an affordable well
rounded short board.
I forgot to mention, the 7S Ubersmooth was designed by our very own Rod Hocker who
we'd all know from Surfshapes custom SUP's.
No wonder it goes real good!
I just had a ride on the 7'10" and was surprised by it's float. I have done next to no SUPing the last couple of months and am around 98kg. The waves were too small and straight to get any real rides but I agree it would be fun in a small to medium cruisey wave. No issue with stability and liked the way you could push the nose down the wave face when trying to get on without much feet movement, just leaning forward more. Looking forward to using a bit more.
Wow thats a lot of float for a board that size. What's the cost ..do you know?
The board isn't on GSI website either when was it released just out of interest?
I think it might be officially due for release in August and I think the price tag is $1495.
I would be interested to know it's volume.
This one can de demo'ed at Longboards Scarborough if anyone wants to take it for a spin.
Thanks, was just making my final list of boards i like and from there will discount what i cant ride.
But still at this stage its the new naish or finatic 9
Just had a go on the ubersmooth and was pleasantly surprised with how much float the tiny board has! I'm 95kgs and it floated me just fine.
The conditions were crap, strong cross offshore and very small with no power. I have read all of the reviews for the smaller boards and used this to aid me catching my first few ripples...worked a treat wow what a fun little board it is!
I'm not sure but the deckpad may have been changed since the uberfish as it felt as if it had more grip?. The board is very light compared to every other board i've used and although it doesn't feel as bomb proof as the sub vectors (c4) I think its construction is fine after my one outing in small conditions. Anyway thumbs up from me
He has a C4 10 subvector as well as this, looks like a nice board for out conditions?? But i hope the construction is upto it GSI
Better conditions where you are, You waiting on a storm to stir up some white water
How about some photos there kagey?? Just the board not your mug
I dont red thumb mate, thats a ozie thing
Nice board, is that a crack i see Hows it holding up I can see you on that full time and the c4 taking a back steep
Its the light bouncing off it mate not a crack but I can see what you mean. Just praying for some swell cos I'm champing at the bit to get out.
That board looks great, 7'10 seems short i don't know much about them but does it paddle ok with you being 95kgs?
It depends on what you mean by paddles well? and I can only tell you what I was able to ascertain from one paddle;
It is stable for my weight there was deck wash to the rear of the board but my feet were out of the water and so was the rest of the deck. I had to change hands paddling far more than my 10' sv but 1) I don't think i'm that good at paddling and 2) I would have thought this would be the case on such a short board.
I received some advice from Bnaccas re catching waves and also remembered Casso's report on the 7'9" Naish (think its 7'9"?) so slightly more sideways on when going for a wave and as Bnaccas pointed out, walk to the nose (why its waxed) to add that little bit extra length to aid catching the wave. I do this with other boards but probably wouldn't have considered trying it with this smaller board so was grateful of the advice.
When on the wave (and I have to point out they were pathetic little waves I was on) there was a little glide but the difference was that it was so loose and maneuverable. I had an hour on it and to be fair could've stayed for another hour even in the crappy conditions.
First impressions of the board are very positive, there's no swell here for the next week so I will have to wait to take it out in better conditions.
Hey guys thanks for the in-depth coverage on this board. I have been supping for just over a year now, i have a 10'10 Bic Jungle and am looking at downsizing onto something much more surf oriented (and easier to cart around!) heading back into summer. The first time i tried supping (demo-ing the Bic before pruchase) i also had a go on the shop owners Uberfish and really enjoyed it and found it quite easy even being my first time supping, so im hoping that this board will be right up my alley. I like epoxy cos im quite clumsy and knock my boards about a bit and also the price tag. The width and volume sounds like it will be stable enough for me, being a female i weigh considerably less than the guys that have tested, so im excited to read more about how it goes and hopefully demo on one in the coming months.
With maybe 3 weeks of experience on a SUP Boarder Paul I guess you are well qualified to give people advice and comment on board performance.
YEh thanks for the tip. Im gunna try as many as i can before i buy - a very expensive mistake otherwise. I'm gunna go chat to the guy at the shop anyways as he is very knowledgeable and experienced and will be able to point me in the right direction.
Happily SUPrised to here its one of Rod,s shapes I have know him for a few years through kiteboarding then SUP, I have e-mailed him questions about how and why some thinks work on boards and some do not. Or questions about working with Epoxy and Glass resins, He has always been very helpful and has a huge amount of experence shaping (SUP, Kiteboards,Sailboards and surfboards) He showed me a SUP he had made that was 8'10 about 2 years ago when the Naish 9'6 was considered small, I hope he does well!!
Rod
Have just come back in from a good 4 hour session on the little board, very pleased to say the least. Ok it was only 1ft but a clean offshore waist high day so can't really grumble.
The board paddles well I have adopted the bow stroke and its surprisingly fast getting out to the line up but does require a little exertion of energy. It rides over the white wash every bit as easy as much larger boards and once you get used to this little board it is fairly easy to catch waves. That said the margin for error on setting up for a wave is a lot narrower as the board is less forgiving than larger boards but hey there's always room for improvement.
I managed to hang a few 5's which was fun and the board is so easy to throw around.
Really pleased with the purchase and although the construction is not that of c4 its still good.
Took the little fella out again yesterday at small Scab's and surprisingly fun. Don't forget you can demo this badboy at Longboards Scarborough.