Naish 9'3" - Review + Video + Photos

Warriewood Beach
31 Dec 08

Conditions: Light off-shore wind. Full, waist high waves.

Ever since I had seen some photos and a bit of video of the new Naish 9'3" in action, I had been stinging to get on one. Then the big day finally arrived. Sam from WindSurfnSnow had a demo board for me to try and he said I could have it for a couple of days. Unreal.

One word: Yoooue.

The board is: 9'3" x 29.25" x 4.5".

Sam was sick of everyone borrowing his own 9'3" all the time so he unwrapped another one and put it in his demo fleet. A win for me as I'd be able to get a couple of surfs on it before handing it back and I wouldn't feel guilty about inhibiting Sam from using his beloved board.

When I went to pick it up from the shop, I was surprised by the shape (it was the first time I had seen it in the flesh). I picked up a Naish brochure and compared the pic that they had been teasing us with for what seems like months. I thought the pic in the brochure (same as on the website) was cool and it looked like the board would go great. The board in front of my eyes was another thing again. This thing just looks all time. Just like an oversized version of one of my standard shortboards - in every detail, from the plan shape to the rails to the rocker. Wow. If this board surfs as good as it looks, Naish are onto a winner here.

I had been hesitant about how unstable it was going to be with my 88kgs but some of the mini reviews I had read around the place indicated that I wouldn't have any problems. They were right. Sure, it's more wobbly than my 11' Oxbow but it is one of the most stable sub 10 foot boards I have stood on. My first paddle out was a breeze. A combination of the great stability, fairly full little waves and that pulled in nose piercing through and popping over waves had me out the back in no time, with dry hair and minimal death wobbles. Waiting out the back was easy too. I tried the old look back over the shoulder trick which can often make me come unstuck on a little board - no problems with the Naish 9'3".

So I'm out the back feeling very impressed with the board so far, now let's get a wave and see how this baby Naish really performs. I think I can say that the first wave I got was the best first wave that I had ever got on a board I had never ridden before. Two re-entries, a decent little cutback and then another reo on the close-out. All in complete control as if I had been riding this board for ages. I amazed myself - it was just too easy. This board rocks and I had only caught one wave.

You ride this board like a regular shortboard. Not a lot of foot movements up and down the board, just keep in the sweet spot and push it hard - off the bottom and the top. I still managed to do a few (longboard style) drop-knee cutbacks around the paddle and soul-arch bottom turns but the turns I loved the most were those really leaning-it-over type turns where you just grind out a nice arc on the face of the wave.

Coming off the top during re-entries and floaters is where that pulled in nose with plenty of nose lift really comes into play. You don't ever feel like nose diving, even on the most critical of waves, forehand or backhand. Another reason why this board is so easy to surf.

A couple of mates were down the beach having a swim. They are non SUPers but have been keen to give it a go for a while. I knew they'd be much better off on my 11 footer but I didn't have that with me - so lets see how the 9'3" Naish works on a first time beginner. Not good. One of the guys is an awesome surfer (multiple times club champion of the local boardriders club) the other a very competent surfer - neither of them could stand on the board for long enough to get more than one paddle stroke in. Don't bother looking at this board if you are anything less than a good intermediate SUPer.

After three days of fun surfs, I begrudgingly gave the little beauty back. I couldn't bring myself to leave the shop knowing that I may never get to experience the little Naish again … so I ended up getting one for myself! Now that's a pretty good indication of how much I liked it.

Highs:
- Good stability for a little board.
- Just surfs unreal.
- Very hard to nose dive.
- Awesome to look at.
- Super light weight.
- High quality construction.
- Carry handle makes carting it to and from the water's edge a breeze.

Lows:
- Decent price tag.

Here's some footage of my first session on the Naish 9'3":

Cool review Casso, loved the video footage