Anybody else notice Kai Lenny mention in his victory speach at Sunset abput some new models coming out this year? Anyone got the inside mail? DJ you always know what's going on. You
I found this little Naish on the http://www.battleofthebay.com/photogallery.html website from last year's race pics.
Looks like an experimental flatwater board with dugout deck, a large drainage hole and a rounded aft. Quite a deviation from Naish products - it is like they've put it together from everything their competitors do but they don't. I wonder if it is a prototype?
That's the Naish Catalina from a couple of years ago. Had one and it was an OK flatwater board but off the pace in ocean and bumps.
Sam.
I'm more interested in the new Hokuas. The one Kai rode in the final looked very nice!
A yellow carbon Hokua that weights about the same as the fanatic pro wave carbon.............now that would be bloody nice IMHO.
Currently my favourite boards are 8' 5" and 9 Hokua, I have both.
At 76kg the 9 is easy Supping while the 8' 5" is excellent till conditions make it a bit of a task while waiting for a wave but I am sure I will get over this bit in time.
While these boards are right up there in performance design IMO Naish boards have a long way to go in quality of toughness and durability.
I have had Jimmy Lewis SUPs ( no need for rail tape IMO ) and kite boards and in this area are hard to beat plus also have very good performance. I love the JL kite SB, fast, easy and tough.
But performance for my requirements comes first so need to be very careful with durabilty etc with my new Naish Hokuas
I would agree with your observations, my Hokua is pretty battered and worn after a years heavy use, but given SUP board design makes leaps and bounds every 6 to 12 months I'm due another board anyway so will keep mine as a back up spare when I pull the trigger on my next board, ATM the Hokua would not be my stand out choice like it was when I bought it, I would be considering the pro wave and JP models for sure, although I'm waiting for the next update of Naish to see what goodies they come up with. 
