PSH 10' Wide All rounder

On a recent family surfing trip down south I decided to step UP in size, rather than down and spent 10 days straight riding the PSH 10WAA (Wide All Rounder).
At 90kg my normal board is the PSH 9'2 Wide Ripper. I love this board for more vertical moves and steep sucky drops, but I was just not up to it, this trip and decided to leave the temptation of the Ripper, at home.

Due to a number of injuries including a dislocated shoulder, I had to 'ease my way back' into surfing , I decided to step up to a wider more stable board, thinking I would be chasing summer slop for most of the holiday. How wrong I was!

We arrived to a pretty solid ENE swell hitting most of the beaches. One North corner was consistantly popping up 6' faces. Feeling a bit timid I headed for the more sedate 7 mile Beach. This beach offers nice drawn out lines at the right tide, but can get very 'zippy' at mid to low tide.

I ran the 10'WAA as a quad. The main reason I do this is to help my back hand. I find a quad, especially in weaker waves is easy to turn back hand with a larger sweat spot.
It also makes the board a bit loser and skatier and easier to come of the top of the wave.

The PSH 10WAA is the most recent addition to the Boardworks Wide All Rounder line (Boardworks make the Paddle Surf Hawaii molded boards under license).

The 96WAA (139L) came out about 2 years ago and was followed by the classic 10'6WAA (167L) a year later. These boards are designed to be quick paddlers and nimble, agile surfers with a fuller nose for all-round riding. PSH call them 'wides', but at 29-30" they are very much standard width these days.

Without a doubt the 10'6WAA is one of the most popular boards in the Boardworks/PSH line up. At 167L it is too big for me though (suits 95-110 kg better for high performance surfing) and if I want to go down to 9'6 I would prefer to ride my 9'2 Wide Ripper. So the new 10'WAA was my weapon of choice for this trip.

Problem is, coming off a smaller board and getting onto a bigger board in waves can be a somewhat under-welming experience. This is magnified in smaller waves as you have to drive a bigger board so much harder and it always feels like hard work after a shorter board.

My first session in 1-2' weak waves was not overwhelming , but I was surprised at how well the board turned off the tail if I stepped right back. Hmmm, this might be more fun than I expected!

The charts were looking good, with a rising easterly swell building towards the weekend. Anything with east in it lights up this end of the coast. This is just what I needed to build up my shoulder strength.

With my next session family commitments forced me to go out in a dropping tide which means the waves get a lot faster and harder to make the zippy line.
The swell had popped up a foot or more and was now a decent 3-4' at 7 mile beach with a nice 10 second period pushing the lines in.

The one thing you notice about PSH boards is their drive and speed. This comes from a flatter rocker line under feet and a bit of Blane Chambers magic at either end. There is nothing better than a slightly longer board for getting into long period swells and I was enjoying the extra length on bigger days on this trip.



Get your weighting right and this board takes off down the line.


These pics are on the 10'WAA at a different session in weak 1-2'ers at Pambula. No shots of the more epic sessions unfortunately.





A couple of waves took me into the beach with a beatiful walling wave that just wanted to be smashed, so I steped back and whack, whack! This board can actually be reo'd pretty good for a 10'er!

I was starting to getthe feel of this board and I was really enjoying the extra stability. Most days the tide was spot-on after lunch, which also brought on a strong NE'er. Nothing better for building shoulder strength than battling 15 knots! Fortunately the wind is 'cross-off', so it holds up the rights beautifully. The hard bit is actually getting in and dropping down the face with 20 knot apparent wind coming at you! Basically you have to really 'pull' yourself into the wave with your paddle.
Once you have pulled in and taken the drop the momentum takes over and there is nothing stopping you zipping down the line of a long wall held up by a stiff off-shore breeze - it just hangs there!. The extra 30" of width was a blessing in these windy conditions as you really get buffeted around standing up there.

Day by day I was really starting to enjoy this board, The versatility was becoming glaringly apparent. Other than really tight snappy cutties, the 10'er was giving me the same surfing fun as the 9'2 and I was catching many more waves ( 7 mile beach has about 6 peaks just in the north end -plenty for everyone).

The hi-light of the week was the Australia day weekend. Starting Friday the surf picked up to a solid 2.5m swell from the SE.
Long drawn out lines were coming into the bay. Down the beach though, where we were surfing, the white water section was horrendous. A lot of crew just couldn't get out. With a bit of patience and endless white water pop-overs, the lulls eventually appeared. Thank god for the big black blade!

I don't think it ever crosses your mind when you get into StandUp that getting out on a solid day through beach breaks can actually be easier on a SUP!

The reward once out the back, was big A-frame peaks up and down the beach. What a sight!
I don't think there is anything quite like taking a big glassy drop and lining up a nice long wall, well over head, on a board you feel confident on! Yeew, I love StandUp!

Suffice it to say that I was pretty impressed with this board on a solid wave. It is very quick down the line and happy to snap back and sit in the pocket.
Even got shacked at the end - stoked!!

Back home now and back to 85% strength I reckon I will continue to ride the 10'waa and maybe visit some of my favorite point breaks on quieter days where the back wash and 'hustling' was always a bit too much for my 92!

I think I am in love with a bigger board!


Paddle Surf Hawaii 10' Wide All rounder 155L
10' x 30" x 4 5/8"


No 'training wheels' on this puppy. This tail is made for surfing.



The rocker says a lot about this board. A bit of extra thickness up front for nose riding, lots of stability and speed mid board, foiling down to a nice fine tail.

In summary, this is a surprise package. It has all the performance in the waves that you would expect from Blane Chambers and at 30" wide it is a pleasure to paddle and stay upright on, even in choppy conditions.


Go paddle!

AA

Disclaimer: As a retailer and distributor for Paddle Surf Hawaii I obviously have a bias towards Blane's boards.
We ride all the boards we sell though, including Naish, Oxbow, Simon Anderson and A-star, but this board has surprised me more than any other of late and I felt it was a story worth telling.

Yeah, thanks AA
I notice the yellow board is in EVS construction, not TEC as I've seen previously - are they all gonna be EVS now ?
Can you tell me the weight of the yellow board (with fins in) ?
What do you think about the EVS compared to the TEC construction ?
thanks!

you've got a great review there mate, you've almost persuaded me to buy one

Hey Daneli, I am running the standard side bites that come with the board and a set of Simon Anderson rears - which are available just as a rear set.

Thanks Jaredmondo, yes I am the distributor but my job is to stoke people out.
Ultimately that is the only thing that sells boards. This board stoked me out and I ride a lot of different boards.

We don't have a DJ, or a Casso to do reviews for us and there are a lot of people who want to know more about our boards.

And Jonwest , to the contrary I am actually very low on the 10'WAA's right now. A business man stoked on SUP, I am. Cynical I am not.

If I am going to do reviews (and I would like to do more) I need to tell it like it is, pure and simple with full disclosure and hopefully stoke some people out along the way.

Thanks for all the PM's and kind words guys!

AA

I have the 10 11 extra wide ripper. Havent had it out in anything over shoulder high waves over here in Perth. On Perth metro mush smaller waves it surfs fine, very fast down the line, and turns well for a 10 11. Only used it as a thruster. Need to get a back set of future fins the future back boxes are a differnt size to the fronts.

I am still a kook at SUPping but are enjoying this board for the learning curve, the extra width is great. I think I could have got away with the 10 6 or 9 11 at 115kgs

cheers

Hey AA,
Thanks for your reply, I was wondering if the EVS was a lighter weight construction because I had one of the pre-Boardworks 10'6 WAA's for a year and really liked the way it surfed, but it was a bit too heavy, so good news on the weight, that makes the 10 WAA a tad lighter than my 9'5 Mana.
The Mana is a great board and I'm enjoying it a lot but I kinda miss the glide of the flatter rockered PSH, I like the fact that the PSH just goes of it's own accord and seems to generate it's own speed, it makes me surf with a fluid and smooth style, I like to think with more grace and less effort it noserides good too.
I'd be pretty confident that the 10 WAA would suit me even better, as I'm 80kg and, as you say, the 10'6 is really for heavier guys.
It's good to read your review as I've not seen much written about the 10 since it came out.

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Hey Windup, my next 'review' will actually be a comparison between the 10'6WAA and the new 10'4 x 32" XWAA. It will mainly be more pics, info and dimensions as it is hard to review a board that is way bigger than what I normally ride. I will be inviting owners of these boards to contribute. Stay tuned.

For now, here are some links for you-
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/SUP/Feedback-on-the-10-PSH-WAA/?SearchTerms=10'6,wide

As Teatree says - "10'6 though, their a keeper , great boards for all types of conditions."

Basically it rides the same as the 10'WAA but for the bigger Guy - 95kg +

I will post more info this weekend.

Cheers

AA

Good thats me 95kg +

Hi AA,

I live in Holland and also have the 10 WAA. All I can say about this board that for my 90 kgs it is a great board, certainly if there is some wind/chop (most of the time in Holland). Your review is spot on and matches everything I found about this board.

I am biased towards PSH. (Benelux Agent.: Supholland.nl) But as you said this is a surprise package! This 10 WAA is a great board all around that just gives you the confidence to do whatever you like. And it surfs so well. Truely a nice board that keeps on putting a smile on my face.

Just wondered if you had the opportunity to paddle the PSH Bamboo veneer 9'11 XWR and can compare the 10' WAA and the 9'11 XWR boards. We just received the 9'11 and did not have the time to try it yet.