PSH 10'6" All Rounder - Review + Video

A few days ago I took a near new (two surfs old) PSH 10’6” All Rounder for a few waves to see how it went. It was a demo board from Andrew at Balmoral Boards.

One word: Versatile.

The board is: 10’6” x 28 3/8” x 4 5/8”.

I’m 86 kilos and ride an 11’ Oxbow SUP about 50% of the time. The other 50% of my surfs are on a 6’4” shortboard, a 5’10” fish or a 9’2” performance longboard.

The PSH 10’6” is a nice looking board, clean lines, a semi rounded nose and nice tapered rocker at the nose and tail. If you’ve seen one of these boards in a photo, taken front on to the surfer, it looks impressive - same as when you pick it up from the nose and look at it down the stringer. The boxy rails add volume to the sides which can be difficult for a lighter surfer to bury the rail during a carving turn but, on the flipside, it creates more stability and a nice flat deck for comfort and control. This board was set up as a 2+1 with a nice timber centre fin with a little cutaway near the tip for that bit of extra flex.

I’ve ridden the PSH 10’ All Rounder recently and this board is very similar - just a bit more stable and a better paddler yet the 10’6” is almost as loose and manoeuvrable. I thought the 10’ PSH was a great all rounder - the 10’6” is even better - one might say: a real quiver killer.

I went out at Collaroy (on Sydney’s Northern Beaches) with 2 to 3 foot of swell running and an increasing onshore breeze. They were quite fat little waves, fairly long rides and there was a bit of chop around to make things tricky.

Paddling out was a breeze - you feel comfortable on this board as soon as you jump on. It’s stable and tracks surprisingly well for a mid-sized surfing SUP. Pushing though a couple of broken waves was also easy - the semi pulled in nose allows the board to plough through the white water with little impact.

My first wave was a fat one on the take off. In fact I wasn’t sure I would be able to get it or not. I paddled hard, regardless, and hoped for the best. The 10’6” PSH cruised well as I paddled shoreward and as soon as I got a little lift from the wave, the board began to pick up speed and got onto a plane - even though the wave hadn’t broken yet. A great indication that this is an easy board to paddle in the surf. I needed to put in a few extra stokes while I waited for the wave to form properly then, when the it finally broke, I could test out the 10’6”s surfing ability. A little bottom turn and a few, gentle up and downs to pick up speed - nice and easy. A little floater off the foam - again relatively easy. Now, time for some power ... dig the paddle in and push hard while swinging the 10’6” around off the tail. Wow, that went well. The PSH stayed in control and maintained speed throughout the turn. The thinner tail (than some other mid-length SUPs) allowed me to dig the rail down at the back third of the board and semi-carve this puppy around. Now I’m heading left on my backhand and the wave is starting to close out. I attempt to throw the 10’6” up into the white water for a pretty radical backhand re-entry. I got stuck in the white water a bit and fell off on the landing. I did manage, however, to get the board up and then around quite easily. For 10’6”, this is an easy board to surf.

By my second wave, I’m already feeling comfortable on the PSH and try pushing it a bit more. A few little bottom turn / heel-side cutback combinations from the take off. Then as the wave steepens up a bit, I change hands with the paddle and gouge into a pretty heavy drop knee cutback around the planted paddle. The board turned well and allowed me to stay in control through the manoeuvre - none of those weird wobbles you sometimes get doing a drop knee cutback. I complete the cutback and change hands with the paddle again as the wave starts to wall up and close out. I decide to whack the close out section for a big forehand re-entry. A drivey bottom turn, up to the lip then hit the foam and swing the PSH 10’6” around as fast as possible. Ooooh, nearly made it - only my lack of ability to hinder the manoeuvre’s success (nothing to do with the board).

The PSH 10’6” All Rounder feels quite light to carry - to guess, I’d say about 10 kilos. Construction and workmanship seemed to be of typical PSH’s very high standard.

This board is extremely versatile for all facets of our sport - it’s great to paddle, it’s very stable and it’s easy to surf - both semi-performance style and cruisey longboard style. It would be great for the beginner and also for the intermediate to advanced rider. If you could only have one SUP - this would be a very good board to have a close look at.

Highs:
- Good planning speed.
- Great all rounder.
- Easy to paddle.
- Easy to surf.
- High quality construction.

Lows:
- A bit more expensive than some.
- No handle hole.
- Hard to come by in Australia.


Here's some video of a few of my waves on the PSH 10'6":

Hey Steve, thanks for the compliments on the vid.

Here is a link to my post on how to create your own Casso SuckerCam:
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=39965

It'd work great on that OC1 you have there - I'd love to see some footage of you cranking down some runners during a heavy downwinder.

That cheeky Sam Parker has been known to do that.