I just purchased my first SUP. A Naish Nalu GT 10.6, 2015.
The board is only one week old and now has a large crack down the front rail. I am not sure if I have hit something without knowing, or this is a manufacture fault.
Would any SUP pros mind taking a look and offering some advice please? I've taken a video of the damage here:
Hi Jason,
It is difficult to make a call as a lot of the variables are unknown at this point. I have just sent you a private message to get in contact with you so we can discuss further.
All Naish products are covered by warranty for 12 months from the date of purchase. This covers the product against any faulty materials or faults in workmanship. Damage due to use unfortunately is not covered.
I look forward to discussing with you soon,
Kind regards,
JB
Naish Australia
Sad to see such a beautiful board with damage like that.. 
Damage in the surf is a freaky thing and sometimes luck has something to do with if you get damage or not..
I've been very lucky so far.. touch wood.. 
At least if it's not a warranty issue damage like that [in that area] can be repaired repaired without looking like an obvious ding repair..
I'm no pro but that looks to me like a compretion crack. I don't think you hit anything, that clean straight line crack along the rail seems more like something heavy was layied on top of that board and cause the fiberglass to crack in that point. Since the board is only days out of the box there is a good chance it could have happened during transit and not been visible to you until it took further stress when it got used on the water. I have seen it on brand new surfboard out of the box. Really bad luck man, it's a tough call to get it under warranty that kind of damage.
No pro.
But have had to make a warranty claim with Naish.
Rest assured that you will have no problems (if it is a manufacturer fault) getting it sorted.
Retailer and supplier were REALLY good in getting me fived up with a replacement board 
I also had a Naish Nalu 10.6" only 1 month old, I was surfing in deep water and the board split after riding small wave.
I loved riding the board but I question the quality of manufacturing to split in the conditions I was surfing in.
I'm now in the market for a stronger built board, any recommendation?
AC
I think from what i have seen so far that Jimmy Lewis boards are some of the most durable overall and the Hanalei 10'8 comes very close to nalu 10'6 dimensions and surfs great. My next board for sure.
Select to expand quoteChris1973 said..
I think from what i have seen so far that Jimmy Lewis boards are some of the most durable overall and the Hanalei 10'8 comes very close to nalu 10'6 dimensions and surfs great. My next board for sure.
I have had a Nalu GT 2014 for a year.....hardly a scratch. JL are probably about the best going construction wise....have one and another ordered. Btw if you are into nose riding the Hanalei isn't supposed to be that easy at that...so much rocker in the nose that it pushes water a bit. But I have seen vids of it being Noseridden very well so depends on the surfer.
I had the same thing happen with a different brand on my first flat-water paddle.
After a 1 hour test paddle, I took it out of the water and there was an 18" split just under the rail, similar to yours.
I took it back and the dealer just handed me another one. He knew where I was going to get it wet for the first time, and I came right back, so he knew I didn't mess with it.
Mine was simply a factory defect, I'm sure your dealer will help you figure this out.
Sorry you had that happen on your first board.
That is bad luck to have that happen 1st surf. Naish are a top brand and back up their product, that is part of what you pay for.
Just to add my 2c to this conversation I have a naish nalu 10 6 for a couple of years and am super happy with construction quality. It often ends up on the bottom of a stack of boards on my roof racks and has shown no sign of compression from this mis treatment.
Cheers chris
Doesn't look right to me. That is, in my opinion didn't happen under surfing conditions. If you hit something then there should be a good ding or compression somewhere near it.
Again in my opinion the board could have been squashed near the rail by something quite heavy. Did you run over it with your car? Lol!!!! Sorry.
But I have seen older boards that are cracked along the rails like this. My mates Uber Smooth is also cracked along the rail near the front. But for a board that is over 3 years old fair enough. But not a new one. Also saw the same brand but different model board purchased second hand that had extensive longitudinal cracks along the rail. That board was aggressively surfed by the previous experimental owner.
I think it should be replaced. I reckon manufacture fault. A crack will keep running just like a cracked glass windscreen. Epoxy may be too brittle or thin in that area also.
Will be interested in the outcome.
I've seen a bit of damage like this on a couple of boards when people use heavy duty ratchet tie downs and put way to much pressure on them
Can be the way those tuflight job boards are snapping by wave pressure . In that kind of construction there is not enough glass linking.
This link i'm talking about is made by glass overlaps normally done in laminating job.
The board is cracking under effort like a beam fractures you can see on video is running along the rail is on "neutral axe" so called in physical term, the two halves ( deck and board bottom) of materials sliding opposite of each others.(Deck side in a compression way and bottom side in extension way orreverse case)Fractures in deck or bottom or the one cross the rail are glue joints between sheets of material.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_point_flexural_test,
Can happens on any brand in that kind of composites construction.Don't blame Naish brand
Hi all,
Thanks a lot for the brilliant feedback. Much appreciated.
In answer to the questions;
Has it been ran over or stacked? No not at all. It's been tied to the roof racks without any stacking. I used a brand new board straps with a thicker tie, that I also purchased from the retailer when I picked up the board. Supposedly they are great tie downs for SUP's. I live straight across the road from the beach so it's had very little transit or exposure to risk.
I took it to the retailer and they said it was damage from sand. I let them know it had only been in very small surf once and the rest of the time flat water, but they said sometimes you can catch a small wave, nose dive and it just happens. I decided to go with a 3rd party repairer and get a second opinion, they have said it defiantly looks like a manufacture problem. They can open it up and take some photos of the internals, but in their opinion it's too clean to be a surf hit.
Naish have also made contact and asked for more details and photos, but communicated that it doesn't look like a manufacture fault, but they are happy to look at more photos and go from there. The cut in the board is straight and clean with no compression, it does seem odd and for the first week in the water and very light flat water paddling/surf.
Thanks a lot for the advice and hopefully there's a good outcome. Appreciated and will keep updating the thread.
Cheers
Jason
