hey guys
decided to pull the trigger on a new (second hand) board.
ive been looking for a step up, but stable board to get out back in big stuff and found this. It almost seems purpose built for it.
icant find a single review on the net and have never seen one in nz so most intrigued to try it.
Several things are very cool and unique about this so far!
dims: 8'6 x 29 x 4. 115l
nor carbon but only weighs 7'8kg inc quad fins and rail tape- so realistically around 7.5kg. A bit lighter than starboard star lite for an 8'5 pro of basically same dims.
1: rocker in the nose is relatively flat.only a real flip in the nose tip. Only flat water paddled it so far but seems to paddle fast and cleanly.
2: very flat deck, soo much nicer on the foot and easier to counter balance than domed decks. Didn't realise it until paddling this board compared to my existing ones- inc starboard 8'5 pro.
3: the three four fins! Anyone heard of these? It comes stock with this carbon quad set but here's the catch.. the back quad fins are a 50/50 foul which means you can take one out and use the other to make it in to a thruster set! My favourite fins are the am1's which big side fins and smaller centre fin so this was the coolest surprise.
4: deck seems to have a huge sweet spot. I could move feet parallel, Sufer stance, front / back and still counter the board quite easily. The test is of course in surf but flat water seems really stabile but agile at the same time.
5: never seen a stock paddleboard have such a pronounced pinny tail! The bottom contours seem almost flat for 3/4 board and then in to a rolled vee in the back 1/4. No presence of even a single concave unless its super super light.
6: for a non carbon board it is light but feels very solid. No push in the materials but paint seems to have chipped off easily from previous owner.
7: rails seem quite big for 4" thick but in the water it floats evenly and water laps my feet meaning they don't sit too high.
Cant wait to try it!
More details and reviews to come.
So first review underway!
i took it out yesterday in low tide, off shore wind and between thigh to 1.5x oh. If the wind dropped the waves got pretty hollow, nearly got barelled.
so first impressions?
despite the super narrow nose, it was surprisingly stable (although some work to counter balance a lot in the wind). It punched through the whitewash better than my gulliver which I was surprised about given its narrow nose. The white water would slice around the pointy nose and not want to lift the board up from under me as much, even despite being a bit less stable.
Seemed to have ok glide but really needed to stand in surfer stance to eliminate any side wobbles in the wind or chop.
On the wave? I found it took a little while to get used to the wave timing and later entry than the vbox. The vbox has that initial get up and go straight away, where the narrow nose definitely required 2-3 extra paddles while the wave built up in steepness. Missed a couple I thought I would normally have got.
however once I got on the waves, wowsers!! I've never had a board feel so natural and intuitive on the first wave, let alone completely different design to my normal board. It felt like riding a shortboard and could really point and go where ever you wanted to. Sliced and diced harder than my vbox and just begged for more. I was really surprised at how agile it felt given the pinny tail and size of waves I had it on. The vee in the tail just seems to make the board want to roll rail to rail. I almost got barelled but after seeing it was going to close out, just pulled out and went around the section- just like that- effortless.
It really felt like the shaper knew what we was doing with this board. I also loved the fins that came with the board, the quad that can also be used as a thruster is such a cool idea.
The template is almost similar to a twin with big sides and a smaller centre. Heaps of drive but release and speed.
An extra couple of inches of nose width and an inch or two shorter would just kill it as an all rounder with serious step up ability. I can't wait to get it out in some bigger and heavier stuff.
also really intrigued as to how it has 115l when the nose and tail are so thin, it has a flat deck, 4" rails when the similar style sunova acids or Casey models have about 105 and more width, thickness and nose / tail profile.
await a further review and possible photos when I get my gf along 
Select to expand quotebenjl said..
So first review underway!
i took it out yesterday in low tide, off shore wind and between thigh to 1.5x oh. If the wind dropped the waves got pretty hollow, nearly got barelled.
so first impressions?
despite the super narrow nose, it was surprisingly stable (although some work to counter balance a lot in the wind). It punched through the whitewash better than my gulliver which I was surprised about given its narrow nose. The white water would slice around the pointy nose and not want to lift the board up from under me as much, even despite being a bit less stable.
Seemed to have ok glide but really needed to stand in surfer stance to eliminate any side wobbles in the wind or chop.
On the wave? I found it took a little while to get used to the wave timing and later entry than the vbox. The vbox has that initial get up and go straight away, where the narrow nose definitely required 2-3 extra paddles while the wave built up in steepness. Missed a couple I thought I would normally have got.
however once I got on the waves, wowsers!! I've never had a board feel so natural and intuitive on the first wave, let alone completely different design to my normal board. It felt like riding a shortboard and could really point and go where ever you wanted to. Sliced and diced harder than my vbox and just begged for more. I was really surprised at how agile it felt given the pinny tail and size of waves I had it on. The vee in the tail just seems to make the board want to roll rail to rail. I almost got barelled but after seeing it was going to close out, just pulled out and went around the section- just like that- effortless.
It really felt like the shaper knew what we was doing with this board. I also loved the fins that came with the board, the quad that can also be used as a thruster is such a cool idea.
The template is almost similar to a twin with big sides and a smaller centre. Heaps of drive but release and speed.
An extra couple of inches of nose width and an inch or two shorter would just kill it as an all rounder with serious step up ability. I can't wait to get it out in some bigger and heavier stuff.
also really intrigued as to how it has 115l when the nose and tail are so thin, it has a flat deck, 4" rails when the similar style sunova acids or Casey models have about 105 and more width, thickness and nose / tail profile.
await a further review and possible photos when I get my gf along
Whers that ??? Just seein
Select to expand quotebenjl said..
3: the three four fins! Anyone heard of these? It comes stock with this carbon quad set but here's the catch.. the back quad fins are a 50/50 foul which means you can take one out and use the other to make it in to a thruster set!
The drawback is that the quad setup may end up too stiff for a SUP, as the rear quads end up quite big.
Nice review BTW, and glad the pulled in nose was not too much trouble.
Select to expand quoteLastSupper said..benjl said..
So first review underway!
i took it out yesterday in low tide, off shore wind and between thigh to 1.5x oh. If the wind dropped the waves got pretty hollow, nearly got barelled.
so first impressions?
despite the super narrow nose, it was surprisingly stable (although some work to counter balance a lot in the wind). It punched through the whitewash better than my gulliver which I was surprised about given its narrow nose. The white water would slice around the pointy nose and not want to lift the board up from under me as much, even despite being a bit less stable.
Seemed to have ok glide but really needed to stand in surfer stance to eliminate any side wobbles in the wind or chop.
On the wave? I found it took a little while to get used to the wave timing and later entry than the vbox. The vbox has that initial get up and go straight away, where the narrow nose definitely required 2-3 extra paddles while the wave built up in steepness. Missed a couple I thought I would normally have got.
however once I got on the waves, wowsers!! I've never had a board feel so natural and intuitive on the first wave, let alone completely different design to my normal board. It felt like riding a shortboard and could really point and go where ever you wanted to. Sliced and diced harder than my vbox and just begged for more. I was really surprised at how agile it felt given the pinny tail and size of waves I had it on. The vee in the tail just seems to make the board want to roll rail to rail. I almost got barelled but after seeing it was going to close out, just pulled out and went around the section- just like that- effortless.
It really felt like the shaper knew what we was doing with this board. I also loved the fins that came with the board, the quad that can also be used as a thruster is such a cool idea.
The template is almost similar to a twin with big sides and a smaller centre. Heaps of drive but release and speed.
An extra couple of inches of nose width and an inch or two shorter would just kill it as an all rounder with serious step up ability. I can't wait to get it out in some bigger and heavier stuff.
also really intrigued as to how it has 115l when the nose and tail are so thin, it has a flat deck, 4" rails when the similar style sunova acids or Casey models have about 105 and more width, thickness and nose / tail profile.
await a further review and possible photos when I get my gf along
Whers that ??? Just seein
That's my local in Auckland called Maori bay- next cove over from muriwai. Not normally like this though.. typically on shore and bigger. I'm 99% of the time the only sup rider out there unless it goes all small and clean
Good write up benjl..... awesome that you can handle such pointy ends!
Have fun with your new toy.... get some videos going, it's always fun to see some SUP action!
Select to expand quotecolas said..benjl said..
3: the three four fins! Anyone heard of these? It comes stock with this carbon quad set but here's the catch.. the back quad fins are a 50/50 foul which means you can take one out and use the other to make it in to a thruster set!
The drawback is that the quad setup may end up too stiff for a SUP, as the rear quads end up quite big.
Nice review BTW, and glad the pulled in nose was not too much trouble.
Funnily enough, I think the quad on this will actually be very loose (the previous owner said the same). The fin plugs are quite close to the stringer, with a 50/50 foil and the trailing fins are not very big at all. The front side fins are quite large which makes the back quad fins quite a bit smaller, and removing one to use it as a centre fin in a thurster configuration worked amazing from the first wave! Felt just like my am1 future fin set up which is my favourite template.
I don't think i'll forget that feeling on the first wally overhead wave on my frontside and just working the board from the rail / tail and feeling it be so responsive.
