A mate scored a few photos of me on my new Laird Hybrid 9'. Just got her yesterday, and only just worked the fins and sweet-spot out in ordinary waves, so I will post a decent review later after I score some decent surf.
And you can't make them all,
Thanks Greg @POD for the top shots!
For anyone who might be interested, here's a few words I posted on Standup Zone. Again, after the board has time to prove itself, I will post a review in "Gear Talk".
'Yes, she is the new Laird Pearson Hybrid as pictured above. The model is basically a tweaked performance version of the new Surfer longboard SUP. Although it is such low volume it is one very stable board to paddle. They also have a fairly flat nose rocker, which makes them an efficient board to paddle. The 9' 6 and 10' are really nice boards for anyone who wants an all rounder for both the flatwater and surf.
I wouldn't say the nose lift is too flat. I don't think I would have made the wipeout shot on anything bar a bodyboard. I just posted the photo for a bit of fun! Where the flatness towards the nose works is stepping forward to get some speed. Yes, time for the Laird cross step. You can tell who these boards have been tuned by!
First surf I had, the board didn't miss a beat on my backhand. I had no trouble getting around some impending sections. Yesterday, after the wave pictured, I got out on a funky left with a rip running under it and started to play with sweet spot. Twice the fun given I had the wave nearly to myself due the hassle of keeping up to the rip on standard boards. Again, very Laird. You can have fun doing some real paddle based maneuvers.
Now to get her out in some decent waves!'
