Ok - its common knowledge I have been a bit of a suploveho of late but when I put the Suplove 8.10 on my roof the other day at greenline I was fully convinced that I was gunna have to be polite but find excuses why it just wasnt my kind of sup. Afterall it was everything I hate in sups - under 9ft/under 29" wide and pointy nosed - it just wasnt gunna be my cuppa tea.
WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG
First little outing in currumbin creek on saturday arvo with the dog on the front and catching tiny little waves on the sandbank in the middle of the creek and not falling off
Hmmmmm whats going on - a stable 8.10 and I'm having fun bashing about in the flat and roaring around catching tiny little waves and boat wakes and feeling like a bloody 10 y/o grommy !! I think I was kidding myself though that it was gunna be just as easy in surf - but what the hell I didnt care I was just really having fun on this little beast.
Monday morning very early - off to an old stomping ground with bumpy but really really nice little knee to waist high peelers ripping through and couldnt get the baby suplove off the roof quick enough.
I was a tad wobbly paddling out in a fair bit of side slop but didnt fall off and soon got the sealegs happening and then no dramas at all. (ok fell off a few times throughout the next hour and a half and bailed on a couple of bigger ones but no-one saw that so it didnt officially happen)
Quite simply - the most fun sup I have probably ever surfed. Yep have been on higher performance boards and better paddlers and more stable boards, but none that cover all as those aspects in just one board - to be honest it just blew me away how stable and fast and easy to paddle into waves it was and so responsive and forgiving on the wave - you could really do anything on it and it just kept on going and turning when you want and as hard as you want and the bloody thing noserides as well or better than most longboards I have ridden - I was being a total dick out there hooting myself and laughing and just having the time of my life - jeez what a way to start the day. A coupla fishos just laughed and shook their heads as I paddled past them frothing
And before anyone that knows me gives me sh#t because I have always been so anti sub 9ft - Yeah yeah I know - BUT - I have never felt this comfortable on a board this small and if I am not immediately comfortable on a board then I tend to not bother with it - thats just me I suppose because life is too short to spend countless hours struggling on sups that are just too small and hard work - for me it's gotta be fun from the outset. This little beauty is all that and more (for me anyway)
When I can get some money together I will definately be buying one of these boards
