Quick little review...

I was coming back from Tassie on the boat the other night and happened to run into Matt from GSI. It was good to
see someone on the boat to hang out with and knock back about 20 x JD n Cokes.

Anyway, when we got off the boat Matt was kind enough to lend me the new 7'10" 7S Sup. I got to ride it that day
and then again on the weekend just past. Here's my views on this board.

Dimensions 7'10" x 31.5" x 4.5"

Initially the first surf I really struggled but after a few waves got the hang of it. (conditions were a sucky fast
perfect 3' to 4' glass). The second surf was again glassy but not as critical and only 1' to 2'.

PRO's
- Stability was fine without even a wobble and paddled out without any dramas.
- Catching waves was extremely easy, as easy as any 9'+ board I've surfed
- Speed on the wave was suprisingly fast
- Super loose, I got some backhand corkers and the board felt great. A couple of tail slides on the forehand.
- Weight is very good for a production board
- Strength feels fine and priced very well

CON's
- Width made it hard to really get it on it's rail at times on the bigger sets, hence the tail slides.
- A couple times the rail struggled to hold in steeper faces possibly due to width and thickness
- You need to get back on the tail to make it turn hard and then get weight forward to keep it moving
- Lacks a little glide compared to longer narrower boards

Overall a great fun little board, ideal for smaller waves in the 1' to 3' range or the fatter 4'ers. Paddles really well,
catches waves easy and very loose and stable. It would probably suit a slightly taller/heavier guy than me so they
can really tip it over and carve a turn. I would imagine it would be a great top to bottom board for the heavier guy.
For me it would probably go a bit better if it was 1' narrower and 1/2" thinner. But it's definately an affordable well
rounded short board.

I just had a ride on the 7'10" and was surprised by it's float. I have done next to no SUPing the last couple of months and am around 98kg. The waves were too small and straight to get any real rides but I agree it would be fun in a small to medium cruisey wave. No issue with stability and liked the way you could push the nose down the wave face when trying to get on without much feet movement, just leaning forward more. Looking forward to using a bit more.

I think it might be officially due for release in August and I think the price tag is $1495.
I would be interested to know it's volume.
This one can de demo'ed at Longboards Scarborough if anyone wants to take it for a spin.

Thanks, but thats obvious, Im looking for real world opinions not computer thought ideas

Thanks, was just making my final list of boards i like and from there will discount what i cant ride.

But still at this stage its the new naish or finatic 9

What board do you normally ride kagey? as a comparison to this little bugger.

standupper said...

What board do you normally ride kagey? as a comparison to this little bugger.

I have a 10' sub vector....oh someone already answered for me lol!

I have been on smaller boards and owned smaller boards too.

Yeah in all honesty it isn't all that difficult either, just the way you position yourself to catch waves is a bit different. I think it's going to be a fun board and look forward to take it out in better conditions.

Scroll up there are pics of the board already...

I dont red thumb mate, thats a ozie thing

Nice board, is that a crack i see Hows it holding up I can see you on that full time and the c4 taking a back steep

Kagey, How about a update this weekend, Maybe daligaf could do one on it vs his 9'3 subv

It depends on what you mean by paddles well? and I can only tell you what I was able to ascertain from one paddle;

It is stable for my weight there was deck wash to the rear of the board but my feet were out of the water and so was the rest of the deck. I had to change hands paddling far more than my 10' sv but 1) I don't think i'm that good at paddling and 2) I would have thought this would be the case on such a short board.

I received some advice from Bnaccas re catching waves and also remembered Casso's report on the 7'9" Naish (think its 7'9"?) so slightly more sideways on when going for a wave and as Bnaccas pointed out, walk to the nose (why its waxed) to add that little bit extra length to aid catching the wave. I do this with other boards but probably wouldn't have considered trying it with this smaller board so was grateful of the advice.

When on the wave (and I have to point out they were pathetic little waves I was on) there was a little glide but the difference was that it was so loose and maneuverable. I had an hour on it and to be fair could've stayed for another hour even in the crappy conditions.

First impressions of the board are very positive, there's no swell here for the next week so I will have to wait to take it out in better conditions.

Hey guys thanks for the in-depth coverage on this board. I have been supping for just over a year now, i have a 10'10 Bic Jungle and am looking at downsizing onto something much more surf oriented (and easier to cart around!) heading back into summer. The first time i tried supping (demo-ing the Bic before pruchase) i also had a go on the shop owners Uberfish and really enjoyed it and found it quite easy even being my first time supping, so im hoping that this board will be right up my alley. I like epoxy cos im quite clumsy and knock my boards about a bit and also the price tag. The width and volume sounds like it will be stable enough for me, being a female i weigh considerably less than the guys that have tested, so im excited to read more about how it goes and hopefully demo on one in the coming months.

denaz83 said...

Hey guys thanks for the in-depth coverage on this board. I have been supping for just over a year now, i have a 10'10 Bic Jungle and am looking at downsizing onto something much more surf oriented (and easier to cart around!) heading back into summer. The first time i tried supping (demo-ing the Bic before pruchase) i also had a go on the shop owners Uberfish and really enjoyed it and found it quite easy even being my first time supping, so im hoping that this board will be right up my alley. I like epoxy cos im quite clumsy and knock my boards about a bit and also the price tag. The width and volume sounds like it will be stable enough for me, being a female i weigh considerably less than the guys that have tested, so im excited to read more about how it goes and hopefully demo on one in the coming months.

This is a very very small sup and it is not one that I would suggest you rush into if you want a board for all surf conditions. Depending on your weight/size/ability I would think that at first you should probably be looking at downsizing to something between 9 and 9.6 or similar. Definately try as many boards as you can but in my humble opinion you would have rocks in your head if you go under 8ft if its your only sup. If you stay around the 9ft mark you will have a board that still paddles well and surfs good and is light to carry and will suit more conditions than a sub 8ft board which will be a bitch to paddle and have very little glide and generally annoy you on most days. This is just my opinion of course and at the end of the day its your money so please do yourself a favour and demo as many boards as you can before you commit to such a small craft.

boarder paul said...

standupper said...

With maybe 3 weeks of experience on a SUP Boarder Paul I guess you are well qualified to give people advice and comment on board performance.

I deleted it, OK shezzzz i mean how rude are you

Sure this forum thing is mostly just about peoples opinions and not fact. But you would hope the person giving advice has some experience with what they are talking about to make it a worth while dicussion. You may think my comment harsh but I would not post comments in the Kitesurfing forum because I would be wasting peoples time as I have never done it.

Happily SUPrised to here its one of Rod,s shapes I have know him for a few years through kiteboarding then SUP, I have e-mailed him questions about how and why some thinks work on boards and some do not. Or questions about working with Epoxy and Glass resins, He has always been very helpful and has a huge amount of experence shaping (SUP, Kiteboards,Sailboards and surfboards) He showed me a SUP he had made that was 8'10 about 2 years ago when the Naish 9'6 was considered small, I hope he does well!!
Rod

Took the little fella out again yesterday at small Scab's and surprisingly fun. Don't forget you can demo this badboy at Longboards Scarborough.