Just had my MR Pro in the water for it's first runs. By way of a background I am 100kgs and 56. My last board of 18 months was a Coreban Fusion. 9', 148lt quad fin with greater thickness in both the nose and tail than the MR. Before I go on I want to say that I really rate the Fusion. Really easy to use, great to surf and bullet proof construction. The MR is 130lt and quad fin as well, however the fins are set back further and closer together.
I had 4 days of surf at Whangamata ranging from a solid 6' to a slow 2' beach break.
My first paddle was more like a swim as I found it was way less forgiving than the Coreban. I definitely had to paddle in more of a surfing stance than across the board. Even paddling on my knees was difficult. I caught a couple of solid waves and then found the acceleration too much compared to what I have been used to. I think I caught 2 waves that I managed to hang on to. The performance was amazing. It definitely takes off later but faster and it turns on a dime. I overshot one wave but then found I had enough speed to cut back and pick it up again.
On my second day the surf had dropped to 4-5' on the bar. Still foung the board quite tippy but no problem getting out and catching waves. I found that my stance was further back than I am used to and more like riding a short board. The Coreban's fins are further forward and there is a lot more meat in the nose so it felt a little odd surfing off the tail.
Initially I found it a bit loose on the bottom turn and unreal coming off the lip.
The next day I tried some GL fins, a little bigger both front and rear than the standard. Not really sure if I was just getting used to the board or not but they really seemed to add to stability and hold in the turns.
What really surprised me was on the last days surf we has a 2' slow beach break. I had a ball. It really was more like surfing a short boad than a sup.
On our last day we did a 8km downwinder with a 6" side chop and 20kt. I had a few swims but was really pleased with the stability. Even kept up with a Starboard 10'6".
Initially, because of my weight I was really concerned that the board may be too small. Now I know I will have a few swims however the performance in the surf makes that a small price to pay. I can't wait for the next swell.
