BenjiD said..
Im so close to pulling the trigger one of these bad boys but still tossing up dims. I'm 75kg and 5'10". Leaning towards a 7'3" x 27 3/4" x 3 7/8" at 95 litres, but thinking about asking Simon to do a 7'4". So my question is will i get a noticeable difference in glide between a 7'3" v 7'4"? Will a litre or two make any noticeable difference?

Check out the thread Calling all Minion riders to get the feedback on the sizes that other riders are using. I don't think there will be any noticeable difference in glide between a 7'3 and a 7'4. I have a 7'4x 27.75" and at 85kg only notice a slight difference in glide versus a Fanatic 8'5. However, the speed and acceleration of the Minion is awesome and makes up for early glide into a wave.

Forget about using the word glide with these boards. Beacuse they are so short and have wide tail they catch waves much easier than many longer boards , glide has nothong to do with it. They also fit in the pocket much easier when chasing down a wave. You won't need the big long run up you are used to.

Supmaori said..
Mate the surfers..were like wtf? My minion was shorter than half the boards in the line up..and double the wave count..boom..like a boss!

On the 7'8 115L Minion

Yup was a good day Casso..a lot bigger on some sets..and that boards just went work!

Righto, Stev-0's first review of the Minion 7'4 x 27.75"@104L @85kg:

I love setting up a new board for the first time and ended up waxing 3/4 of the deck and then spraying Monster Paint traction grip on the first foot of the nose.

There was a solid swell on the east coast of the North Island of NZ which has broken a long wave drought on that coast so was pretty amping to get into it.

The Minion is a bit different to paddle being a foot shorter than my 8'5 Fanatic Prowave and 1" narrower. But the 7'4 Minion @104L felt about the same volume as the ProWave @109L and also in terms of stability. I quickly found out that you have to stand further forward on the Minion and naturally go into a subtle surf stance rather than paddle it in the usual poo stance. I loved the shorter length and didn't feel any major loss of the mythical 'glide' versus the 8'5 Prowave. The way it paddled seemed to need a faster cadence to track straight and get into waves but the acceleration was amazing when the board got a lift from the wave. Stability was ok but the cross-offshore breeze tripped me up a few more times than normal but just in the first half hour while getting used to the sweet spot.

The waves were really closing out hard and the lip would pitch, close out and then crash back up through the back of the wave. So it was very tricky to get on to them without having to lip launch and a stiff x-offshore breeze made it harder too. The surfers were all struggling too which was a relief. Finally got a wave that peeled right and got the Minion into a bottom turn and it was fast but smooth and set me up nicely for a cut back - holy **** - this little board has sooo much torque off the top it's insane! The board whipped around so fast that 3/4 of heel side rail engaged and sent a bucket of spray flying! The speed and drive off the bottom and torque off the top felt like down-the-line wavesailing which I love!

Not sure about wax on a SUP though. It was good for grip and not too bad on the feet but it gets all over the paddle and my forearms ended up with dreadlocks of wax matted into the hair on my forearms from clambering back on the board. I'm still picking the **** out of forearms 2 days later.

So tricky waves to test the Minion out for a first session so just got an initial impression but reckon the 7'4x27.75" @104L size is spot on for me at 85kg. Can't wait to get the Minion out again and learn how to ride it as it is such a radical concept and is going to be a game changer...

The other thing was how much attention the Minion gets on the water and off it. I walked past some dudes who were staring at it and they said, "Wow that is small, WTF is it!?", and I said, "Yeah it's actually a wakeboard!".

That photo was at Waipu Cove on Wednesday with the Whangarei Heads in the background. The weather was beautiful and it felt like a taste of summer but the swell was not too good as just loads of close outs. I'd paddle hard and think I'm on the head high+ wave only to find the wind holding me up on the lip and I could look down at the bottom of the wave so would pull off. So I didn't get to really open up the Minion on a open face which wasn't about to pitch and smash me. 80% of my SUP surfing is in waist-to-shoulder high waves around Auckland so I expect the Minion to rip in those conditions. I only got a very basic feel for the board so will report back when I have a better experience - but so far so good!

My 7'4" x 27 1/2 104 litre minion is due towards the end of next week (hopefully). Looking forward to test driving it in some Vicco waves. Watch this space.....

Your welcome to try my 7'10 @ 119L if your on the Sunny Coast but I won't be back until the 28th Oct.

Hey Djansen, at 60 years i ride that kind of board in 6'5" 27.75" 85 liters in clean waves, i'm 78kg old joints body worker; so can say to you this Minion is far away different world from SUP standards. What says StevO is true, balance of the Minion has so performant characteristics that you can reduce dimensions and get the "I WANT MORE JOY ON A WAVE"

Supmaori said..
..once you rude them I doubt if you would go back..I certainly won't b..too much fun

Er…I haven't 'ruded' mine…yet…but I am using Sex Wax…hmmm...

Good call Tang..DJ. the 7'8 spot on mate..I'm 95kg and my 7'8 is 115L and suits me perfect. I'm able to stand comfortably out the back and wait for waves no problem. . catches them effortlessly and even better once on wave face...

Hey topple over we're about on the sunny coast are you? I am in noosa

Might have to start a new forum topic

"I Rude my Minion"

Busted!…and don't get me started about that thing in the middle...

Great photos Tang.