Got sick of seeing it sitting in the lounge room but crap surf isn't at all tempting so only one thing for it - throw it in the river and go for a cruise.
ME: 6ft/75kgs/longboarder/intermediate sup'er.
BOARD: suplove 9.4 x 29 1/4 x 4 1/4
First impression: not a subtle board in any way. Beautiful bamboo deck and bottom/bright coloured big and boxy rails/very point nose.
I have been riding an LSD 9.2 for a couple of weeks and the two boards could not look any more different. The lsd was quite a subtle looking board with what I would call low to medium rails (for a sup) and a very shortboard kinda outline/shape. The suplove in comparison looks more like a new model starboard or maybe a subvector with the beefy rails and what I would call a performance sup shape rather than a shortboard shape.
Ok - at the rivers edge - stepped on from the bank and paddled away (yep no splash). Very first thought was how stable and fast it was right from the get go. Normally a smaller board like this would require a coupla smaller paddle strokes on either side to get it going straight but no - half a dozen strokes on one side and I was still going straight and up to speed already ! It is noticably more stable and faster to paddle than the lsd but I kinda expected that because it does seem to have a lower rocker and considerably more volume. The board also seems to sit quite low in the water which suprised me cos I thought it would be corky due to the high volumed rails and I reckon this also helped it get to speed and hold its speed better and was less effected by the wind.
Half an hour later cruisin currumbin creek and still amazed by how stable this board is and how quick it is for a 9'6 - which is gunna be a blessing once I get it in the surf.
So - flatwater paddle outta the way and thus far very very impressed - but the biggest test is yet to come when I get it in the surf in the near future. The hardest thing for this board is the fact that I have just spent two weeks on one of the best sups I have ever surfed so its got its work cut out for it to get close to that - however I have a good feeling that this board may have something up its sleeve 
Surf is still a bit big and messy so grabbed the little beast and headed for a local rivermouth on the incoming tide this morning in the hope of getting a little peeler or three. It was about knee high and a bit bumpy but managed to get a dozen or so little grovellers after falling off the back a half a dozen times on the first half a dozen waves 
(kooked it bigtime). I just wasnt prepared for how quick the bloody thing took off on such small waves on the first few and just ended up on my ass in the drink which is something I haven't done for years After I got my head around it - all good ! The two stand out qualities of this board in the surf are without doubt the stability and the speed on the wave - unbelievable on both counts. I reckon on a cleanish beachy or any size point break this board would be insane !! - gunna try to hang onto it for another week to try it out in some big and clean surf next week.
For sure mate. It has that same flattish rocker as the sv as well so that won't scare you. I'm gunna have it till next week I think so will definately meet up for a comparo. Scotty dropped the 11.2 off tonight as well so I can hit the river the next few days. Gotta say, all b/s aside I am really impressed with the boards - seem like good quality and feel nice in the water - comfortable. Would love a go on their 10.0 but dont think theres a demo about - maybe when they come up for noosa may get a spin on one.
There is def' gunna be a sup component to the big round in byron - scottys keen so cant wait to get a couple of the die hard loggers on the sups 
too funny.
