g'day, surfer windsurfer kitesurfer now paddle surfer, just bought the real deal from luke over at ocean addicts, naish hokua 8'3 GT, she's 90 litres of happy days, or will be on arrival in a week, performance board, thanks to all who assisted me with the decish, but here's the thing, it's a big bite, 122 litres down to 90, not a question of can i do it, more that i am doin' it, but it's a big bite, 75kg, skills are ok, not epic, i surf okinawa, ala moana's 'courts' and honshu japan breaks, not a biggie, join me if u like, just sharin' the stoke, pretty much wet more'n i'm dry, anyhoo, anyone else manage the big drop in volume? love to hear from youse :)

Sh!t that's a big drop 122 to 90 , it's advanced at least , avoid windy days .Do the hard yards and get used to it , your weight is fine for that board , stoked to see you pushing the envelope.

great to hear what others are doing, i started out on an inflatable, did so to enable travel related work surfs, now just leave boards in various locations, progressed to rigids, 9'6 was impossible to begin with, lol as she's now like the queen mary in terms of stability, found my sea legs, caught some waves, persisted with the 9'6 until suddenly realised i should take a leap of faith buy an 8'8 performance board, TSW on the goldie, worked that a while, amazed at how cool paddle surfin is, perhaps because it agrees with my personality, got to be constantly moving, that sort of thing, which's why i kited (major accident, kite no more) and windsurfed, anyway bought an 8'4 board, single concave under the nose, double in the mid section, rounded pin tail, plenty of rocker, took me ages to actually muster up the courage to ride it over the 8'8, would turn up at the beach (in japan) and fear took over, fear i couldn't do the new board, that eventually dissipated, but not before, on one choppy day, the 8'4 rail went straight up my legs to the groin, jesus that set me back! wind it forward and now i rarely ride the 8'8 and find the 8'4 to be, dare i say it, a bit fat, done me research, haven't had the opp to test ride, but took the plunge yesterday n bought robbie's real deal, the hokua 8'3 GT, why the GT and not the lighter higher performance 100L LE with 10 more liters volume than the GT? it's not about the money, $400 extra isn't hard yards, but carbon chips, even for pro's, confessed to by the manufacturer, but "it's what the market wants" so they make it, sensible, just not for me, can i work the 8'3 GT? i surf frequently, sometimes 7 hours a day, this'll work, i'm just a little scared, to be honest, i guess fear is a part of life, you can never ever wholly remove it, might as well embrace it :)

Oh....thought "reducing size and volume" involved avoiding beer and pizza lol

Team riders James storm 65kg/Chris clarke 85kg Rand D a fanatic prototype. Under 70l

thanks for those pics and the encouragement fellas, looks like you're slashing away there just fine :) on some nice waves, will let you know how my thing turns out, salivating!