Fragile Naishboards?

[ukgm]

My 2017 Naish has been great so far.

I presume you mean the Maliko? How fast is it? I think if I was racing in the UK I'd have gone for the Jav instead. Have you tried the Maliko and Jav back-to-back in typical UK race conditions?

Yep, the Maliko.

I test paddled both last year and it was a big debate I had based on my expectations/tactics in most large mass start races, the ability to help offload the board at the end of a season and that I felt that at (a lean) 94kg, at 251l, the waterline profile wouldn't prove to have enough volume for me. I am about to test both boards scientifically once the weather improves. Things so far look promising.

[Eagle]

Seems that whoever builds your board that day determines what quality board you get.  QC is always the big question.  Very easy to sand down too much on light weight boards.  HF GNZ supuk do seem to make valid points.

[Area 10]

ukgm - "Once the weather improves"!!

Ya soft git get out there! Lightish winds tmrw and air temp a balmy 9-10C.

So get pimping! We want to know about these boards and although you are paid (indirectly) to say nice things about the brand, everyone else on this forum seems to have stopped posting reviews, so you might be about the best we can hope for

[Eagle]

 

[ukgm]

ukgm - "Once the weather improves"!!

Ya soft git get out there! Lightish winds tmrw and air temp a balmy 9-10C.

So get pimping! We want to know about these boards and although you are paid (indirectly) to say nice things about the brand, everyone else on this forum seems to have stopped posting reviews, so you might be about the best we can hope for

I'm waiting for a light southerly in a morning before I can test at my venue. I've been waiting a while....

[Acrane7]

This is correct. No secrets are shared and all processes for the brands at Cobra are different. The SB race boards for instances are the only boards at Cobra (possibly only in the world still) that are a full PVC wrap sandwich. Cobra even separates its own SUP ventures, NSP & Surftech to minimize trade secrets.

One thing important to note on the SB side is there is a full time team, independent of Corba, who QC's boards. Even the owner of SB, Svein, pitches in to check on the QC of boards to ensure accuracy. Quality assurances is very important to SB.

Things happen, and it is always hard to know because you cant see inside a board when you buy it. This is the tough part about boards and knowing their QC. At the end of the day, Cobra has some of the best built boards on the market (there are other manufactures who do a fantastic job but historically Cobra has a great track record).

My understanding of the Cobra Factory:
Same factory yes.... but each brand is fully independent of each other. Different tech, different employees, different materials, different management.

I believe Fanatics are made there and their HRS construction has no connection to the construction of other brands at the same factory.

Secrets are not shared.

I could be totally wrong... but the difference in quality coming out of the same factory, seems to support "total separation of teams" within the factory.
Anyone know for sure?

[connector14]

Any of you racers here think the the latest Red Paddle "race" boards are competitive?  Seems to me if they were,  they sure as heck ought to be able to take alot more abuse without issues. But if they are not competitive,  then I guess it doesn't matter. @22 lbs and 14X25 you would think somebody would be racing them.

[Area 10]

The Red boards are highly competitive against other inflatables, in fact they are probably the best currently available. But no iSUP can yet match an equivalent length and width hard board (assuming the design of the hard board isn't pitiful). Inflatables really should have their own race class - and sometimes they do.

[wrybread]

I've broken 4 SUPs in my SUP lifetime, and 3 of them have been Naish boards (and the other had been previously buckled so it hardly counts)... All surf style, and all the Naish boards in the same season. Took me awhile to learn not to buy Naish boards! Since I stopped doing that, I haven't broken any more boards.

Now if I could just get rid of that board breaker reputation that I got when I surfing Naish!

[supuk]

This is correct. No secrets are shared and all processes for the brands at Cobra are different. The SB race boards for instances are the only boards at Cobra (possibly only in the world still) that are a full PVC wrap sandwich. Cobra even separates its own SUP ventures, NSP & Surftech to minimize trade secrets.

One thing important to note on the SB side is there is a full time team, independent of Corba, who QC's boards. Even the owner of SB, Svein, pitches in to check on the QC of boards to ensure accuracy. Quality assurances is very important to SB.

Things happen, and it is always hard to know because you cant see inside a board when you buy it. This is the tough part about boards and knowing their QC. At the end of the day, Cobra has some of the best built boards on the market (there are other manufactures who do a fantastic job but historically Cobra has a great track record).

My understanding of the Cobra Factory:
Same factory yes.... but each brand is fully independent of each other. Different tech, different employees, different materials, different management.

I believe Fanatics are made there and their HRS construction has no connection to the construction of other brands at the same factory.

Secrets are not shared.

I could be totally wrong... but the difference in quality coming out of the same factory, seems to support "total separation of teams" within the factory.
Anyone know for sure?

There are a number of people doing full pvc raped boards starboard by no means is the only one! QC cheques should not just be done when the boards are shipped out, it should be done throughout the hole process! I have repaired hundreds of boards and a lot of the time the problems are with poor quality manufacturing and most just end up getting covered over with filler and paint to hide them, I'm looking at one right now! You only have to walk in to a shop and look over the boards on the shelf to see that the QC is poor from most of the manufacturers. Its hard to say wether cobra is a lot better than the others as companies vary there manufactures for different ranges, it probably is better than some but its not saying that there great by any means.

[eDUBz]

i worked on some naish boards that were thin maybe 1 or 2 layers of glass. I also have customers who have race boards that get pressure dents from just siting on the rack. another customer told me about one of his naish boards didnt have and glass on the tail - he got it replaced by naish. the New Hokua raptor i m doing for the gofoil is Sand which constructed which is great!. I think it comes down to having someone at the factory doing QC on the work at all times, if not im sure they short cut as much as they can. alot of the boards are improving and seems like the earlier models built like tanks and then they went super weak and fragile. its not just naish but other boards aswell just the luck of the draw.

[ukgm]

My understanding of the Cobra Factory:
Same factory yes.... but each brand is fully independent of each other. Different tech, different employees, different materials, different management.

If that's true, then that's the most inefficient manufacturing facility on the planet.

[ukgm]

This is correct. No secrets are shared and all processes for the brands at Cobra are different. The SB race boards for instances are the only boards at Cobra (possibly only in the world still) that are a full PVC wrap sandwich. Cobra even separates its own SUP ventures, NSP & Surftech to minimize trade secrets.

One thing important to note on the SB side is there is a full time team, independent of Corba, who QC's boards. Even the owner of SB, Svein, pitches in to check on the QC of boards to ensure accuracy. Quality assurances is very important to SB.

Things happen, and it is always hard to know because you cant see inside a board when you buy it. This is the tough part about boards and knowing their QC. At the end of the day, Cobra has some of the best built boards on the market (there are other manufactures who do a fantastic job but historically Cobra has a great track record).

My understanding of the Cobra Factory:
Same factory yes.... but each brand is fully independent of each other. Different tech, different employees, different materials, different management.

I believe Fanatics are made there and their HRS construction has no connection to the construction of other brands at the same factory.

Secrets are not shared.

I could be totally wrong... but the difference in quality coming out of the same factory, seems to support "total separation of teams" within the factory.
Anyone know for sure?

This must be a new level of attention to detail then as I've now seen three 2014 starboard's that had excessive filler on a 'full carbon' race board and all of them had paint applied direct to the foam in places. Good QC should take place throughout the process, not just at the end.

(mind you, I'd also seen it mentioned before that most manufacturers there were not able to do QC until the final product had been produced, not during - that might not be true though)

[DavidJohn]

I recently had my new Maliko Jav slip out of my hands exiting the water after a downwinder and it tumbled across the beach with me running after it.. Before I could catch it it smashed into a large square concrete block and it made a nasty sound as it crashed into it.. People in the distance heard it and came running and we were all amazed at how little damage it had.. I expected it to be trashed but it just bounced off it and there's only one small bit of damage about the size of a finger nail.. I've since put a one inch square piece of duct tape over it just in case.. The new Naish race board construction really is amazing.. Not only very strong but very stiff.. It's a huge improvement over past years..

[eDUBz]

The inside of a new Naish Hokua Raptor