Standup Zone Forum
Stand Up Paddle => Gear Talk => Topic started by: eDUBz on February 13, 2017, 07:25:56 PM
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Anyone ride the 14'X26" NSP Sonic or Puma. Thinking of getting one of these but never paddle one. Will be used for open ocean early am paddles. Thinking of adding the LA twin fin system and ventral To it.
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Double post
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tested the sonic 14 x 24.5 wide on windy 15knts+ and stable with that dugout and nice foot steering to add to your board control arsenal.
One of the best board to paddle on headwind with that bulbous design nose.
Side wind/chop is not bad with that nose & high rail.
DW little runners was my inexperience not standing back far enough to explore sonic's dw full potential as per NSP specs.
For me, I would chose 26 wide at 82-83kg 180lb on rougher days and 24.5 wide on calm days.
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Thanks JEG, was curious about the side wind chop and this the board handled.
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don't think side wind is an issue with sonic or any race board, I think its how you handle that windy condition.
you have to ask yourself, am I comfortable with dugout or flat deck.
The only disadvantage with dugout is climbing back up onto the board, banging into that top rail and make sure your footwork steps are within as you can't step on the edge like flat or recesses deck boards.
If you like your nsp, I heard the puma is good if you're not into dugout deck.
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I ask this in all seriousness, but does NSP actually make decent boards now? I've owned several of their surfboards and they've all been cheap, overweight, popout, tanks. Good for disposable kitesurfboards, but worthless for any real riding. Same with the SUPs I've seen at the beach. Have they developed a separate "performance" line of gear or (hopefully) brought up the quality of their entire lineup? The Sonic and Puma look really nice, but given my past experience I never would have considered NSP for any sort of use other than "beater". Has that changed?
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Their boards used to be made for low-mid market. The DC range is top-class, serious kit.
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NSP's are built by Surftech (as of a coupe years ago) (Cobra) The quality is very high and the weights are the same as most durably sandwich boards (24-28 lbs depending on Pro Carbon or Brushed) The Puma to my knowledge isn't available in the US yet, the Sonic is just appearing now on Surftech's website so those should be showing up soon here in the states. If the 26" wide Puma is anything like the flat deck Surf Race from 2014 it will be an awesome board... very versatile-great off the wind in swell, decent flat water speed and super stable. 2016 version has a more bulbous nose and I haven't had a chance to paddle that board in a 26" wide.
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I ask this in all seriousness, but does NSP actually make decent boards now? I've owned several of their surfboards and they've all been cheap, overweight, popout, tanks. Good for disposable kitesurfboards, but worthless for any real riding. Same with the SUPs I've seen at the beach. Have they developed a separate "performance" line of gear or (hopefully) brought up the quality of their entire lineup? The Sonic and Puma look really nice, but given my past experience I never would have considered NSP for any sort of use other than "beater". Has that changed?
Wow.. The old cheap NSP boards are like chalk and cheese different with the new D.C. NSP boards..
https://www.facebook.com/NspSurfAndStandUpPaddleBoards/videos/1273748819373234/
I have a lots of friends with the DC boards and they are state of the art quality designs and good enough for the best paddlers in the world to use and be very competitive on.. The new Sonic is an awesome board friends that have it says it's the fastest NSP DC ever.. It's a very serious race board.
BTW I just heard that DC (Dale Chapman) now has nothing to do with the race boards and only involved with the surfing range like shown in the link above so it will be interesting to see if they loose the DC graphics on the race boards in the future..
You can see the new DC NSP's in my vid from Merimbula at around the 9.20 mark..
https://vimeo.com/194131012
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Alain T designs the NSP race boards, I think DC still does the finishing shaping.
Alain posts here from time to time. Maybe he can confirm that the racers like Travis and Titou use production boards. Which would say everything about the boards quality and weight.
Alain T was here recently for a [flatwater] race. He's a bad ass racer for his age category. There's some very serious competition in the 50+ group in France and he was right up there with the elites. Old and young. Very impressive. Cool to see a designer kicking ass.
I'm pretty impressed with Dale's performance on DWs too. Those guys do have the best coaches on hand of course. The NSP racers are not only top of the game racers but also so gifted in sharing.
Maybe one day Dale will learn how to pronounce Alain's name. He cracks me up in the videos whenever he mentions Alain.
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It's Alain like Alain Prost the famous F1 driver.. and yes Alain is a very nice guy..
The new boards are Alain/Travis designs.. They have a new unlimited design coming that's a pintail..
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Alain Prost lives down the road from me he's a seriously fit cyclist.
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I took Damon Hill, F1 1996 World Champion, SUP surfing recently. What a great guy he is. And physically very gifted too.
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Those guys are impressively fit.
Then again I'm impressed with anyone surfing in UK!
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DJ, which are the “chalk and cheese” NSPs that you were referring to? Some of the old ones I've found to be pretty tough.
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DJ, which are the “chalk and cheese” NSPs that you were referring to? Some of the old ones I've found to be pretty tough.
I don't mean it in a hard as chalk and as soft as cheese way.. I mean as in how different the old NSP surfboards and original 11' SUP etc are compared to the newer flat water race boards in particular the DC NSP boards.
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Thanks. I'm guessing that's a down under idiom? I've never heard it before. I always like hearing new things like that.
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if i pull the trigger it will be the DC Pro carbon for sure
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Thanks for the replies. It's super cool to hear that an old bottom line company has upgraded their offerings to be competitive with the best. Definitely another couple boards to consider when I get my skills sorted and decide to replace the Falcon. 8)
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if i pull the trigger it will be the DC Pro carbon for sure
The Pro Carbon is only offered in the skinny models, for the Sonic 14x23 and 14x24.5, and in the Puma 14x24 only.
It's the same for the 12'6 boards.
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I ask this in all seriousness, but does NSP actually make decent boards now? I've owned several of their surfboards and they've all been cheap, overweight, popout, tanks. Good for disposable kitesurfboards, but worthless for any real riding. Same with the SUPs I've seen at the beach. Have they developed a separate "performance" line of gear or (hopefully) brought up the quality of their entire lineup? The Sonic and Puma look really nice, but given my past experience I never would have considered NSP for any sort of use other than "beater". Has that changed?
Wow.. The old cheap NSP boards are like chalk and cheese different with the new D.C. NSP boards..
https://www.facebook.com/NspSurfAndStandUpPaddleBoards/videos/1273748819373234/
I have a lots of friends with the DC boards and they are state of the art quality designs and good enough for the best paddlers in the world to use and be very competitive on.. The new Sonic is an awesome board friends that have it says it's the fastest NSP DC ever.. It's a very serious race board.
BTW I just heard that DC (Dale Chapman) now has nothing to do with the race boards and only involved with the surfing range like shown in the link above so it will be interesting to see if they loose the DC graphics on the race boards in the future..
You can see the new DC NSP's in my vid from Merimbula at around the 9.20 mark..
https://vimeo.com/194131012
thats interesting DJ knowing no more DC input to NSP race boards.
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Yes.. they'll be Alain/Travis designs.. [from what I heard]