Kings vs Hovie Comet vs Surftech Bark Competitor?

[Henrik F]

Hello!
I've seen some pictures of a Kings Paddle sports 12'6" Carbon Race board and a Hovie Comet 12'6". How are they compared to a Surftech Bark Competitor 12'6" which I've got? I like the Competitor but I'm just curious about the others.

If anyone knows something about the others, please let me know!

Mahalo

Henrik F

[TedC]

I cannot give you a comparison between the boards you are asking for; however I can give you some info on a Kings 12'6" Race board. I’m no pro but have been DEMOing as many displacement boards as I can. Below is the list of boards I have tried and I have owned a C4 Holoholo since 09. FYI I am 5’9” and 175.

Please know that from what I understand Kings boards are often made to order. Until today, I was 90% sure I was going to purchase the Fanatic Fly Race Carbon 12’6”. I DEMOed the Fly 12’6” at SURF Expo last month and again today. Today I paddled it in both flat intercostals and 4-6’ rolling “slop” often found here in S FL. I ran the Fly back to the shop and decided to DEMO one of the Kings 12’6” Race boards the shop has. The King handled the “slop” WAY better then the Fly and was just as fast on the flats. I used MotionX-GPS on my iPone to determine speed. Keep in mind the 12’6” fly is much better suited for the flats and traditional surf. I would not normally go out in the slop we had today but wanted to test the boards due-to-the-fact here in S FL you can get caught in fast moving storms that produce similar conditions. I order a Kings board today and based on what I described I wanted, Josh at the shop told me it would be the Kings “BOP” board with only a few subtle differences.

The Kings board is in the same price range of most the “race” boards I was looking at and I'm able to make custom changes so that the board is 100% what I want with minimal to no extra cost.

Fanatic
   Fly Race Carbon 12’6”
   Fly Race Carbon 14’
SupLove
   Stingray 14”
Starboard 14” “Coastal Cruiser” I think its called
Jimmy Louis
   Blade 12’6”
   Slice 12’6”
   Saber 14’
Naish
  Glide 12’6”
  Javelin 12’6”
  Javelin 14’
Tahoe
   Rubicon
Yolo
   Predator 12’6”
   Teak Carbon Voyager 14’ x 29”
Rogue
   12’6” x 28” (not sure which model)

[Henrik F]

I cannot give you a comparison between the boards you are asking for; however I can give you some info on a Kings 12'6" Race board. I’m no pro but have been DEMOing as many displacement boards as I can. Below is the list of boards I have tried and I have owned a C4 Holoholo since 09. FYI I am 5’9” and 175.

Please know that from what I understand Kings boards are often made to order. Until today, I was 90% sure I was going to purchase the Fanatic Fly Race Carbon 12’6”. I DEMOed the Fly 12’6” at SURF Expo last month and again today. Today I paddled it in both flat intercostals and 4-6’ rolling “slop” often found here in S FL. I ran the Fly back to the shop and decided to DEMO one of the Kings 12’6” Race boards the shop has. The King handled the “slop” WAY better then the Fly and was just as fast on the flats. I used MotionX-GPS on my iPone to determine speed. Keep in mind the 12’6” fly is much better suited for the flats and traditional surf. I would not normally go out in the slop we had today but wanted to test the boards due-to-the-fact here in S FL you can get caught in fast moving storms that produce similar conditions. I order a Kings board today and based on what I described I wanted, Josh at the shop told me it would be the Kings “BOP” board with only a few subtle differences.

The Kings board is in the same price range of most the “race” boards I was looking at and I'm able to make custom changes so that the board is 100% what I want with minimal to no extra cost.

Thank you for answering!
Here in Sweden and particulary were I live, the possibility to demo a board comes down to if I want to rent a 10' NSP. That's about it. I ordered my Competitor from a store 400 kilometres away.
And the brands that are represented here so far (to my knowledge) is: Naish, Tahoe, Surftech, NSP, Starboard, RRD, BIC. I think that covers it all. Problem is also that if I wanted to demo two or three boards for comparison, then I would have to go to different cities for each board

Enough moaning about the situation in Sweden. So maybe I could order a King's made for flat water and choppy conditions when the time comes? They seem to be nicely priced for being carbon and to some extent costomized.

Henrik F

[TedC]

Funny, when I told Josh (the shop owner) I wanted the board perfect for all conditions he said that was easy; they would order me two boards. I do not think I am loosing much on the flats with he board I have ordered. The shop does have a beautiful flat-water board with less rocker and volume then the one I ordered. I will try to post some pix for you this week.

Sounds like you need to make a trip to FL or CA to demo boards. It would be easier and probably more cost efficient.

[Henrik F]

Funny, when I told Josh (the shop owner) I wanted the board perfect for all conditions he said that was easy; they would order me two boards. I do not think I am loosing much on the flats with he board I have ordered. The shop does have a beautiful flat-water board with less rocker and volume then the one I ordered. I will try to post some pix for you this week.

Sounds like you need to make a trip to FL or CA to demo boards. It would be easier and probably more cost efficient.

 

Henrik F

[natas585]

I might be able to help a little.  As far as race boards go the two board option would be the best, one for flat water and one for open ocean.  In all of the tests I've done with various race boards the Hovie was the fastest on flat water and going in and out of the surf.  But in side chop conditions it was tippy.  The Kings and Jimmy Lewis models that I've tried and seen in competition are very stable, and fast enough in both flat and open water.  At this point they all have good construction but Kings and Hovie can take custom orders.  Kings does all of their work in house.  Hovie shapes then has subs do the rest under supervision.  Jimmy Lewis is all overseas.  I personally enjoyed all of these boards under various conditions and would be happy owning one of each if I could afford to.  I can bore you with all of the numbers I've compiled if you'd like to message me.  Hope this helps.

[Henrik F]

I might be able to help a little.  As far as race boards go the two board option would be the best, one for flat water and one for open ocean.  In all of the tests I've done with various race boards the Hovie was the fastest on flat water and going in and out of the surf.  But in side chop conditions it was tippy.  The Kings and Jimmy Lewis models that I've tried and seen in competition are very stable, and fast enough in both flat and open water.  At this point they all have good construction but Kings and Hovie can take custom orders.  Kings does all of their work in house.  Hovie shapes then has subs do the rest under supervision.  Jimmy Lewis is all overseas.  I personally enjoyed all of these boards under various conditions and would be happy owning one of each if I could afford to.  I can bore you with all of the numbers I've compiled if you'd like to message me.  Hope this helps.

That helped!
A custom is almost out of the question as I live to far from the US. But the Hovie seems interesting. The Competitor works quite well in the chops and in flat water but maybe the Hovie is even better?

Many thanks

Henrik F