Hobie CM Series

[APPST_Paddle]

I'm reviving this thread. I tried out the 8'10" 120ish liter CM Pro the other day in less than optimal conditions (knee to occ. waist, kinda weak - great fun on Black and Blue though). Background - I'm 170 lbs, slowly progressing past my Hokua X32 and looking for a good all-around board in the 120L range for east coast waves and Costa Rica waves once a year.

I'm thinking about this board to replace my 8'8" Naish Hokua X32 as an all-around stuck between the Jimmy Lewis Black and Blue, and a 7'11" F-One Madeiro (104L) for when it's really clean and I want a small board. My initial impressions are the lightness and speed of the board in less than optimal conditions. It was extremely stable, and did not cause a ton of leg fatigue as the F-One does when I'm standing a lot.

I'm probably going to look at this board along with the Sunova Flow 8'7 based on feedback on this forum since I probably won't be able to demo before I buy.

Thoughts?

[Caribsurf]

I own the 8'11" CM Raw and LOVE it...I bought the Hokua X32 as a back up board and HATED it. Road it twice and traded back in.   The Hokua was so sluggish and slow compared to the Hobie . No  comparison at all to the Hobie.  The CM  is much more of a performance board and very, very fast.   My Hobie was one of the early ones  and 28" wide so a challenge in choppy conditions standing in the lineup, but that's only good practice for when it's clean.  But when it's clean the board absolutely rips..it's more like a surfboard than a SUP and I highly recommend it.   It is bullet proof compared to later year Hobie CMs .  My Hobie is thin and you can even duck dive it, no chance with the chubby Hokua   

Your surfing will improve/progress much faster moving from Hokua to the Hobie

[magentawave]

I was just about to hit the "Post" button for my thoughts on the 9' Hobie CMLB (Colin McPhillips Long Board), but then I saw this thread so I'll just copy and paste what I started...

I bought a used 9' x 30" x 4.5" x 137 liter Hobie CMLB recently and have surfed it in everything from knee to a foot or so overhead - and wow - what a FUN board it is! This is the regular non-RAW version but it's still very light for it's size at only 17 pounds with deckpad and 3 fins. The shape doesn't look impressive at first glance but put a straight edge on the bottom and you'll see a lot going on with a deep single concave leading into a very deep V with shallow concaves on each side with a slight V out the tail. I'm about 195 so I've been really enjoying the extra volume (137 liters).

I've been experimenting with fins and here's what I've tried so far...

1) My first time out was with a single 8" Hobie fiberglass fin and the board felt dead in the surf. (That same 8" Hobie fin was awesome on the 10' Laird I used to have.)

2) Then I surfed it with three of the bigger Gerry Lopez fins and it was much better than with the single fin but still way too much fin.

3) Currently I'm riding it with a 6.5" Walden fin in the center box plus Futures TP1's (4 5/8" tall x 4 1/2" base) in the side and it's so much better.

4) When I re-shape a big single I don't use into a TP1 sized center fin then that will be my next go out so all 3 fins will be TP1 size.

QUESTION:

What did you think about the board and did you dial in the perfect fin configuration?

[mrbig]

Synchronicity. Too funny. I had the pleasure of owning four of the things. Caribe has the first - too tippy way back then for me; STC got the second in a trade for; 10'6" GrafSpee - think Ahab on the whale; which was traded for the Fourth Way a 9'8"
CMLB. Perfect at that time. Fast, light, turntable even by a hobbit sized dude.

But I digress. I used primarily a huge single fin, and if conditions were right GL Thrusters that were also rather large!

Never a fan of two plus one when I was a crawler so my experimenting did not include that popular combination.

Great boards. I know there was a period when their glass factory in CA was closed due to "contraband" being distributed by some naughty glassers.
Quality suffered, but that is all in the rearview mirror

AWESOME BOARDS!!

[magentawave]

I know there was a period when their glass factory in CA was closed due to "contraband" being distributed by some naughty glassers.
Quality suffered, but that is all in the rearview mirror

AWESOME BOARDS!!

My one complaint is that some moron put the deck handle too far forward which makes the board feel really heavy to carry because you're constantly struggling to balance it. (Seriously, how difficult would it have been to figure out the correct placement? It's not difficult at all.) I assume the Hobie production boards are made in Asia, but if not, I wonder if mine was built after the "contraband" issue?

[APPST_Paddle]

Yeah, I read back a few posts that the construction is pretty light and they are subject to dings (I'm pretty tough on boards). Any feedback on this.

I'm looking at the 8'11" CM Pro, I'm good on a longboard shape with my JL Black and Blue. I was planning on going shorter than 8'11", but I think the volume works well and I love the lightness of the board.

[magentawave]

Yeah, I read back a few posts that the construction is pretty light and they are subject to dings (I'm pretty tough on boards). Any feedback on this.

I'm looking at the 8'11" CM Pro, I'm good on a longboard shape with my JL Black and Blue. I was planning on going shorter than 8'11", but I think the volume works well and I love the lightness of the board.

I'd say the strength of my regular (non-RAW) CMLB is stronger than a custom but not as strong as a JP Australia. (JP's are exceptionally strong though.)  I put a couple small cracks in the rail the first time I had to man-handle it down the cliff where I surf because the deck handle is in the wrong place.

[mrbig]

All of mine were in the Raw construction.
Vectra net is very resistant to paddle hits and the like. Multiple layers at different angles made for a very tough and light board.

I had no issues whatsover.

I do know folks who reported pressure dings and softening over a long period of time. Just like a lot of custom glassed boards.

JP tougher no doubt. My Slate and my Race bulletproof. Chippy though.

[Caribsurf]

Mr. Big, your loss was my gain and I am forever grateful to you for trading in your CM Raw 5 years ago.  Boards come and go, but I find myself constantly choosing the Hobie when the surf is going off.  It won't live for ever , so I plan to get a custom copy in the future...

[magentawave]

It helps a lot if you put that car door edge protector stuff on the blade of your paddle.

Mr. Big, your loss was my gain and I am forever grateful to you for trading in your CM Raw 5 years ago.  Boards come and go, but I find myself constantly choosing the Hobie when the surf is going off.  It won't live for ever , so I plan to get a custom copy in the future...

What kind of fins are you using with your 8-11 Hobie Raw and how much do you weigh?

[Caribsurf]

I weigh 180 and ride Jamie Mitchell thruster set up...great fins .

[supthecreek]

Good to see RAWs in the light.... my "MrBig trade" 8'11 was my 1st "performance" board and I loved it.

I am a bit of an abuser and my early RAW never got any mark on the rails... it was light, so I was careful to keep it out of the impact zone.
Pabst still has my old RAW.

[Caribsurf]

great Photos Creek and Mr.Big, I remember that post years ago.

I find the older CM Raws to be better built than the "spider web" carbon stringer models.

I got t-boned by a guy who wiped out and shot his huge, heavy  Angullo SUP right into my rail and I only got a pressure ding from his fin.  I did have an issue with a leak from the two deck plugs which were there if you wanted to make a carry handle out of your paddle.  I had both removed and deck redone and the board looks and surfs great.  It's still the lightest board in my quiver and never ceases to amaze me. 

I think Hobie may have licensed some of the newer Raws to a shaper in Florida and they were so fragile and poorly made..they looked good, but didn't hold up. 

[magentawave]

Did any of you guys end up with a Hobie with a deck handle in the wrong place?

[Caribsurf]

Yes mine is, when carrying the board I believe it is tail heavy..at first I thought it was the replacement fins or possibly water from a leak, but it's definitely the balance of the board due to the placement of the handle.  Still for as well as it surfs, I'll accept a little inconvenience walking to water