Upgrade from Hokua X32? Suggestions?

[APPST_Paddle]

I've had my 8'8" Hokua X32 LE for about a year, coming from a 9'2" Fanatic Allwave, I love the more tucked in nose, smaller overall shape and how comfortable I am on it stability wise. It was a nice step-up from the AW in my opinion. Now, of course, I'm looking at other boards just for fun, but if I can trade/sell the Hokua X32 I would definitely entertain the idea. Here's some stats:

I'm 175 lbs. I have a 10'1 JL Black and Blue for small surf/nose riding, this board will be for anything over waist high in general. I'm on the EC, so the waves are typically pretty weak, but I do make annual pilgrimages to Costa Rica and take a board with me. I SUP surf probably 100 days a year. I've tried a few smaller boards and been comfortable (one was a Boardworks Special 8'4" 110L.

My thought is that I would like to get thinner on the rails, less volume, and thinner for quicker rail to rail speed while still keep some stability. A few boards I've thought about:

Jimmy Lewis 8'5" Worldwide
Sunova Flow 8'7"
?

The other thing is that i find it pretty difficult to get my foot all the way back to the stomp pad on the X32, it's probably just me, but it feels like it loses a good bit of speed if I move back too far. I have no problem riding a surfboard with a kite with my foot all the way back, but for some reason with the X32 it's a struggle. I can see this from GoPro video from the paddle view - generally my front foot is right above the handle and my back foot about 1/3 away from the back of the board.

Any suggestions/thoughts? Anyone else made this same move? Anyone interested in a trade?

[Caribsurf]

I never liked my Naish Hokua X32 as I found it too wide and sluggish and the durability questionable

You might try the Jimmy Lewis 8'7" X 29" Kwad.  The Worldwide is same width as the Hokua I think.  Might be time you come down in width and get a little more performance.  While the Kwad isn't my go to board, it is my travel board as its airline friendly with its size.  It is stable, surfs really well and despite its short length catches waves very easily.  I think any board you choose will be a step up in Surfing performance compared to your Hokua...good luck

[Badger]

I'm 59yo and weigh about 170. I had the World Wide 8'5 x 30" 125L last year and went from that to the Flow 8'4 x 29 3/8" 110L back in March. The WW has since changed to 30 1/4" and 127L.

I really liked the shape of the WW and the way it rode but felt that the board had too much volume and a lot of it seemed to be located in the rails. The fat rails made the board feel corky.

I've been riding the Flow 8'4 for about six months now and love it. The overall shape and outline seem almost identical to the WW 8'5, but the rails are much thinner with 17 liters less volume. 110 liters is perfect for my weight. Any less volume would make it too slow to paddle any distance. It's a bit narrower than the WW but the stability is about the same.

I can only use the 8'4 on clean days. When things get choppy or gnarly I bring out the Flow 8'10 which I special ordered in 119 liters. That board is rock solid stable.

I think I would have been perfectly happy if I had originally gone with the Flow 8'7 but I was concerned because the volume was close to the same as the WW 8'5. I've since ridden the 8'7 and it felt fine. I'm glad I went with two boards though because they cover a much wider range of conditions. I use the 8'4 most of the time but it's nice to have the 8'10 handy for when conditions deteriorate or when I get tired.

Both the WW and the Flow can be turned from anywhere on the board. It's easy to get back on the tail when you need to but it's not required. To me this is a great advantage. Where I surf, the waves aren't always powerful enough to allow riding off the tail.

[APPST_Paddle]

Badger - nice assessment. Yeah, I probably deal with waves that are similar to your's in NH. Definitely going to look at the Flow, I really do like the stability of the Hokua, but I liked the same about the Allwave, and I couldn't imagine going back to it (not that is'a bad board - but I've progressed). So I'm thinking that going smaller isn't as important as losing some volume.

I'll love to demo a sunova, I'm in CT at the end of the month, may have to talk to JimK if I can figure out sometime.

[supthecreek]

APPST
I have a van full of Sunova's, for you to demo...  (or anyone else) 

14' Search
12' Venture
10'6 Surf ECO
10' Style
9'5 The One
9'4 Acid
9'2 Speeed
9'2 Skate
9'1 Acid - 126 liters ------ I can get my hands on a friend 8'10 Acid, if you come to the Cape - that might be perfect for you!
8'5 Speeed - 112 liters -----This has plenty of float for you, but is narrow - I have paddled it at 235 lbs
8'3 Shroom - 123 liters

I am hoping to have an 8'10 Flow at some point, but not sure when.

I will PM my number.... or PM me here.
Where do you live... or What area do you surf?

Peace
Rick

[Night Wing]

APPST
I have a van full of Sunova's, for you to demo...  (or anyone else) 

14' Search
12' Venture
10'6 Surf ECO
10' Style
9'5 The One
9'4 Acid
9'2 Speeed
9'2 Skate
9'1 Acid - 126 liters ------ I can get my hands on a friend 8'10 Acid, if you come to the Cape - that might be perfect for you!
8'5 Speeed - 112 liters -----This has plenty of float for you, but is narrow - I have paddled it at 235 lbs
8'3 Shroom - 123 liters

I truly wish I lived closer to you so I could literally demo every sup in your stable of sups. BTW, nice picture of your van stocked with lots of fine looking sups.

[APPST_Paddle]

For some reason I love researching boards and the pros/cons, etc. I was on the fence far as moving forward from my X32, but this past weekend I tried a Boardworks and BIC Surf board, both around 120L, and really loved the lighter volume.

So, here's a few I'm still looking at:

8'7 Sunova Flow - hope to try it this weekend
8'4" Boardworks Special - not sure about Boardworks and their build quality, but I really liked the short time I had with this board.
8'10" Hobie CMLB - Saw a review from Carolina Paddlesports, looks like it would fit my needs.
8'9" Fanatic Prowave - 116L, I think it would work, just worried how it would ride smaller (waist to chest) waves which is what I'm on 90% of the time
7'11" Fanatic Allwave LTD - So, I didn't really think about this, but this would be a huge drop down in size, so I'm thinking it would be fun to turn and get back on the tail, and the smaller Allwaves have thinner rails than the 9'2" I used to have. I'm guessing it would handle small surf well because of the flatter rocker on the smaller sizes.

Thoughts?

[beached]

when i went from those standard sub 9 foot boards (about 31-32 wide) to Simmons/Tomo shapes, the world changed for me. at your size, i think the Hypernut 7'8" would be perfect. or the Sunova Schroom (8'0"). fast, stable, FUN.

[NorthJerzSurfer]

I have the Hypernut and if you are riding fast beach break it's not the right board. It's really for fatter waves. In fall and winter in NJ we have very fast dredging barreling waves and the HN just doesn't bottom turn well enough (imho) in these kind of waves. In fat waist high and better waves it's the funnest little skateboard out there!

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[NorthJerzSurfer]

I have the Hypernut and if you are riding fast beach break it's not the right board. It's really for fatter waves. In fall and winter in NJ we have very fast dredging barreling waves and the HN just doesn't bottom turn well enough (imho) in these kind of waves. In fat waist high and better waves it's the funnest little skateboard out there!

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Re read original post. HN should be a great choice for your local weak wave. Just find a deal. They are obnoxiously priced new

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[APPST_Paddle]

Yeah, I have a Jimmy Lewis Black and Blue for fat, slow waves. I like a more traditional shape that can handle slower east coast waves and also the faster, more hollow CR waves.