Surftech Lopez 9'6"

[Gossimer]

I really want to try this board out and I just discovered that the Surftech Rep next door has one...  

It looks sweet!  And weighed almost nothing.  Anyway...

Coming in at #216 lbs, has anyone in this weight range tried this board out?  and

With the specs of the board taken from Surftech website, would it float that much weight?

Board Nose Width 20"
Board Width 28.5"
Board Tail Width 17.75"
Board Thick 4.125"
Board Volume 136.3 ccm

The Surftech rep weighed about 10 pounds less, but seemed to think that it may work.  And the write up of the boards, by Gerry, mentions 200+ pounders floating the 8'11" well.... wondering what the + was? and if that meant the 9'6" would float 200+ better?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[supin it]

From what i see of this board, Its narrow and thin 200pds i would think it needs a good wave going on the specs.

Another choice for you is the mactavish 9'6 150litres vs the lopez at 137

Both 9'6 boards.

[nokaoi808]

   Just rode my new Lopez 8'11" today and looks like I'm putting my other SUP boards
(C4 10'0" BK Pro.... Naish 9'6" both quads) in the classified ads tomorrow. Waves was in the waist-high w/ some head- high sets. This board has the "need4speed" I
looked for and the quad fin setup made me feel like I was cranking my turns and cut
backs on my shortboard. A very responsive and stable stick.....oh and by the way....
I weigh 217lbs.

[joemosq]

I'll start by saying that these are not beginners boards and you really should have solid SUP experience to be able to take full advantage of these boards. They are designed for surf, and they both do it well!  At 6'2"  205lbs the 8'11" Lil' Darling floats me pretty well.  I am fortunate  enough to have the 9'6" Surf Music as well and I can definitely notice a difference in the volume (10 liters) between the two, at my weight. The 9'6" is a little floatier but I am really of fan of the quad set up on the 8'11".

I think at at 216 lbs, if you have solid experience, you could really go with either board but I would recommend trying both of the boards out first before you make a decision. 

[Mattdog]

how is the glide, yawing, tracking for an intermediate on the 8'11"?  I use an Oxbow 10' and weigh 180 lb.  Cheers

[joemosq]

Mattdog,

At 180 lbs, the 8'11" will be a pretty stable board for you.  It is only slightly more narrow that your 10" Oxbow.  I have only been on the 10' Oxbow for about 5 minutes on flatwater so I can't really compare the wave speed between the 2 boards directly. On flatwater the Oxbow will offer a little faster glide due to its length but on a wave the 8'11" Lil Darling likes to go fast,  is super manuverable, and the quad fin setup makes the board really fun to ride.  The 8'11" is designed to be manuverable on waves so tracking on flatwater is not what it was really designed for, however on waves the quad setup makes it easy to hold a line but still be able to break free and carve easily when you want to.

I think you would really enjoy the 8'11" as a surf SUP board at you size.

[Mattdog]

thanks for the reply joemosq. Sounds like these shorter boards are really getting perfected! I like the idea of tuflite too.

[bigdom]

now that these are more availibale has anyone
any updated review or opionons on the lopez surftechs ?

both the surf music 9-06 and 10 and the lil darlin 8-11 ?


in particular compariososn to the C4 sub vector ?

[Nikoniko]

I've tried the 8'11" gerry out on a waist to head high day out at Kaiser bowls, and that baby flies down the line.  Compared to the subvec, the C4 is much more manageable and stable when dealing with chop and head wind. The gerry seems to yaw fairly easily.  Mind you Im 215 5'10".  The gerry future fin quad setup complement the gerry board very nicely but its a little bit stiff to do quick pivot turns when setting up for waves. 

Overall the gerry 8'11" is well worth it.

[1tuberider]

I weigh around 190 but I wear a wetsuit so that takes me closer to 2 something and I ride an 8'5 with volume of around 126.  No problems but I notice the long boarders having similar paddle speed when they work hard.

The 28 width may make it tipsy in confused conditions but that is your preference. I think you could go smaller (push yourself) and after adjusted to the shorter board the bigger boards seem like barges. 

[Nate Burgoyne]

I guess I'm a welterweight or something at 175 lbs. I have a 9-6 Lopez hand glassed. Extremely lightweight and would float almost anyone. It's a quad set up. Although it's smaller (relatively), it rides like a longboard in my opinion. That's not a negative thing, it'll just feel stiff to someone riding a board modeled after a shortboard. It's a little more swingy in the turns and you really gotta get on the tail to bury the rail for sharp cutbacks. It's a fun board.

I'm struggling with the OAM deck pad. I've slipped off without warning too many times. I don't know if the pad is worn or has someone's old sunscreen on it or what but I've slipped right off without warning and have had to adjust my style for it while riding the board. I really like the tail block piece of the pad though. It has the raised arch that extends 1/4 the way up the board. That feature of the deck pad is sweet.

[al808]

I'm interested in the "Lil Darling" is there any more reviews on this board? and any one  compared the Lil darling to PSH 9'3 ripper? Thanks in advance