Standup Zone Forum
Stand Up Paddle => Gear Talk => Topic started by: LBatBeach on March 23, 2011, 06:01:01 AM
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I have read all the raves re the Naish Hokua 7'8. Sounds like an awesome board and might be the right board for me. I am 160lbs and spend most of my SUP surfing time in Puert Rico riding anything from waist high blown out wind slop to clean glassy double over head ground swell. My current board is a 9'4x29.5 custom MHL fish. Outside of SUP, I kite but only prone surf occasionally on a long board.
In april we will head back to Delaware where we have weak beach break surfing. Last year I hardly SUPd at all. I have a JL 10'4 Hanalei that is not much fun in a beach break.
So the question is, what do you all recommend since demo'ing does not seem to be an option.
I have read good things about the Naish, but also Starboard 8'5 PR or Pro. Also PSH wide rippers. For weak east coast summer and fall surf, what do you guys think??
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you cant go wrong with the starboard PR, I have the Hokua 7'8 and really like it, floats great for its size and is super light, takes a few sessions to get it dialed in, whats wrong with the JL board?
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Had my first summer on the PSH 9-6 wide ripper last year (Cape Cod).
200#.
Running it quad .
Works very well in the shore break.....Disclaimer: i will go till i hit dry land, and you need to be careful even if you are bodysurfing....but a sup and paddle just add to the carnage.
I think probably one element to be considered is length and pivot ability, cause you pick up the shorebreak waves very close, you are not lining them up from way outside. The Ripper does that for me....and likes to ride the rails.
A longer board will get you in before the thing jacks, but then there is too much length......although in microsurf that is best.
I just got back from Maui were i tested everything, and the board i was most impresssed with in small surf was the Angulo 9...! Not quite sure it would be as good as the Ripper on it's rails, but lotsa glide for a 9 and bashy (if that's a word)
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Ps..I think the pocket rocket is killer too.....just a tad small for me
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Thanks guys. IMO the JL is too long and has too much rocker for the conditions described above. I have tried the PR. Very fun to pump it down the line. Loose. Very stable. Am wondering if I can go smaller. I like what I heard from DW regarding the speed of the 7'8n Hokua, but also wondering if it needs more quality small surf to excel. We dont get a lot of that.
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I surf the east coast (VA & NC) and I have found these two boards to cover all the wave conditions. I use the Pocket Rocket on small mushy days when the waves do not have much power. On days that are bigger or when the waves are barreling, I use the the 9'2 PSH Wide Ripper. The ripper excels in late take-offs (which we are stuck doing a lot of the times on the east coast), very loose on the wave, and a great rail to rail movement. I have not had much success riding the PR on steeper or barreling waves, but according to the board's description it is not really made for that type of wave. I am about the same weight as you, so I like surfing the shorter SUP boards. If I had to buy just one board, I would get a ripper. It is a versatile board and is just a lot of fun to ride.
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Hi VB. Thanks for the feedback. And yes, I plan to only get 1 Board. That is why I may be thinking that the 7'8 Hokua might be too specialized for the really weak and sloppy days. My buddy has the PR and he goes about 200lbs and loves it. I realize one board does a compromise make.
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Pocket Rocket is a good fun board. Even does well in choppy conditions.
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I've seen a couple guys surfing 7 foot boards, but they tend to miss more than they catch on an averge EC day. Most of the time they have to be right at the wave's peak and have to take late drops to catch waves; because of the lack of glide and weaker waves.
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Hey LBatbeach , sorry I've never paddled the Naish, but I really like the PSH ripper boards. Before you make up your mind check out Dan O'Hara's rocket sup in 8'! One of my favorite boards . www.solisdsurfboards.com
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I've got a Solid Surfco Mariner and it's doing well for me so far - I think the fuller nose helps on the days the waves are smaller & less powerful (plus it's 8'6"x29"x4.25" and I'm 210 lbs and I don't think I could balance a board that small with a pulled in nose - yet!!)...
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Man, I just tried (yeah...tried is right!) that Hokua. My hats off to you guys that paddle those little boards. Holy Cow!
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Another vote for the PSH Bamboo rippers...I am 140lbs, just sold the 8'6 and found it to work very, very well in beachbreak. Mine was not the narrow one, you also may not need the wide at 160lbs...
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I haven't tried my PSH 8'6" reg bamboo in a beach break, however it surfs great in steep juicy waves. When conditions are nice, the board rips, almost like riding my 6' reg surfboard. I'm similar size 150lbs but find it a bit too wobbly in choppy conditions. I prefer to use my PSH 9'3" ripper when the wind is blowing.
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At your weight and skill, our 8'8 Nah Skwell 'Surf Series' would be a great board for you. It's 18 lbs and has the best outline, thickness flow and volume distribution in the business. Nahs are made by AHD-Tridenn (Advanced Hull Dynamics). These guys have been making sandwich composites for more than 23 years going back to the windsurfing heydays... PM me if you want more info and pics... Paddle On, JD
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Thanks guys for the suggestions. I had not heard of some of the above mentioned boards and will enjoy checking them out.
I like the sound of a light board given that most of the fun will be swinging the nose around and doing small floaters etc in the sloppy surf.
Wind is still blowing down here in Puerto Rico but we have had some decent swell the past few days!
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Starboard 8'5" Pocket Rocket is awesome in Beach Break waves.
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Hey FMS, I checked out the solidsurfco.com page. That Rocket SUP looks awesome. What is your height and weight? If you were only going to have one board would you go bigger than 8'0. How is the durability? Prices is certainly right. Thanks.
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Whatever board you choose, make sure it has plenty of tail rocker.
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The Rocket is a super fun board ! I weigh around 176 lbs and I am 5'8 . As far as durability goes I would say its good. The glass is relatively heavy , definitely over 6oz. If I could have only one board I would certainly consider something around 9 + . Probably keep my PSH 9'11 extra wr or 9'4 wr . It's so nice to be able to paddle a couple miles to a different break, and man add a a couple inches to your board and what a difference it makes .
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In april we will head back to Delaware where we have weak beach break surfing.
When you say weak beach break, do you mean soft breaking waves? Like non-critical drops? Or just that the size is small?
I would think, depending on the wave type, you'd pick two different kinds of boards.
For example, I ride beach break, but it's usually big, steep, and fast. My optimal board has lots of nose rocker and is fairly short for the late steep drops, narrow-ish and good tail rocker to be ridden from the tail for quick turn-in and speed to make sections. I haven't surfed weak(soft/small) break too much, but I'd image you'd want less rocker for more glide, maybe more length, width, and nose volume as well.
It's curious to see all the recommendations, but I don't fully understand what conditions exactly everyone is imagining in this case?
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By weak, I mean 2-4 foot wind swell coming across a shallow sand bar. Short period. This is the most common conditions. When the wave breaks it is generally steep but not real powerful. We rarely get a true long period swell, but when we do it creates a very steep fast moving wave. This is much more the exception than the rule. My hope is to find a short board style SUP that would be fun in either of the above but recognizing the former is more the norm. A long board style of riding is less attractive to me since most of the coast here is just random sand bars with no long peeling surf. So when my buddies are out there riding their 6-7 footers or fish boards, I can be close by on a short board SUP. Thats my goal anyway.
Thanks again for all the interest and feed back.
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Maryland Ocean City Surf 2004 8/14 Inlet by Will Lucas surf64.com (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86t9Q0IV7xI&feature=related#)
Picture's worth a thousand words. This would be a great day in summer. Looking for a short board type SUP that would work well in the conditions pictured here.
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I'm guessing that your vid represents a lot of "real" hometown break conditions. If someone could nail down a couple of boards that absolutly rip in conditions like those, i think they would sell a whole lot of them.
i'm really interested in the replys to your post/vid.
Any reps or dealers out there that can recomend the perfect board for real-world conditions?
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Maryland Ocean City Surf 2004 8/14 Inlet by Will Lucas surf64.com (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86t9Q0IV7xI&feature=related#)
Picture's worth a thousand words. This would be a great day in summer. Looking for a short board type SUP that would work well in the conditions pictured here.
Looks just like this to me. Typical home conditions. My other boards are collecting dust.
Dwight's First Days on 7'8 Hokua (http://vimeo.com/18562655)
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This may or may not look good to you. We're pleased with it.
Cherry Downs (http://vimeo.com/21536531)
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D Dub, you guys were tearin it sup! Isnt it amazing how much fun you can have just being on the water on a nice day. Those Naish's look fun on just about anything. Before I make the final call, I plan to talk to Tim Nolte in Nags head. He is all about SUP right now and may have him make me a custom. Just going through the process with a shaper who really knows his business could be a lot of fun. No guarantees on the results but the process is really fun. The Solid surf customs suggested earlier look nice as does Tim Smalls Grim Ripper. So many choices and so little time. Thanks for the posts!
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I have a couple of customs from Dan at Solid. He made a 8'6" x 29" x 4.25" for me last year. It was a fun board, but still a little big for me. I'm 5'6" and 140 lbs. Right now I'm riding a 8'2" x 28" x 3.75" that Dan shaped for me. This board is based off of his DisFun shape. We put a little more rocker in the nose and gave it some single concave from the nose to double concave in the tail. This board is super light and a blast to ride. Dan just finished shaping an even smaller SUP for me last week. This one is 7'6" x 29" x 3/75". We based this board off of a new shortboard shape of his called the Spork. This little guy is made out of all recycled EPS. It has a shortboard nose rounded off at the very end with a touch of winger in the tail and a wide moon tail. I'll post some photos when it's all glassed up.
Dan is really cranking out some great SUP shapes. I'd give him a call if you're leaning towards a custom.
Aloha,
Jeff
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Here are a couple photos of the boards Dan has made for me.
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Hey Mark, nice looking sticks. Really like the outline of the one in the bottom photo. Does Dan ride his stuff? I find that it really helps when the guy shaping is a user as well.
Check out this little vid from down under. Nice 8'2 in sloppy stuff that we are talking about here.
Black Beauty in the Sun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUOjeMDbeqY#ws)
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I'm not really sure how much Dan rides his SUPs. The 8'2" in the bottom photo works great in small surf like in the video you posted. It's even more fun in bigger surf. However, it's not really made for steeper fast pitching beach break waves. That's what the 7'6" is going to be for.
Aloha,
Jeff
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LBatBeach,
I had Nolte build me a custom longboard a few years back (before I got into SUP) and his craftsmanship is outstanding. I've only heard good things about his SUPs and the acid smear colors his uses is very cool looking.
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Thanks everybody. I have a call into Nolte and have been dialoguing via email with Dan at Solid.
FMS can you post some pics of your Solid Rocket? (board shots and or action shots). The stepped rails have me hung up a bit. Think I would prefer something more conventional. Maybe he is very innovative but its not a design you see out there very much. PSH seems to be going the other direction with beveled rails on the bottom but a more conventional looking deck. If you cant post em, email them to me at Larry@casabonita-pr.com and I will post for all to see. Thanks.