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Topics - Casso

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1
Gear Talk / Ultimate Traction [ Video ]
« on: March 25, 2012, 03:07:37 PM »
Here's a time lapse video of me gripping up my new DEEP 12'6":


2
SUP General / 2011 Australian Championships [video]
« on: August 30, 2011, 04:27:24 AM »

3
SUP General / Ripping Up the Wall
« on: July 21, 2011, 04:39:05 PM »
There were three green DTMs, ripping up the wall!
And if one green DTM, should accidentally fall ...



Winter on Sydney's Northern Beaches.

4
SUP General / Dry SUP
« on: April 25, 2011, 02:34:53 PM »
What do you do when you are stuck 400 kilometres from the nearest ocean and yearning the feeling of pulling into a powerful bottom turn while leaning on your paddle ... hit the tarmac on a street SUP, of course.

I was lucky enough to win a Kahuna Creations Street SUP skatey and accompanying Kahuna Bamboo Big Stick the other week in a raffle and thought it might come in handy on this trip to western NSW. I was right. After five days out of the briny, I was ready for a SUP fix, well and truly ready.

It is a good thing that street SUPing is quite a close cousin to real SUP surfing - bottom turns, cutbacks and even power slides can be performed while imagining you are on a wave. Even 'paddling' back up hill can be correlated to flatwater paddling (the stroke is slightly different but similar muscle groups are used).

The kids even got on board (pun intended) and excelled with little or no previous skateboarding experience. The Big Stick's extra balance point provided an enhanced level of confidence and a truck load of stoke.

Thanks Kahuna Street SUP - you saved the day!

















More articles here: www.australianpaddlesurfer.com.au

5
Gear Talk / LSD 8'10" // Review
« on: April 25, 2011, 02:23:48 PM »
Finally, a shaper has taken the leap and pushed out a low railed, high performance, production SUP. Unlike everything else I've seen in the production (non-custom) market, the new LSD 8'10" has been refined so much that the rail profile now resembles a thick shortboard. It has been a bit of a bug bear of mine for a while now, that all the so called performance SUPs still have big blocky rails which take a massive Hawaiian dude to bury when doing a cutback or bottom turn. Luke Short has brought his extensive shortboard shaping experience and applied it to a SUP. Nice work Luke. Clap, clap, clap.

One word: Surprise

The board is 8'10" x 29.3" x 4.5"



Brian from Walk On Water was returning my DEEP 12'6" from a demo day in the Snowy Mountains when he asked if he could leave me with an LSD 8'10" as well, as he was leaving for China the next day and didn't have anywhere to store it. I politely obliged, thinking I would just keep it in my garage for a couple of weeks until he returned. I actually pictured it being the LSD 8'8" and figured I wouldn't get around to riding it as I already knew how that board went. When I was taking it out of the car I was intrigued as to what fins he was running because I couldn't feel a rear fin. I opened up the back of the bag and was very surprised to find a swallow tail staring back at me ... and a set of quads. Now, the LSD 8'8" is a 2+1 square tail so I knew something was up. I looked at the dimensions and read that it was an 8'10" - ooooh, this must be something new. Luke doesn't have an 8'10" in his range. Maybe I will give it a test run during its stay with me.

The next day I took it down for the early before work. It was blowing a light off-shore and there were some nice, clean, chest high right handers into the channel in the corner. A perfect testing environment for a new board.

I slid the 8'10" out of the bag and immediately took notice of the low profile rails. "Wow, they're thin", I thought to myself. I was now very excited and couldn't wait to see how well it got onto a rail through a big turn. The other thing I noticed was how light it was. This is a production board but it's not much heavier than my custom. Those Chinese factories are obviously starting to get this type of production process wired.

Running down the beach, trying to be the first out there, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the handle was in the right spot and the board was perfectly balanced with the grip, fins and a legrope on - another first for a production board!

I was a little worried that those thin rails would make the board too tippy when paddling but when I jumped on and paddled through the shorey, I needn't have been concerned, it was quite stable. In fact I didn't fall off while standing out the back once ... the whole surf. That's something I've haven't done for a very long time, even in nice clean conditions like that. I guessed it had to do with the extra width. Now the test would be to see if that extra width would hinder the performance in any way.

My first real punch through a wave went really well. Again with the surprises. I thought the slightly fuller nose would struggle with a clean piercing but, on the contrary, I got through a couple of mid-sized waves with ease.

A few little rights to get a feel for the slightly bigger board. It felt good. Lots of flow, good speed and it was very easy to turn. It felt light and agile under foot. I think the lightness of the board makes it more responsive. Maybe that was just in my head and it was more about the design of the board than the weight. Maybe it was both.

I finally got one of the sets. A really nice one. A perfect chest high wall running down the bank at the perfect speed, super clean and no crowd in the way (pretty rare in Sydney except for very early in the morning). A blank canvas. I faded a bit and gouged out a big forehand bottom turn, leaning over onto the paddle as far as I could. Those thin rails bit in, the quads held nicely and I pulled the 8'10" around to start heading up the face at an angle not far off 90 degrees. My first real turn on the LSD was next. A whack off the top. I hit the crumbling lip hard which pushed me around a bit and allowed me to transition my weight onto my heels then I took over and carved the board round the rest of the way so we were now heading down the face again with a fair amount of spray heading skywards. That was a big turn for an 8'10", on only a smallish wave. I was impressed with the lack of lost speed and retention of drive as I moved into another bottom turn. Almost a carbon copy of the first one but this time the ensuing top turn was more drawn out, away from the lip, with more rotation and maybe more spray. A shorter bottom turn followed which set me up for a few speed pumps. The agility of the board was very evident here with the quick series of rail transitions occurring with minimal effort. The LSD was hammering down the line - it proved it's got speed when you step on the gas. Now for the classic test, a round-house cutback around the paddle. Swap hands with the paddle, shuffle my feet over onto the heal side rail, dig the paddle in, get down low and drive with my thighs. The rail buried and carved the board around the clean face. I stayed frozen in that squat position until I could see the foam ball dead ahead. Then it was time to extend, put pressure on my back foot, shuffle my front foot to the toe side rail and swap hands with my paddle just as I rebounded off the foam. The board spun around quickly and I was back on my way, down the line again. A nice little floater on a close out shorey finished off an awesome ride. I was very impressed with the performance of this production SUP.

Lots more waves were had that morning, a few small ones which the board took on quite well and a couple more of those bigger ones which the board absolutely excelled in. Big bottom turns and those drawn out carves are this board's specialties. The 8'10" length was found to be a bit of a hindrance with the more snappy turns, close to the pocket, and had me coming unstuck with the occasional nose dive or front rail catch when coming out of the lip on the smaller waves. I am used to riding an 8'2" and an 8'5" though so maybe somebody coming down to this length instead of up won't have this issue.

Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised with this board. It is a real eye opener and might (hopefully) be the start of a new era of the production SUP that resembles its traditionally higher performing custom made cousin.

Highs:
- Gets on a rail easily.
- Carves beautifully.
- Nice and fast.
- Easy to throw around.
- Pretty light for a production board.
- Quite stable.
- Paddles well.
- Carry handle is in the right spot.

Lows:
- A little shorter would make it even more high performance.

More reviews here: www.australianpaddlesurfer.com.au

6
SUP General / SUP Racing from a Kid's Perspective
« on: April 06, 2011, 06:56:51 PM »
Here is a story my 13 year old daughter wrote about her experience in a recent race...

http://www.australianpaddlesurfer.com.au/article.php?id=86

7
Downwind and Racing / River Race - Sydney [Video]
« on: April 06, 2011, 06:45:10 PM »
Sunday 3rd April 2011 saw the dawn of a beautiful day on the Woronora River in Southern Sydney. The mist was burning off, the sun was beginning to peek over the surrounding mountains and excitement was in the air in anticipation for the first annual Coreban River Race. With some hot talent making the trek from up and down the coast, the action would be guaranteed to have the spectators on the edge of their seats. Here's a little bit of that action...


8
Sessions / Fun ones in Sydney [Photos]
« on: January 05, 2011, 07:59:22 PM »
Here's a few shots of the Sydney boys from the other day:






















9
Sessions / NYE in Sydney
« on: January 03, 2011, 07:48:17 PM »
A couple of nice little waves were running in Sydney on New Years Eve. Here's Dan Cleary (green 8'7") and Roger Peters (white 11'0") having a crack:

Last Day 2010

10
Gear Talk / Kialoa Pipes - Review and Photos
« on: January 27, 2010, 04:25:54 PM »
Kialoa Pipes

Warriewood
24 January 2010

I took delivery of my new Kialoa Pipes last night and had to get it wet at the first possible opportunity. That was this morning for the early. I didn't even get a chance to tape up the blade.

One word: Smooth.

This little paddle is just so smooth through the water. The new blade design is like cutting soft butter with a hot knife yet the tiny surface area has still got enough power to get you into those late take offs.

I went out at Warriewood with a very light offshore blowing and head high right handers off the point. There were only a few guys out to start with but the crowd soon grew to almost silly numbers by the end of the session.

This paddle is five inches overhead for me - that's my standard length for a surfing paddle. Dave Chun has change the standard Kialoa design of the back of the blade a bit - it no longer has a distinct bevelled edge, instead a more subtle domed profile. The face of the blade is slightly different too - still basically flat with no dihedral but he's put in a very slight hook on the bottom edge.

From the first couple of strokes I knew I was going to like this paddle. It doesn't feel that dissimilar to my Kialoa Methane in terms of power but you can notice the new contours of the blade working differently through the water. No sign of cavitation or wobble at all, even when you really step on the gas and push it hard. Entering, moving through and exiting the water feels really nice and very effortless. I guess it's the limited blade width (7.25") creating less resistance when you don't need it. There were a few hard waves to get into and the Pipes didn't disappoint - letting me get on a few which I thought for sure I wouldn't be able to.

Once on a wave, the Kialoa Pipes excels. It is so agile and you can throw it around really quickly. It's still got plenty of surface area to help turn the board when you need to but it's small and light enough (560 grams) to not be a hindrance when you're surfing. It almost feels like an extension of your arm.

The simple T handle works great. It's very comfortable, creates good blade control and is easy to tell if you have got it in your hand the wrong way around. The thin, oval shaped shaft is also very nice to grip.

One of the really great things about this paddle is that guys will be easily able to slot it into their paddle quiver. The small sized blade and floral pattern makes it easy to convince the missus that you bought the paddle just for them. A surf paddle for you and a flatwater paddle for the wife (or kids)! With luck on your side, the length should just about be perfect for both of you in those circumstances.

The workmanship and materials used in the Pipes live up Kialoa’s great standard. It looks and feels like a quality piece of equipment. The tissue paper decal embedded in the resin is a great addition.

Highs:
- Light weight.
- Extremely smooth through the water.
- Quality construction.
- Ideal 'family' paddle.

Lows:
- Doesn't come with a cover.
- Kialoa sticker on shaft peels off easily.

New floral decal under the resin (makes for a great birthday present for the wife):


New softer, domed back:


Slight hook on the bottom edge:



11
Sessions / New Naish Range in Action
« on: September 13, 2009, 12:49:25 AM »
Here are some of the new Naish boards in action:

New Naishs

Sam on the Hokua 8'10" and 8'0" with Alex on the Mana 9'5".

12
SUP General / Australian Paddle Surfer Magazine
« on: August 09, 2009, 03:22:56 AM »


And all you non-Australians will be able to get your hands on a copy too!

Get ready to be editorially and visually stoked.

Check it out: www.australianpaddlesurfer.com.au

13
Sessions / Sydney Flatwater Paradise - Photos
« on: July 19, 2009, 05:46:33 PM »
Just got back from a fun weekend away with the family to an exotic SUPer's paradise which is only 40 mins from the Sydney CBD. Enjoy...

Car loaded with the essentials (twin PSHs) ready for the first (5 min) leg of the journey. Notice the new Sydney Paddle Surfing Club Sticker!


Boat loaded with the essentials ready for the next (20 min) leg of the journey.


Let's get out there.


Mum and Dad first up.


We found a quiet little estuary.


With beautiful scenery.


Later I headed off for a solo 5km paddle, wired for sound with my cool H2O Audio Pack.


Father and daughter head off for Late Afternoon Glass Off (LAGO) session.


The wind had dropped and the sun was getting low.


You have to get off and walk around a metal shark net to get to this little, protected inlet.


Paddling past the tree cam.


There was a really deep, sandy drop off from one foot deep to VERY deep. The water turns a deep green/black where it heads off into the abyss.


So glassy.


The reflections were great.


We found a little waterfall behind those rocks.


It was so still and quiet except for the gentle trickling of the waterfall.


Back out through the entrance.


The next day was a mirror image of the great weather.


We found this little deserted beach a few bays around.


This is good fun, hey?


Son and daughter hit it by themselves.


Racing or splashing wars - not sure which.


Father and son spending some quality time together.


Shooting the pier. Careful of that 9'3" Ripper on those oysters, boy.


What a great weekend.

14
Sessions / A little story about a big wave and a big board
« on: July 05, 2009, 04:45:07 AM »
Ice cold. Checking the surf from the top of the Long Reef cliff with the pre-dawn wind whistling around me, I realise I should have really popped something thicker on, something thicker than my pyjama top! The time saved grabbing a jacket as I got out of bed doesn't seem nearly as valuable now.

Deep orange and red hues are starting to light up the nor-eastern corner of the sky. Not a cloud in sight. It's going to be one of those cracker, winter days. Well as soon as the sun gets up and takes some of the kick out of that Snowy Mountain originated wind, it will.

I was all psyched to hit Makaha (the Sydney version) after an email from the Goatman last night. We both thought it'd be on. It wasn't. Too much south in the swell meant it was swinging past the point with enough push to not wrap around the tip and light up the series of reefs that make up Makaha. Plan B - Butterbox, which would be copping the full brunt of the swell but might be a little bumpy in this wind. We decided to hit it, regardless. I had the PSH 12' Gun - and I was eager to finally get it out in some juice, so I was more than keen to take on the bigger side of the reef.

After a long walk we came across a little sandy beach between the series of razor sharp, rocky outcrops and decided sneak out through the heavy shorey from there. Some careful planning was required to get out without bringing the big 12 footer to grief on the 30 million old lava rocks and the whomping shore break. Goatman and I were sweet, Dan, on the other hand, had a few issues with his timing and balance, but soon joined us for the long downwind paddle to the take off zone. With the wind at my back and some little runners shooting away from the shore (due to the backwash and strange wrap caused by the scattered mini bomboras), I was powering along on the Gun - and having a ball before I'd even caught a wave.

Butterbox was solid and my first one, nearly double overhead, was a cracker. My first decent sized wave on the biggest PSH and it felt great. To be expected I suppose, this is what this board was made for. The drop seemed to last for ever. Dropping, dropping, dropping then a big, slow backhand bottom turn to be presented with a nice wall racing away into the channel. No time for anything much else except to skim the paddle along the face, get down low and gun it (pun intended). Travelling super fast now, I take an acute line to the top of the wave, get there just as the wall fades out a bit, get onto the inside rail and grind the big girl into an arcing top turn to shoot back down the face again. Another big bottom turn and mini top turn before the shore based rock ledge starts to get a bit close. I skim off the back of the wave just clearing the crumbling lip and ride for another 15 metres on the flat with just my momentum. We were in for a good session.

I got pumped a few times by getting caught in the wild whitewater after cutting back too far. The foam ball on waves that size are difficult to negotiate when they are sitting on the back third of your board.

I saw the Goatman get some crackers on his PSH 9'3" Ripper. I would have thought he'd be way undergunned in that size but he wasn't holding back. The set of the day was almost his, wedging up to at least double overhead, he tried valiantly to paddle over the feathering lip and drop down the almost vertical face. Not quite enough board length in the 9'3" to get it over the edge though and he was left cursing. If it was me, I would have been glad I didn't get it - that would have been a critical drop. Some of the others he got that I saw when I was paddling out looked great - big back hand bottom turns and critical turns in the pocket where he was showing me nearly all of the underside of his board. Ripping.

I got a few more big fun ones and some nice medium ones where you can push it a bit more. We were both on a limited time schedule and we could see some massive beasts feathering on the second bombie, over in the distance. We would have to paddle near there on our way back to the beach so we decided to see if they were rideable.

About half way to the big peak I could see a few prone guys and a couple of standup guys waiting out the back. Then as I got a bit closer one of the standup guys took off and dropped down the face of a massive one. Man, that guy is on a really big board - and man, he's got a nice style. He pulled into this biiiig bottom turn and then was hidden from sight by the mountain of frothing whitewater chasing him down.

I got to the take off zone just as that guy was getting back out there after his wave. It was Tom Carroll (of course) and he was on his new PSH 12' Gun too. We shared greetings and discussed the fact that our equipment was so ideally suited to these waves of consequence. Tom was out there with Matt Grainger (another big wave tow legend) and there was a real buzz in the air. Massive, awesome waves on a sunny Sunday morning.

I knew it was big out there, much bigger than Butterbox, but I was still surprised when the first big set came though. A real, deep water, bombora set.

Unfortunately I happened to be in the perfect position and unfortunately Tom called me onto the biggest one - oh no, I'm going to have to go it. Even though it was much bigger than my level of conscious reasoning could comprehend, I paddled my guts out and got to the top of the lip just as it started to pitch. A weird calmness came across me. I'm not sure if it was the beautiful weather, the smoothness of the double black diamond run ahead of me, the blueness of the water, the fact that a world champion and the heaviest tow chargers in Sydney were watching (and hooting) me in anticipation - but it was surprisingly fun. Usually, I would have just soiled my steamer in that situation. This was the biggest wave I had taken off on in my 30 years of surfing - and I was calm and focussed! I thought some of the drops over at Butterbox earlier were long but this was ridiculous. Very steep and the bottom of the wave looked like it was miles away. This really was a mountain of water that I was riding. A few minutes later, about half way down the face, I gingerly twisted my body to look down the line. I don't think my little adrenaline flooded heart enjoyed the view I was presented with. The wave had walled up to the point of starting to suck and it was feathering a long way down the line from where I was currently standing. Oh crap, this is serious. All my options were evaluated in a split second. I could bail out, dive deep and let that mountain of whitewater behind me, mow me down. I could straighten out and try and outrun it - I am on a 12 footer, but then again this is a triple overhead wave. I decided to go for my third option, draw the line, lock in, think fast thoughts and hope for the best. A bit of pressure on the inside rail and 12-0 Gun redirects, set for the safety route to the shoulder. I'm crouched down, I don't know what the paddle is doing (I don't care about that right now). The board is going fast now, I mean really fast. Really, really fast. It is skimming the ripples coming up the face but holding really steady. I can hear the sound of the whitewater behind me - it is loud, deafeningly loud. There is a beautiful curve to the face - due to its size I can see right from the flat surface in front of the wave, all the way up the face to near the lip. A perfect curve. I could see the curve change shape a number of times indicating the different sections I was racing through. I think there were three major times where, again, I though I wasn't going to make it but just held on anyway. Then, finally, the curve started to straighten out - that only means one thing, I'm through the steepest parts of the wave. Maybe I'll be OK after all! I'm still going at mach speed and straighten up a bit to look around. Yep I've made it, woo hoo. The volume of that thunderous whitewater has subsided and I'm home free. I pull into a big cutback, now that I'm more in my comfort zone and ride out the wave until it dies into the channel.

I paddled back out and tried to remain cool - acting like that type of thing happens to me everyday. Tom, Matt and Goatman all got ones as big as mine and ripped them apart with a lot more confidence than me. I grabbed a slightly smaller one as I wasn't sure if my heart could handle another shot of adrenaline like that. I got some nice turns in on that last one and headed for the beach.

What a morning. What a board. What an experience.

15
Gear Talk / Dale Chapman 8'8" - Review
« on: June 01, 2009, 05:29:36 PM »
Palm Beach
30 May 2009

Conditions: Light to medium off-shore wind. Head high waves.

I got the call informing me that the board had finally arrived in Sydney after its long journey from the Gold Coast. I was stuck at work and knew I wouldn't be able to check it out until later that evening. Ahhh - killer. Hard to focus on work that afternoon! When I did eventually get home, I wasn't to be disappointed...

One Word: Woohoo.

The board is 8'8" x 29" x 4".

If you were a little distance away when you first saw this board and your perspective was a bit out, you could be excused for thinking that this board was just standard shortboard. It is truly a shortboard shape and it's not until you see it a bit closer and can relate its size to something else, that you might think that ... hang on, that's a really big short board ... oh, it's a SUP.

The plan shape is very similar to the DC 8'10" with a really nice pulled in nose and clean  flowing lines down the rails, no hips or flyers, just nice curves. I got Dale to swap the swallow tail on the 8'10" to a rounded square for this one - trying to simulate one of Parko's shortboards (they seem to go alright!). It came out looking unreal. I got the nose lifted another half inch, the tail width reduced an inch and the tail lifted an eighth. I was trying to move from the semi fish of the 8'10" to a true shortboard for the 8'8". Dale interpreted these changes perfectly and now we have the DC 8'8" - an absolute cracker.

Like the DC 8'10", the 8'8" still has those nice performance oriented rails and slightly rolled deck - great  for burying and not bogging on those carving turns on the face. The reduced volume in the rails males the board a little wobbly but it also means that little bits of chop  break over the rails and don't bounce into them. The result is a less corky feel and therefore quite doable in heavy chop (which I've already been out in on this board).

The 8'8" has that same, nice pro-tech finish which makes it look like a pro's board and reduces the weight caused by an extra gloss coat (this board weighed in at 7.8 kg - without grip or fins).

I also got Dale to throw five sets of FCS plugs in it - so we have a multitude of fin options to play with. I haven't gotten past the straight thruster set up yet (running  Occys all-round) as this works so well but one day I'll have a play with some different setups - keen to try it as a quad or even big twin fins with a baby trailer.

I love a good recessed handle - even in smaller boards, so I got Dale to pop one of these in too. Woohoo.

So that's some of the theory, now let's see how it rides.

I found a nice little bank at Palmy, the next morning after getting the board. A light to medium off-shore wind was feathering the head high sets and there was only one other guy out for most of the session. Racing down the beach, keen as mustard, thinking I'm as cool as Luke Egan with my tiny pro model board under my arm, I trip on my legrope and nearly go 'a' over 't' -  man if I can't even get to the water's edge without losing balance how am I going to rode this thing. I throw it in the water, jump on and take a few strokes. Phew. I can balance on it and paddle it. I didn't order it too small. It doesn't track the best with only three or four stokes on each side before needing to swap hands - but that's a payoff you need to expect with a performance board of this calibre. You don't want this type of board to track straight when you are on a wave.

Punching through white water is an absolute pleasure with the good amount of nose lift and pulled in front end just popping over walls of foam with the greatest of ease. Trying to keep your balance in the soup after the wave has passed is another thing however, but I did OK, albeit a bit slow to get moving again after the wave had passed.

I waited a while for my first wave, wanting to get myself a good one for first impressions sake. It came and yes it was a good one. A really good one. Probably the biggest I got all morning and a really good shape. I swung around after spotting it and was surprised at how quickly and easily the 8'8" was to get heading in the opposite direction. So quickly so, that in fact I had spin around too far and wouldn't of been able to take the drop straight on. I had to quickly swap hands and paddle a bit in the other direction to straighten up. This made everything a bit late but the little DC handled the steeper than expected drop very well (with that good amount of nose rocker coming into play again). I faded a bit a leaned onto the bottom turn. Now, I thought Dale had put the fin plugs in a weird  position (quite far up the board) so I was a bit cautious as how much I'd be able to push it into a big bottom turn. As of turns out he knew exactly what he was doing as the board carved off the bottom beautifully with no slip at all. It's obviously using the rail for these types of turns and not relying just on the small fins. I should've had more faith in the man.

So now I'm presented with a little crumbling bit of foam about ten metres in front of me. Some of my other boards wouldn't have let me fit in a quick speed pump and little bottom turn before whacking that bit of foam but the agility of the DC let me do just that. I guess this is a combination of the lightness and manoeuvrability of this performance oriented board. So instead of hitting the lip with just the speed I already had, the little DC gave me the opportunity to gather more speed and come at the lip from a better direction. With this I hit the white water with more power and control - really smacking it and whipping the board around into a nice layback snap. Boy that first big turn felt great. It was at this point (first turn, first wave) that I fell on love with this board. Big call, I know but I really do think it is love!

Because this wave was breaking on the other bank, there was a big gutter between the main section of the wave and the reform on the shore. I wasn't expecting much from such a little board and just planned on riding the outer break - I wasn't on my twelve footer with plenty of glide now was I? As the wave died out I decided to see how far I could get on the DC 8'8". Even though the wave had stopped breaking, there was still about three feet of swell moving though the gutter so by putting the board on rail and carving into a series of swooping cutbacks I was able to stay on this unbroken wave. Wow - this was amazing. The little DC actually generated heaps of speed just by doing these slow, drivey turns - it felt great. I was able to continue these all the way in until the wave started to peak up again on the shorey. It doesn't have a lot of glide like bigger boards and you don't really trim the board on the wave face but a few of these slow, power carves will get you through all kinds of dead sections. Unreal.

With quite a heavy, sucky closeout on the shore, the short length of the 8'8" now came into play. Dropping down the reforming peak on an angle and then pumping along the face a bit got me going at a tremendous pace. No sign of any nose diving or rail bogging on this sucky wall. I hop up onto the closing out lip and run along the top of it, floating for what seemed like forever. A subtle change of direction and the speed that the little DC had generated made it easy to skim down the white water, over the trough and down onto the flat section in front of the wave. Really clean with heaps of speed. A very nice manoeuvre - all credit given to the capabilities of the board (not me).

Some of the other waves I got that morning included some almost vertical forehand re-entries (those ones where you seem to come back down same path that you originally climbed up the face), a couple of nice backhand foam bounces off the closed out white water (a very good testament to the agility of the board) and a really nice, fin release, tail waft over a crumbling lip.

Overall, this board is fast, drivey and manoeuvrable with true shortboard performance qualities. An absolute pleasure to ride, especially for a (now ex) shortboarder.

Highs:
- Light weight.
- Super fast.
- Carves really well.
- Snaps really well.
- Surprisingly good stability.
- Hard to nose dive.
- Has a carry handle.
- Fully Australian made.

Lows:
- A few dirty marks and cosmetic imperfections under the glass (but this one was a rushed prototype).

Here are some pics:

Plan shape and grip art:


Nose:


Front:


Back:


Rocker:


Nose lift:


Rail foil:


Recessed handle:


Freehand pinline art and Gortex air vent:


Weird looking but very effective fin placement with multiple combination options:


Signature and specs:


Happy boy:

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