Author Topic: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback  (Read 18378 times)

sharksupper

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #15 on: December 19, 2011, 03:41:48 PM »
I got a chance to ride the 8'5 in a variety of conditions over several days, and as a quad (supplied quads).  I'm about 170lbs, the board feels slightly big to me, but handles great for it's size.  I'm used to the 8'4 and 7'3 Hokuas, so keep that in mind.  The 8'5 is listed as 115L, the 8'4 I'm guessing to be about 107L, and the 7'3 is listed as 105L.  It seems pretty quick, and turns awesome off the middle/rear and the tail.  It has  steep tail rocker like the 7'3, I'm really liking that feature!  I was worried about the lower nose rocker, but I put it to the test with late drops and slashing super critical and basically falling to the bottom.  It came darn close to catching a few times, but made it out every time, no pearling or nose diving.  The 8-4 has a harder chine/release all around, is narrower, and I have performance fins on it so it's quite a bit faster than the 8'5 down the line in barrels.  The 8'5 has super super soft rails in the middle, this makes it very forgiving, however, I did notice some unwated stick on the wave when standing directly in the middle and dropping in, the chine line is very very subtle, hardly noticable, so it doesn't release easy in the mid section and sucks to the water in certain conditions.  Once up to speed and standing in back it glides awesome though.  The thin sharp tail area kicks butt for ripping bottom turns, it's a very manuverable board!  Quad vs Thruster, the stock quads are a bit more drivey.  The supplied fins are flexy glass fins, not super performance fins, pretty impressive feel though.  I'll definitely be playing with some different fins.  This feels like it would be a great small board in the quiver of an expert surfer in the 185-195lb range.  I'll be using it for bumpy conditions, slow waves, or when I'm feeling lazy and don't want to try balancing so hard on the 7'3.  It paddles much faster than the 8'4, leaving me in quite a dilema about what board to ride in big stuff.  The 8'5 gets in much faster, but then hits a speed limit, the 8'4 is slow to get in, but jams down the line... hmmm...

Oh yea, my scale says it weighs about 18lbs, feels super light and tight construction, very sweet!
« Last Edit: December 19, 2011, 03:47:44 PM by sharksupper »

Dwight (DW)

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #16 on: December 19, 2011, 05:26:54 PM »
The 8'5 gets in much faster, but then hits a speed limit, the 8'4 is slow to get in, but jams down the line... hmmm...


I checked my notes from when I owned the 8'4.

I measured 3.25 tail rocker and noted single concave to very light v in the tail. That's a lower rocker number than some other boards of similar length I have documented. So my notes indicate it should be fast.

What's the bottom like on the 8'5?

gafas

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #17 on: December 20, 2011, 01:27:44 AM »
Great post and nice photos.

 I'll be using it for bumpy conditions, slow waves, or when I'm feeling lazy and don't want to try balancing so hard on the 7'3.

Do you find the 8'5 more stable than the 7'8, even with 1,5'' less width?

sharksupper

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #18 on: December 20, 2011, 09:09:04 AM »
The 8'5 gets in much faster, but then hits a speed limit, the 8'4 is slow to get in, but jams down the line... hmmm...


I checked my notes from when I owned the 8'4.

I measured 3.25 tail rocker and noted single concave to very light v in the tail. That's a lower rocker number than some other boards of similar length I have documented. So my notes indicate it should be fast.

What's the bottom like on the 8'5?

How did you measure the tail rocker?

sharksupper

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #19 on: December 20, 2011, 09:10:34 AM »
Great post and nice photos.

 I'll be using it for bumpy conditions, slow waves, or when I'm feeling lazy and don't want to try balancing so hard on the 7'3.

Do you find the 8'5 more stable than the 7'8, even with 1,5'' less width?

I'm on the 7'3 not the 7'8, the 8'5 is way more floaty and considerably more stable than the 7'3.  I'm not sure on the 7'8 though, DW might have an idea since he had one...

Dwight (DW)

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #20 on: December 20, 2011, 09:38:58 AM »

How did you measure the tail rocker?

Like this http://ncpaddlesurfer.blogspot.com/2010/09/shape-details-naish-90-mana.html

I bought an 8ft long piece of aluminum angle at Home Depot. Set it on the mid point of the board. Shim the board level on the sawhorses, just to ensure accuracy.

It gets a little tricky to measure on boards longer than 8ft, but you can improvise.
 

gafas

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #21 on: December 20, 2011, 09:55:52 AM »
I'm on the 7'3 not the 7'8, the 8'5 is way more floaty and considerably more stable than the 7'3.  I'm not sure on the 7'8 though, DW might have an idea since he had one...

Ooops, my fault. DW, can I have give your opinion?

sharksupper

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #22 on: December 20, 2011, 10:09:40 AM »
It's difficult to get exact measurements for overall tail rocker.  I got 3.125 for the 8'4 just now, and the 8'5 came out about 1/4" more.

That measurement doesn't seem like it tells the whole story though.  That is an average from the middle to the rear.  In reality, there is a "tail kick" at the end where it drops off hugely, right about where the fins start.  I notice on the 8'5 it has a noticeably steeper drop off at that point than the 8'4, even though the average tail rocker is very close on the 8'5.  I guess what I'm seeing is the 8'4 is more banana shaped (even constant curve), and the 8'5 is a more pronounced drop off at the tail... the mid section is flatter... probably part of the reason why it paddles faster.

« Last Edit: December 20, 2011, 10:17:02 AM by sharksupper »

Dwight (DW)

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #23 on: December 20, 2011, 10:27:47 AM »
It's difficult to get exact measurements for overall tail rocker.  I got 3.125 for the 8'4 just now, and the 8'5 came out about 1/4" more.

That measurement doesn't seem like it tells the whole story though.  That is an average from the middle to the rear.  In reality, there is a "tail kick" at the end where it drops off hugely, right about where the fins start.  I notice on the 7'3 and 7'8 they both have a noticeably steeper drop off at that point than the 8'4, even though the average tail rocker is very close (on the 8'5).  I guess what I'm seeing is the 8'4 is more banana shaped (even constant curve), and the 8'5 is a more pronounced drop off at the tail... the mid section is flatter... probably part of the reason why it paddles faster.


I think the winged tail creates an optical illusion when looking at the rocker curve.

The 7'8 actually has a constant curve rocker. See here http://ncpaddlesurfer.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-i-designed-my-710.html

The only way I could determine for sure, whether a constant curve or accelerating curve was used as the rocker, was to measure every foot, then plug dimensions into CAD. Then draw constant arc segment over rocker and see if you can make arc match. I was able to find the arc that matched the Naish 7'8 numbers I got exactly.

The Naish 14ft Glide is also a constant arc, as are most windsurf rockers. I have build downwind raceboards with accelerating curves and constant curve. The accelerating curve race board surfed better, but had a limited top end. The constant curve rocker was much faster. Both boards had identical total rocker heights at the tail.

My custom 7'8's use the Naish 7'8 rocker. It's a very fast magic rocker in my opinion. My custom just changes the Naish template from wide point 6" forward to the middle, taking on a template match to an enlarged Channel Islands Dumpster Diver.

The Naish literature claims the 8'5 doesn't require the surfer to shift his body weight over the rocker as much as some other SUPs. I think this statement would indicate the 8'5 is also constant curve.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2011, 10:33:24 AM by DW »

sharksupper

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #24 on: December 20, 2011, 01:32:52 PM »
Interesting info DW.  I'm really not sure about the rockers.  I know from riding the 8'4 and 8'5 that the 8'5 paddles a lot quicker, glides better, and I like the feel of it better for carving.  How do I measure that on a ruler?   ;D

Are you going quad on your custom board?

Dwight (DW)

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #25 on: December 20, 2011, 02:20:15 PM »
 How do I measure that on a ruler?   ;D

That is exactly why I started measuring every board I owned going back several years. Even though at the time, I had no intention of shaping boards. I just wanted a data base to help me understand why some boards felt different.

Quote
Are you going quad on your custom board?

Yes, I'm doing McKee quad placement.

Koomba

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #26 on: December 23, 2011, 10:13:54 PM »
Hi there,
I have been riding the Hokua 8'5" for a while, but I am not sure about the fin configuration.
I feel much more stable with the quad setup, but I keep hearing that "everybody" is turning back to thruster.
Any recommendations for a fin setup?


sharksupper

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #27 on: December 24, 2011, 11:43:09 AM »
I've ridden with both supplied fins setups and would say if you're going to stick with the supplied fins I'd go with the Thruster... unless you want more drive.

I'm going to buy some smaller quads for it, I haven't even come close to sliding these fins... what fun is that!?!?   ;D

JohnnyMaya

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #28 on: February 07, 2012, 06:18:14 AM »
Would you guys say that a guy who is 215lb would be able to manage this board?

I've surfed the 9'0 and despite the strong winds I felt it was a lot more stable that the PSH 9'3 I owned at the time and I managed to surf the 7'8... It was kind of hard, but I think the main problem was the size. I wasn't used to such a small board.

I've been riding the SB Pocket Rocket and the 8'5 Pro and would like to have an ideia on how it compares stability and floatation wise.
I feel that the 9'0 would now feel to big and the 8'5 could be perfect... if it floats me!

Thanks,
Johnny

sharksupper

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Re: 8'5 Naish Hokua feedback
« Reply #29 on: March 19, 2012, 09:21:14 AM »
Sorry Johnny I didn't see this post.  215lbs might be getting close to the limit for this board depending on your ability.  At 115 Liters it's got decent stability for it's size but I wouldn't say it's the boards strongest point.  I'd probably go for the 9'0 unless you are looking to fill the small board slot in a quiver, to be ridden in ideal conditions.

 


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