Tell me about the Riviera Whirling Dervish

[Zooport]

Anybody here ride or have a Riviera Whirling Dervish?  I would love to hear about it.  Tippiness?  Wave catching?  Paddling?  Turning?  I have been thinking about visiting the Riviera shop to see if they have a demo.

[balance_fit]

Hi Zooport

I recently got myself the 8' model, 108 L, which really, is short of 27.75" wide. I weight 80 kilos, and surf on baggies and rashguard, no extra wetsuit weight.

Before going ahead with my opinion on this board, please be advised that my style of surfing has morphed to a hybrid technique where i merged prone/knee paddle boarding and traditional surfing. So, i paddle my board to the lineup either prone or on knees, sit to wait for the wave, kneel on it (or even stand up in glassy conditions)to watch sets from a far, then, sit on my heels, turn around and attack the wave with a two arm stroke. Once i catch it, i either surf it on my knees or standing. No paddle. So my review will come from the surfing perspective only, -with some additional details-that could be useful for stand up paddlers.

Since my surf spot is quite far from shore, usually choppy, waist to chest waves, and features different sections that one can connect for a long ride,  i wanted the board to have a flat enough rocker for the long paddle out, and for allowing a quick entry on the wave and glide on the section connections, all of this, with a loose attitude once up and surfing-and the WD delivered. More on surfing just ahead.

I like the flat deck with a soft pad, a smoothly working pressure valve and very light construction. The carrying handle is slightly ledged but comfy. Having options to go quad, thruster or 2+1 (US box in the middle) is a welcome feature, since my surf spot is so variable.

The WD has the wide spot placed a bit behind center, but the thickness is quite uniform front to back. I feel this design feature helps it to be loose on the wave, with the help of a shallow v and sharper rails in between the fins and a slightly curved outline overall. The wide tail likes to be surfed from the aft third, bogging if one stays in the middle for too long.

A word of caution: even though this board has a wide nose and a nice shallow concave up front, since the wide spot is not up ahead, i feel it could be susceptible to pearling if one doesn't judge stance precisely (small sweet spot), also, because the board catches the wave quite quickly, leaving little time for trim adjustments.

Once on the wave, the WD becomes very loose  by standing just a few inches behind the center, and from there, stepping further back just amplifies the fun. The board is predictable and easy to grow into.

I have used a 2+1 setup, which makes it a bit snappier on cutbacks, and a quad fin setup, which loves to fly down the line. Thruster setup in agenda.

Just a few cons.

Light boards such as this can be fragile. I developed shallow indentations where i kneel to paddle on the first outing, even though i'm careful to distribute my weight from knees to ankles. My local Riviera distributor warned me of this, even though the board has a thin bamboo sheet in the standing area. But, in several successive sessions, the indentations haven't deepened.

The board comes with a set of plastic fins on a 2+1 setup...which is a great incentive to get new fins.
 
Graphics are nice, simulating brushed carbon, but can get hot in the sun-get a cover for extended car topping in the heat.

For a price point board, this one performs. It's fun, light and cool looking. It fits my hybrid application above expectations. I feel it could be great for an 80-90 kg sup surfer with intermediate ability that has some experience with Simmons or Tomo designs in the 8 foot vicinity.  Can't report on durability now, it's just a few weeks old, aside from the shallow knee indentations, everything else is fine. I really love the fact of having so many fin setup options, with an US box in the middle.

I can add some pictures later if interested.

Be well