Review of the 9’5” Sunova One

[tbsurf]

This is in follow up to my earlier post before I purchased the One.  After four sessions, the latest in decent quality beachbreak, here are my impressions.

The board looks great in terms of design, construction and finish.  It is very light, pounds lighter than I am accustomed to on my several SB wave SUPs (8”10” Wide Point, Hero and Drive).  The handle works very well for carrying the board, although it is difficult to pull out for use for use by a lefty.  The fins are plastic – not doubt, a concession to reducing cost.

I found it catches waves easily and paddles fast enough to make a distance paddle entertaining.  To my surprise, on a no surf day, I had fun catching short glides on small bumps.  It has good stability, although I think the light weight allows it to be pushed around more than my other boards.  Nonetheless, it is plenty stable.

The One really exceeds my expectations when it comes to wave riding.  The several other reviews made it sound merely adequate.  My first session, in mid-thigh to waist high bumpy waves, totally intrigued me.  The board takes off on any kind of wall and just flies, easy to speed pump down the line.  I made sections I thought were not possible.  But, the conditions were small and bumpy, so I didn’t want to make any early judgments.  I finally had it in pretty good waves yesterday, semi-walled up chest to shoulder high beachbreak.  My first impressions were confirmed, the One flies down the line, particularly with your weight somewhat forward.  My other boards require that you place your rear foot over the fins to make them turn.  The One turns well with feet placed closer to the middle of the board.  The board is easy to surf, and feels intuitive like a great board should. 

These are still early impressions, but I think I made a great choice.  Like TJ at Big Winds said, I will likely sell the other wave boards.  Much easier to take a single board that works in whatever is thrown at it.  (I’ll still keep my race and touring boards.)  Finally, a big thanks to Big Winds for their fine customer service.  The first board (this is a bad sign of things to follow) came with an inch-wide hole all the way through the deck thanks to use of a forklift.  You could see where the puncture holes lined up from the outer and inner boxes to the deck of the board.  Chelsea and TJ got another board headed out a few days later, and took care of the problems with the shipper.

[Night Wing]

Another nice review. Looks like you've found yourself a winner in "The One". And if you sell your other wave boards, you'll have a little extra "mad money" in your pocket to indulge yourself in anything of interest to you.

Thanks for sharing another review of "The One".

[stoneaxe]

I forget if you said before. What do you weigh? I had very similar impressions of it. I was only on it once in waist high waves but it felt like it would be fun when it got bigger. It doesn't look fast but it was speedy getting around sections. I'm at 275 fwiw.

Great board...enjoy!