Surf SUP video Review - 9'6 GenRation "KANGA" by Sunova

[supthecreek]

If you want performance, but with real stability... this is it!
This is a board I really wanted to dive into, so there is a lot of talking.... and a solid variety of surf footage to back it up.
All the talking was "One take" and unplanned... I wanted to be as candid and real, as possible.

The "KANGA" is Ian Cairns signature model.
Ian was one of the most dominant surfers in the world during the 70's and 80's ... winning "the DUKE" and 2 world cup events, and others.

He was a driving force that created the World Pro Surf tour.

Now... Ian absolutely loves SUP!
This board took Ian and Bert Burger from Sunova, over a year to dial in, to where it was perfect for a Surf Legend!

I really wanted to deep dive why this board is so good, but amazingly..... and almost contradictory, that it is also PERFECT for big guys or newbies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aVZbykc77U

[LBsup]

Great video and review Rick!  Thx!

[NEsurfSUP]

Great review Rick.  I'm saving up.  But I may want to demo again....hopefully on a hurricane swell (e.g. practice for winter).

[sflinux]

Thanks for the review Rick.  And thanks for sharing the stoke. 
Do you know what kind of shark was that in the video?
Do you know how much Ian weighs?  I hear he rides the 8'6".

[supthecreek]

Thanks Zonoids!

sflinux, Ian is 6'2 about 240 lbs.
I surfed with him at an APP tour event in NY. (pic)
He let me ride his 8'6 x 30 KANGA at 120 liters.
I struggled a bit, but it was surprisingly doable.... smallest, lowest liter board I have ever been able to stay up on in the surf zone.

lots of the Black Tips in the Ft Pierce area, they are responsible for 20% of the bites in Florida.
I was sort of studying them because I wanted to see shark behavior for myself.
I saw them near surfers feet all the time and they didn't seem to notice people at all... showed no curiosity or acknowledgement that the surfers were even there.

One early morning, I paddled out, right into the middle of the migration.
There were always at least 8 of them right around my board. All about 6 feet long and fairly thick.
I surfed for an hour with plenty of falls.... once falling into a circle of them in waist deep water. They never showed any interest in me.
That all makes me feel better, since we have hundreds of Great Whites on Cape Cod every summer/fall.
I figure, sharks are sharks, so probably similar behavior.

Black Tips hit people's feet and arms in shallow water and breaking waves where the sharks are hunting fish... the flash of skin looks like a fish, so the chomp.
Our GW's hunt seals right at the edge of the beach, also in shallow water... and hit hard from the side.
So... I don't spend any time in the areas where I might be mistaken for a seal in the turbulence, where it is low visibility .

[justsomeguy]

Thanks for the great video & review ... but wish you'd let us know how you really feel about this stick 

Looking at the range of sizes for the SP25, it also seems to offer some stable choices for us mere mortals. Is the rocker much different between those 2 models?

[supthecreek]

Thanks for the great video & review ... but wish you'd let us know how you really feel about this stick 

Looking at the range of sizes for the SP25, it also seems to offer some stable choices for us mere mortals. Is the rocker much different between those 2 models?

The SP 25 is a very stable Pro Tour performance groveler for small to medium sized waves.

At the 9'5 size, it gets wider and higher volume than the 9'6 KANGA.... BUT,
and, this is merely my best guess, since I have never even seen a bigger one:
I feel from riding my 8'11 SP 25 and my 9'5 KANGA, that once at the 9'5 size, the SP 25 may be at a width, that lose's many benefits of the shape.

I did a stability test between 3 similar sized boards.
They were all tiny for me at 235 lbs (107 kg)
8'5 x 30.5 SP 25 at 126 L
8'6 x 30  KANGA at 120 L
8'7 x 31.5 Placid at 125 L

The Placid was clearly most stable
The KANGA was quite stable at that size, even for me
The SP 25 was stable enough for a small board, but noticeably less stable than the KANGA.

My take on the 3 boards
I would ride the the SP 25 that I was most comfortable on, because it is a flat out ripper. It doesn't have to be small.... but I don't think I would be happy with a big one.

Although I could ride a fairly small KANGA, I would ride a bit larger than necessary, because it is so damn nice to be comfortable and still have awesome performance.... I think the KANGA will perform great at EVERY size.

The Placid is a "Stability board" IMO and should be ridden as small as you are comfortable on.... unless you want to take advantage of the stability and get larger for pure comfort.
I personally didn't sync well with the 9'1 but love my 8'10, so I recommend getting the one that all the numbers match your needs.

Rocker?
I haven't worked all that out yet.
It is hard to get a true read on the rockers... but my feeling is they are all relatively neutral but the Placid seems to have more tail kick.

The SP 25 and KANGA function equally well in soft waves or juice.

The Placid gets boggy in soft waves, so I only use it in some juice.

I am working on a stability comp video of the small boards above.