Advice on Naish quiver.

[tautologies]

Okay It is decision time. I am happy with my current boards, Naish 11'4'' Nalu, and 9'6'' PSH ripper....but sometimes it is just fun to change it up a little, and everything is up in the air. 
I'm 200 lb so this is for a big-ish boy.

Mostly looking at the Naish boards. For some reason I have never had success with the C4 boards.

I am definitely getting the 7'9''. I've been eying that board since I first saw the pics. It looks a lot like Iggy's hybrid shape shortboard and I really just like the look of it. I'm planning to use it as a  board from about hip/chest to head and half high waves.


I want a setup that has me covered in many different conditions as follows:
flat water paddling, small surf to probably double overhead. Biggest ridden wave on an SUP about 15 ft. So far most comfortable in chest high to about 10 ft face.   
 
What I don't want it for on shore wind, sloppy small stuff. When it's too windy I'll go kiting.
I was considering the 11'6'' gun to replace the 11'4''. Big boards seems to be kind of down the line boards and the gun takes this to an extreme. I am a little worried about how it paddles in flat water. Any comments?

I can fit boards 9'6'' and under in my car.

Possible options:
Can keep both 11'4'' and 9'6'' Ripper or...

Sell the 11'4'' and get either 10'6 nalu or the 11'6 gun. It doesn't have to be easiest on flat water, but decent.

Sell the PSH and get either 9'6 nalu, 9'6'' hokua or 9'5'' mana

I will not get both the 10'6 and 9'6'' nalu.

anyways...too many options flying around.

[DavidJohn]

Sounds like the 7'9" and 9'5" Mana's might be a good Naish Quiver for you.. 

Don't consider the 11'6" Gun unless you demo one first.. They are pretty tippy and have no glide IMO.

DJ

[Dwight (DW)]

As I was about to type my answer, I get this red warning saying a reply was posted while I was typing.

I was about to say 7'9 and 9'5 Mana. Great minds think alike DJ 

Demo that 9'5 Mana. The wood in those Naish boards makes them feel better on a wave. I now wonder if the feel wood adds, might not be the real reason for Blanes switch to wood.    No more hollow bouncy pop out feel 

[Pureadrenalin]

I was considering the 9'5 mana until I demoed the 9'6 hokua. Amazing SUB unreal light tracks very dead on and very stable. So I would strongly recommend you try the hokua also since there about the same price range. Oh yeah it's a quad also.

[Dwight (DW)]

........ since there about the same price range.

Not anymore. New pricing puts the Hokua $200 higher than the Mana    

Also, the boards out of the China factory (Mana's) have nicer fins and bag in my opinion. All you get for $200 more is a lighter board when built at the Thailand factory (9'6 Hokua). That said, light sure is nice  . I just added a 9'3 Hokua to my quiver. It weighs 18 lbs 

[tautologies]

Sounds like the 7'9" and 9'5" Mana's might be a good Naish Quiver for you.. 

Don't consider the 11'6" Gun unless you demo one first.. They are pretty tippy and have no glide IMO.

DJ

Hey thank you for the answer :-)

When you say no glide for the gun...do you mean compared to an actual long distance board, or do you mean as in sits on its ass, dragging kind of no glide. I am not expecting perfect glide but I was hoping I could use it for those no wave no wind glassy flat water sessions...

If you have tried the 11'4'' how does the gun compare to that board? I like it but I was hoping for something a little higher performing in the waves. It says on the www.naishsurfing.com that it goes pretty early..which is what I am looking for. To me that means it can be paddled to some speed, and that you in bigger waves have comfortable speed ie. not going over the falls with it which I think is the worst I've experienced on relative good sized waves...it also say it can go in smaller waves...

I know you all say test, but some times that is not an option :-)

[tautologies]

I was considering the 9'5 mana until I demoed the 9'6 hokua. Amazing SUB unreal light tracks very dead on and very stable. So I would strongly recommend you try the hokua also since there about the same price range. Oh yeah it's a quad also.

I had a short run on the 9'6'' hokua on a very bumpy day, in really sub par conditions, and the board did feel light and nice on the feet. I guess the boards are very different, but I can't really decide n which charateristics I want. The quad does pull....

[DavidJohn]

Here's some pictures of the Naish 11'6" Gun.. http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=52969&SearchTerms=the,real,gun





As you can see there is so much rocker and the tail's is very thin but the other thing that makes it hard to paddle is that the tail is very narrow.. All this takes away glide.. Both flat water paddling and wave catching.. IMO.

With the narrow/pointy nose and the very narrow tail there is very little of the boards rails that are close to full width that is already pretty narrow.. So I found it very tippy and hard work to balance on.

I've owned the 11'4" and loved it but the 11'6" is about as different as you can get.. I found the Gun very hard to paddle.. in fact I was forced to do 'the paddle of shame' on my knees when it got choppy.

I would not say the 9'5" Mana can't be ridden as a high performance board.. I've heard there might be a 9' Mana coming.. If you want higher performance my friend Matt Lumley says his 9' Nalu is the most high performing board that he's ridden.. That was until he got his new 8'4" Hokura..  

I guess it depend weather you like to nose ride or not as to what is the better board.

DJ

[tautologies]

ALoha, thank you for the pic. I wasn't aware of the rocker being so radical. I've only seen the vid and in the store standing up. I was aware of the tail though, and that was one of the things I was hoping would increase the surfability of the board. My gun surfboards have a much straighter outline, but still the skinny pin tail. 

I must admit I don't really know much about paddling (so far that has been means to an end), but it makes sense that a huge rocker would take a little off the efficiency...on the other hand, I've seen a lot long distance boards and they have quite a lot of nose rocker and very often a skinny squash...but I guess a lot more volume. I'll defer to you guys.

I guess I just gotta make a call and go for it.
Thank you again.

[1paddle2paddle]

........ since there about the same price range.

Not anymore. New pricing puts the Hokua $200 higher than the Mana    

Also, the boards out of the China factory (Mana's) have nicer fins and bag in my opinion. All you get for $200 more is a lighter board when built at the Thailand factory (9'6 Hokua). That said, light sure is nice  . I just added a 9'3 Hokua to my quiver. It weighs 18 lbs 

Hey DW, 18 pounds for a molded board seems very light.  How did you find out where they made that particular board?

I used to have a Naish 10'6" wood veneer and it weighed 24.5 pounds.  It was lighter than the Subvector which weighed 25.5 pounds.  But that Naish had the infamous soft deck and was easier to ding than other molded boards.

[tautologies]

Hey DW, 18 pounds for a molded board seems very light.  How did you find out where they made that particular board?

I used to have a Naish 10'6" wood veneer and it weighed 24.5 pounds.  It was lighter than the Subvector which weighed 25.5 pounds.  But that Naish had the infamous soft deck and was easier to ding than other molded boards.

hmm, well the ding resistance is actually one of the reasons why I stick with the Naish board..in addition to the overall performance, but they certainly have dinged less than my other boards.

So my decision so far. Keep the 9'6'' PSH, get the 10'6'' Nalu. I've ridden this board quite a bit, and think it'll do well as my easy paddle good surfing longboardish feel board. I think it might have better directional steering than the shorter versions and I can surf it very well. And then get the 7'9'' Mana. I just have to have that board :-)
Thinking about the 9'6'' hokua / mana 9'5'' for later, but will hold off for now.

[Rdubach]

I would check out the 9'6" Coreban Performer or the 10'6" Rocket.  Both boards float big guys extremely well.  I demo'd the rocket and bought it the next day.  It's a sweet board for big surf but if you want you can also get out on the water and do a decent paddle on flat days. 

The 9'6" shreds and has a ton of volume for the big fellas.  I would call Linus, the Coreban rep and try and get something going.  His number is 310-928-6705.  Might even hook you up with a deal if you tell him I sent you.

[Nate Burgoyne]

Some guys were playing with a Naish gun before the Stand Up World Tour. What heard is it's a big wave board...BIG wave board. I heard it was much board for 8-10' (Hawaiian Scale) Sunset Beach (3x overhead) contest conditions. More of a straight shooter in the BIG stuff.

[tautologies]

Nate: Thanks, yeah 10+ Hawaiian is too much for me, and I don't mind having a board that screams down the line, but would like it to be agile.

Do you know if your buddies played with the fin placement? I mean a lot of times if you move the fin forwards the board will loosen up a lot. The gun looks radical though :-)

Anyways,

[tautologies]

Woaa, so after first session on the 7'9'' in super small surf. The board is crazy stable...went on it, paddled out and caught a wave and I didn't even fall in until after the second wave. I think that is pretty amazing,...I am at best a sub-average surfer. The wave were 0 - 2 ft. I mean I had to be pretty accurate on timing them, and I have a long way to go before I get more comfortable, but the board performs beyond my hopes so far...of course it takes more than a session to judge that...

When I saw it out of the store, I really had no faith that I could ride it. It is barely bigger than my paddle....but it worked well. I am over 200lb.

Super loose on the wave, just like the prone hybrid board. I'm expecting a lot of fun from this board. YAY!!!