PSH 9'8 Ripper

[Bob from Brazil]

Aloha folks,

This week I had 2 sessions with the PSH 9'8 Ripper and I loved it... I used to have the 9'3 Ripper and my impressions are that the 9'8 is one level up...

What impressed me the most was rail to rail action, which in the 9'8 was FANTASTIC!! Unlike her smaller sister, the 9'3, I can really feel the rails on the 9'8 driving down the line as well as generating speed at turns and cutbacks... Powerfull board!! Sharp & thin rails...

Since I feel the 9'8 is a step up in the evolution, I was wondering if the new PSH boards to come are like a 3rd generation in PSH production boards...

By the way, this very same week I tested a hand glassed 9'2 ripper and that was THE BEST PSH board I tried so far... Maybe I'm enjoying more thinner rails as opposed to boxier ones...

Anyway, back to the subject, I was wondering how many of you are ridding the 9'8 ripper and what to expect from the newer models regarding shaping refinements?

Mahalo do Brazil,
Bob.

[supmaui]

Bob

I have one of these 9'8 rippers and here are my initial thoughts on the board:
I weigh 155 lbs and for me the board was slow on waves less than 3 feet. The board had great float but it needs some decent size to really make it come alive. So the jury is out on this board for me.

However last weekend my cousin Barry who weighs 155 to 157 lb.s took it in head plus waves at Hookipa and loved the board. He did have problems with looseness and this was due to the fact that the center fin was all the way forward and the fin was small.

So far that is all the feedback I can give ya.

Aloha

B

[Bob from Brazil]

Thanks, Byron...

Although I think a shrinkage version of that board could better suit me I had fun with it and my surf was explosive… For that matter, I ordered an 8’5 custom board from a local shaper here in Brazil, which is supposed to be finished tomorrow, so I wasn’t really looking for a board that size (9’8) but I was surprised to see how good it felt surfing…

Maybe I felt it was alive because of my weight (200lbs.) and that could have made the difference… The guy from the shop that lent me the board weighs about the same you do and he wasn’t that impressed…

Yesterday I was surfing with my Terry Chung 9’8 Semi-Gun and swapped board with the PSH 9’8… Although they look like similar boards (pointed nose) they’re completely different boards and behave very distinctively each from the other, specially if you consider one is a quad (Terry) and the other is a tri-fin (PSH). But both boards nailed it right when it comes down to perform what there are supposed to: Terry’s board really felt like a gun and PSH board really felt like a ripper.

Mahalo do Brazil,
Bob.