9'5 x 29 Starboard NUT my new favourite board

SURPRISED! - 9'5 x 29 NUT my new favourite board for just getting out to enjoy your local beach break set up ..

it was a NUTTY kinda morning to be pleasantly surprised by something that looks a little awkward but oh my goodness does it perform.

2-3ft beach break split by a rip channel & a bit of bump would for most mean a shaky session on any SUP let alone one that measured only 29” wide.

This session was full of surprises , from the moment i threw the NUT out in front of me to paddle away from the shore break & thru the soup & the bubbles of foam I was surprised that by moving forward a little further than what would generally be middle of the board either side of the handle, the board flattened out & eliminated most of that instability.

the 9’5 length meant it was in that range offering ability to cruise in to most of what a beachie will offer whilst giving some ability to turn a little tighter than say a 10’5 Drive .

What would normally have been a set up for a few pumps down the line & into a drawn out cut back on a 10’5 for my first wave, things turned out very different indeed, a little loose as i pushed the 9’5 x 29 NUT for my first pump feeling like it might have washed out on me , however then backed off on the back foot weight as I set up for the next pump & I found the spot & the NUT reacted with a little squirt of speed & then looking ahead there was a section coming back toward me which offered a line off the bottom to then follow the foam down to the flats .

If this had been the 10’5 it would have been time to look at a bounce off the foam & float thru the section , BUT to my surprise as I rolled over a little more aggressively on the rail the NUT turned toward the lip & pointed me in a direction which allowed me to push hard thru my back foot as I transitioned to the opposite rail to follow that line & then ….. came the surprise of all ….. the tail released & the board felt like it turned on a dime .

Paddling back out I actually had to turn & check out the tail as I was certain it was a square squash tail when I had unpacked the board earlier , but this felt like a pin tail off the top it really was amazing that a 9’5 had this feeling that was normally something I would expect from my 9’1 PRO boards or shorter.

Having the opportunity to ride a selection of waves both frontside & backside it does take some adjusting to find the spots that work & those that just explode & like any new board this has to be expected. I would say that if the waves were a little bigger I would most likely upsize my rear centre fin to hold a smoother bottom turn but hey until I actually try that I have to say that this only is what I assume & after this mornings session I look forward to being pleasantly surprised & shown to be completely wrong & left feeling a little NUTTY !!!

So after a bunch of waves & enough of these awesome tail turns I headed back to the beach with one word that best sums up the 9’5x29 NUT “SURPRISED” , something that looks a little awkward but oh my goodness does it perform . A one board 2 board solution , a perfect travel SUP that means you have a 2 board quiver in a single board.

Yet again it seems time to forget the norms & what is normal & be brave to step outside the box & experiment & be SURPRISED by what a NUT can offer ..

Pete Cox

Tightlines it is definitely 29" my typo due to be excited to punch the keys sorry about that

Its a very intersting board that I would love to try but I think comparing to a Drive is a bit unfair as the Drive is a full foot longer and way wider in the tail.Surfrod, how do you rate to it to lets say an Element or a Converse+?