I've been surf-supping for nearly 8yrs now, but this new blue Sunova had opened a whole new world and I wanted to share the recent experiences.
The boards pictured are:
Smik spitty pintail. 8'2 x 29 x 107l
Sunova custom LB. 9'1 x 26.5 x 96l.
I've been riding shortboard styles of sups for a while. Tried the odd LB style, but never liked it. Full noses and low rocker feels cumbersome.. until.. this new board. It's brought a new lease of life to my surfing. Learning a new style that's similar but so different at the same time. Both boards rip, in different ways.
So here's my take after riding both of them at the same break in back to back weeks:
Smik: after riding the Sunova a bit, it was crazy how different the Smik felt again despite being my fave board for the last 2yrs. Oddly twitchy, but still stable to stand on. Kept sinking a side rail while paddling. Slower to paddle straight, but also easier to paddle with less effort. - but when a peaky hollow wave hit, wow a it just takes off. It's fast, picks up speed much more quickly than the LB. The rocker wants to go up and down the wave effortlessly, but it also bogs in slower sections - which I'd never noticed until trying the Sunova again today. - it's fast, predictable and fun when there's juice and you want that rockered confidence of a more critical drop. It also pumps more easily. - single to double to vee out the tail. I thought this board had thin rails, until the Sunova. Much more volume in the middle, but similar end tail thickness. - round pin tail, but slightly wider than the Sunova.
Sunova: this blew me away today. Never thought I'd like a board this low vol for the size, but I'm so glad I got it.
- today I had some of the longest rides I've ever had at my local. The trim speed just carries it from behind a broken section of the wave to infront of it, I'd never had this on my Smik. It just kept going!- it loves juice. A fat wave just doesn't get it moving. But not too hollow.
- when it hits a steeper wave, the rail just wants to lock on straight and hone down the line rather than the Smik which wants to go top to bottom more naturally.
- crazily enough, I could surf it like a shortboard on some waves and it would just react to pumps for speed without any paddle use. Never thought a 9'1 with relatively flat rocker would roll and react like that. Felt like when I first tried my 7'9 JL worldwide. - it doesn't have instant pivot like the Smik, but man does it love a meaty cut-back! Actually prefer the feeling of doing a cutback on this than the Smik! Once it gets turning, she's going round! It's crazy given it only has a shallow single, no double or vee like the Smik. Can be quite controlled but also skittish with just a little shuffle back to engage the tail. - over white water, the thin and flat rocker actually goes over it really well despite not having a pointy nose! - actually handles quite a late drop well. Get in early and lock the rail quickly and it's away! - Slower to get going on a wave, even on smaller waves sometime. My Smik would have taken off, but seems to take a little while to get the glide going and down the face. Need to be quite far forward on it. - actually has a very narrow rounded squash end, it quite a pin like the revolution. Tail width is also a
measly 15", which is shortboard prone surfing material!
Really enjoying two totally different boards and learning again.
Awesome mate. Stoked for ya!
There's always room for a HP longboard sup in any quiver. SUP surfing for normal guys (like us) is really rewarding on something like this.
The single concave initiates turns easily, and the flatter centre rocker from the concave give extra speed.
Thanks Hoppo, yeah it's been an interesting and new learning curve. Enjoying trying something different to experiment with. I tried it with fcs pc7 sides and a 5.5" centre with quite a decent size base and semi-near the end of the box. Still felt pretty lively on a strong wave! Felt much more lively using the same fin combo than when I last used the board in softer, smaller waves.
Might try the bigger sides and smaller centre set up again.
Pretty keen to try it 1.5-2 oh waves, I reckon it might go ok providing it's not too hollow.
I wonder if you had gone a little higher vol on the longboard if it would have caught waves a little earlier and accelerated faster. For me my shortboard sups have 10-13l less than my longboard. I find my infinity longboard is great for big waves but only if it's clean, you can roll in early, and you can accept the risk it will break in half or break your leash. I'm usually too scared to break it to take it out on those days, and I have a dedicated board for that anyway.
That is a good question- I've had a 9'4 x 30 board before that definitely had the early glide / speed, which which my 9'1 doesn't quite have, but the 9'1 also feels much more in touch with the wave and controlled than the 9'4 did.
I reckon such a thinned out tail prob doesn't help much for a wave 'push' either. Had a similar feeling on an old 8'6 sic pin tail, although that was also 20l more volume.
One thing I am interested in from
a board design perspective, is why my Sunova and thr Revolution (which is very similar), just have flat or shallow single concaves, where starboard and Smik LB's of similar volume / dims focus on doubles / vee's.
