Howzit gang,
Just wondering how people are liking the Slate now that they've been out a little while. I feel like I have the perfect North Shore board now, recently got the JP 7' 4" surf pro and love it... thinking about trying the slate out for next summer (south shore O'ahu). I was hoping to bump into Keahi to get his take on it but I think that dude is traveling right now. I am pretty stoked on the JP, this one is my first and I'm super impressed with the build, weight, and feel on the wave. Really good board. Any input or suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Thanks guys.
Still loving my 7'6 x 29 slate, pretty much settled on a thruster set up after playing around with different fins. If your on the 7'4 pro I'd be looking at the smallest slate available. It would be a great addition for smaller or choppier days. Haven't had the slate out in anything overhead yet having a run of bad northerly surf here on the Gold Coast at the moment. It's still the funnest sup I've ridden by far. Looking forward to trying it in some size if we get some nice cyclone swells in the next few months. I was on the jp 8'6 pro and struggled a little the slate is a cakewalk by comparison.
I'm 6' and 180 lbs and have been riding performance, wave sups between 99-110 liters, usually on 107- 110 liter boards when the surf is good. When the surf is weak, or small I usually ride an Infinity Phoenix V2. I bought the 7'6" Slate in Sept as I moved to our fall/winter location up in the North Eastern US. The waves I ride in this region are a softer, low angle, long board style wave. Even if the wave is large, it does not pack a lot of power. The first time I rode the slate, I put the four fins that were provided with the board in and it did not have enough hold, even in that wave, it was too easy to tail slide. It worked as a five fin, but wasn't fast enough. I then put a Shapers S-8 thruster set in and it goes very well. I brought my JP 8'6" pro with me on a couple of trips, but after riding them side by side, the Slate was faster and more fun on that weak wave. Even in over head conditions, the Slate proved more fun on those big, slab waves. When I bought the Slate, I though it might be a variant of a Simmon's style board, and I've ridden a bunch of them. I ,now, would classify it as more of a performance board variant. It makes a soft wave a lot more fun than anything I've ridden so far. When the low angle wave jacks up on the inside it does a good job of ripping up and down on the steep face too. I haven't ridden it in large powerful surf, or on small powerful surf, that will have to wait until this spring. How does it paddle? Well, it's very stable, much more stable than the 8'6" Surf Pro. Paddle speed is a bit slow, but you can compensate by reaching a bit further forward, all the way to the nose, when you paddle. I tried this yesterday and found I could move the board quite a bit faster than I had been. I have not had any problems paddling it out through the surf, and have had no problems with the board pearling. I think I could have gone to the smaller size, but am having a lot of fun on the 7'6". Just in case....just to be sure, I have sourced a 7'2"x28 model "for my wife".
I have been riding my 7'6" Slate as much as I can! Have two King's customs, a 7'11" and an 8'4" and the JP is as stable if not more so than either.
Getting the right fins is really important. Tried quads, tried five small that were all the same size, C-drives from far away, and have settled on Shapers S 9. Best in small mushy waves as well as juicer steeper waves.
The only thing that I don't like is that it is an absolute slug to paddle. Modified Kung Foo fighter boy stance switching to full on surf stance does it with no hassles. Sit inside with the young buckos. They seem to enjoy watching a 67 year old grandfather on a square board.
It is an awesome board. If JP decides to make a longer one I would add that to my quiver as the 7'6" will be challenging in New England winter conditions to say the least.
Awesome feedback, thank you guys.
Looking at the 7'2 x 26", cool to know that it would probably be easier to paddle than my 7' 4". For South Shore I like to do a lot of paddling from spot to spot and search around for my own little corner peak (usually in the area of 3's through Paradise and down to Populars). Interested to see if it can handle a bit of steepness and punch, these spots do get a bit rippable sometimes on lower tides. I have a set of thrusters that might work well, Kinetic Racing Occy's. Pretty large thruster set, good hold/drive. Might just have to email the Neil Pryde/JP guys on Maui and see if they have any demo/slightly used Slates in the shop. Hardest part will be hiding it (and my excitement) from my girlfriend... Maybe I could "buy it for her" for Christmas, but just borrow it all the time? Hmmmmm...
