Has anyone ridden the Hobie "Sumo" range of boards, particulary the 9'8". I am 100kg currently have a whopper & a J L Quad....looking for a board that surfs better than the whopper but will handle choppy conditions. Any feed back is appreciated.
G'day Kim
We have a 9'10" Sumo in our quiver.
The Sumo is a Hobie Colin McPhillips ultimate that has been bulked up.
The 9'10" sumo has 164.5 liters whereas the cm ultimate 9'10" has 149.6 liters.
If you lay both boards side by side fins up, you can see they have the same plane shape,bottom contouring and fin positions.
The diff is that Hobie told the computer to put in more volume under where the rider stands.Hence the SUMO ring shaped disc of extra volume in the middle.It is subtle but it is there.This disc of volume in the center of the board allows thinner rails towards the tail and nose.The construction tecnique is 'traditional' surfboard with a stringer and laid glass and epoxy resin.This results in a lighter board than most.
The Sumo is for the bigger guy! I have watched guys over 100kegs lay it over on rail and gouge.
The Sumo is one of the few boards aimed at the bigger guy who wants to have a board that will take him up to where he is aiming.
I surf these shapes a lot and I love em'.
Jason
Thanks Jason....I'm probably better to stick with the CM Ultimate than the "Sumo" version. How does the ultimate compare with the CP Tourqe 9'6"....have you tried this board? I was impressd with the finish of the Hobie boards & they seem well priced.
Regards Kim
Hi KimXS,
I rode the Sumo 10' 8" today in deplorable conditions, fairly rough water, 12 knots dead onshore wind and lumpy small swell up at Lancelin
The Sumo had no problem at all in supporting my 90 kilos, if it wasn't choppy, I wouldn't have even got my feet wet. At 29" wide it's not super stable, but I also didn't fall off it from the chop so it wasn't too bad either.
Being narrow in the tail and a bigger board, it needed a bigger wave or a cleaner face then what I was trying to surf today, but on the very limited few I did get onto, it went really well, fast and sure footed.
Now I know what it's like in crappy conditions, I am looking forward to riding it in good conditions. Thursday may be OK???
Nice board, definitely suited to the 100kg performance board rider looking for bigger waves.
I later surfed the Fanatic Allwave and it was much more suited to the crappy conditions and small surf.
DM
Kim go the CP torque.
The construction is way stronger than the other carbon railed boards out there.
Being stringerless with carbon down the rails does give the board a different feel.
It took me three waves to get a handle on but once I did I loved it. The zing from the carbon rails results in bottom to top turn combos being 5to 10% faster.Crisper and faster.
I only rode the 8'6" torque compared to my usual 8'11" CM and I felt the cp just as stable in the choppy stuff.
Plus the cp has a little more rocker.
Jason