Naish 9'6" OXBOW 9'6", OXBOW 10'6", PSH 10' Review

Hi all,

Yesterday a few of us all got together to cross reference our boards down at Collaroy.

Waves were pretty fat, and a bit inconsistant, but it did get better as the morning went on. Stoked to see the new gear, and get a session in at the same time. My thoughts are below on each of the boards.

9'6" OXBOW. The board was a nice surprise. It surfed really nice once I got comfortable, and worked out the right stance on it. It is quite a bit less stable than the 9'6", and the dome deck is a bit uncomfortable (I guess I'm used to the Naish deck and grip), plus the board is only 28.5" wide. First up I felt the board was a little straight up front and very loose off the tail, but once I found the sweet spot it felt pretty sweet on the tail. Very tight turns with ease, I imagine in bigger surf this board would feel much better. I felt the board needed some more area in the nose, and I seemed to bog it down a bit on take off, but I am probably too heavy for this board. The Deck grip is pretty basic, and no rail wedges, I would put a different pad on personally. Construction seemed pretty good, no noticeable rail chips or cracks, but there was some noticeable deck drop.
All up an impressive ride, In comparison to my 9'6" Naish, I would say the OXBOW is looser off the tail but also straighter and stickier in mid stance, Naish has a more progressive transition in the rocker. The Naish definitely has more drive of the tail out of turns, but you do need to stand right at the back of the board to achieve a similar looseness to the OX. Naish is much more stable then the OX.

OXBOW 10'6". This board surprised me how stable it was at only 28.5" wide. Speed was quite nice both paddling and surfing. Quite straight also through the mid section, nice for longboard style riding, I instantly surfed in a longboard style on this board. The tail rocker is good for tight stall turns. Same construction as the 9'6", some deckdrop, but rails seemed to be good. Same deal with the deck pad.
All up I think this board is a bit stuck in between a shortboard SUP and a Longboard SUP. I guess like a mini mal SUP, still quite loose but with a longboard like ride.

PSH 10' (Padle Surf Hawaii). A much different float to all the other boards, it sits a little lower in the water, but was still very stable. The most noticeable feature of this board is the turn off the tail. The board turns very nicely and seemed to hold good speed out of the turn. I have ridden the 9'6" PSH before, but I think the 10' is a nicer ride. Not sure of the width on it but seemed pretty stable but still maybe a little less than the 9'6" Naish. For a lower tech construction, the board seemed to hold up well, didn't notice any deck drop, rails were guarded with PVC tape so can't really comment on rail durability.

Naish 9'6". Well obviously I love this board. But I won't go into it too much as I work and ride for Naish. But this board rocks. Definitely the most drive out of the tail in turns, and best stability to size out the boards demo'd. Durability is unmatched.

Awesome day, thanks heaps to Bev, Rob, AA and the crew for making the morning happen. We should do it again soon.

Regards,

JB