Pambula Beach
29 Nov 08
Conditions: Medium cross-offshore wind. Fast, chest high waves.
I’d only ridden this board once before in pretty ordinary, closing out waves but I could tell its potential. I was keen to give it another burn so when this demo board became free and I spotted it sitting on the beach - I jumped at the chance to jump on it.
Paddling out, I had flashbacks to the first time I rode it. It’s a bit rocky. I’m thinking the pulled in nose equates to this. Once you get the feel for it though, you can tame it somewhat.
Paddling isn’t his board’s strength ... surfing is. My first wave was a clean chest high screamer. It was really nice to be on a smaller board for this wave. I pumped it down the line to generate speed (I can’t do that on my 11 footer), made the section then threw it around into an arcing cutback (I can’t do that on my 11 footer either). A little reo on the close out and then some of those little bottom turn/floater combos as I rode the white water for a bit. Very nice.
I caught plenty of waves this session, many of them quite good for my ability (I’ve only been riding for 8 months). A few big re-entries into a steep drop, down the face, surprised me - I thought I’d definitely be diving for lobsters but the pulled in nose and just enough nose lift allowed me to avoid nose diving.
I fell a couple of times while standing out the back, for no apparent reason (you know those demoralising moments?) but its performance on the wave easily outweighed those embarrassments.
Overall: A bit tricky to balance on but awesome performance when you’re on a fast, steep wave.
Highs:
- Radical performer in performance waves
- Great looking board (planshape and graphics)
- Comes in CyberSUP.com green!
- One of the cheaper boards on the market
Lows:
- Hard to balance on - especially for beginners
Just got mine. i'm going to run the Naish grip with a tail pad. Swell is looking good for this weekend so I'll post a review next week.
I'm coming off a Southpoint Bonga so I'm guessing that stability won't be an issue (hopefully).
Good one Bnaccas. Hope you like it. Please let us know what you think of its stability when paddling and waiting out the back.
Gripped and ready to go.
I have thrown my 7" centre fin in with the standard G5's
Man the plan shape looks good, If it goes half as good as it looks I'll be stoked!!!
I will post a review as promised.
Stay tuned...
OK...here it is. My Oxbow 9'6" Pilot Review (I'm an 82kg goofy footer)
Headed down to Inverloch bar today which is a good long left hander. Size was about 2ft with the very rare 2 1/2 to 3ft set. I was so keen to get in the water.
So I paddled out and had it to myself for about 15 minutes then Oliver paddled out and a mate on his mal. Getting through the waves/white water on the Oxbow wasn't an issue, similar to my old Bonga but the narrower nose definately handled it a little better.
Stability wasn't really an issue after coming off a Bonga although I would say it is a lot less stable than your standard 10'6"s on the market. For your first time on a board of this size it will take a little getting used to. I'd probably rate this board as a little less tippy than the Bonga but fractionally more tippy than the 9'6" Naish. I fell off in idle maybe 4 times in a 2 1/2 hour session which isn't bad and a little more concentration could have probably fixed this. I seemed to fall more towards the end of the session meaning I was most likely getting tired and lazy.
My first few waves were fun, just getting used to the board and testing the limits. After that I started going a bit more vertical and hitting the lip regularly. This board really excelled over the Bonga in the way that I could hit the lip or do a floater and not have to worry about nose diving on my way back down. It was also looser than the bonga and very similar to the 9'6" Naish.
Catching waves was better than I expected. I didn't have a problem getting onto even the fattest wave. I thought the extra rocker and shorter length would make it harder but this wasnt a problem. The board has just the right amount of volume distributed below your feet to maximise float, stability and surfing performance.
OK...thats all the good stuff. Now here's what I wasn't into/negatives etc.
There's one word for it.....WEIGHT
It is noticably heavier than the Naish 9'6" and weighed in at just under 13kgs (The packaged board said 9kgs??). It felt sluggish in the smaller waves, say around 2ft and really had to be pumped to get it motoring. Once you got it going it felt good but if you went for a tight bottom turn and seemed to bog down and loose its speed quickly. On the bigger waves of the day (2 1/2 to 3 foot) which there were only a few it felt better and this problem became less obvious. I would imagine this problem would be magnified if/when you're surfing into a head wind eg. cross/offshore.
Every negative can be turned into a positive though, and I would expect this extra weight would make the board easier to handle and also carry it's momentum in bigger surf which I prefer, say around 3ft to 5ft.
Positives:
- Paddles well and reasonably stable for a smaller board
- Easy to catch waves
- Good rocker line suits the size and minimises nose dive in small surf
- Strong construction, no rail chips yet (and I gave it few good cracks)
- Narrow nose helped when paddling out through white water
- Nice tucked rails, tail lift and V in tail helps for real tight bottom & top turns
- Comes with a deck pad included in price
- Price: one of the better performing boards on the market at at a great price
- I rekon it would only get better in bigger waves
Negatives:
- I felt the weight held it back in smaller surf
- Although it comes with a deckpad it's pretty simple and plain (Ibought the Naish pad)
- The standard fins are just ok. Centre fin is ok glass, side fins are FCS plastic with foil only on one side
Stability is fine for intermediate to advanced but not a beginners board.
I will get it out in backhand and bigger surf over the next week and will update.
p.s. I will also get the weight of the Naish 9'6" just to make sure my weight comments are justified. I'm tipping it will be between 7kg and 9kg.
OK, little update.
I got back on my old Bonga for a couple waves on Sunday and would have to say the Oxbow is actually a little less stable than the bonga. I also had a shot on a PSH 9'6" AR (not the wide) and this board is also more stable than the Oxbow.
I'm assuming the PSH and Bonga are both that little bit more stable due to slightly thicker tails and more rounded nose. The PSH is also thicker through the rails which would help.
Still loving the Oxbow though!
I needed a few sessions to get the bottom turn dialed up on the board, it's all good now, here's a few pics from yesterday !
Great shots! Awesome work considering the size and lump out there.
Casso or anyone,
do you have the official measurements of the 9'6" Pilot?
Width, thickness & volume?
Cheers
Brendan
