Thanks to Auswind or Airborne Kitesurfing not sure which but same place for the demo on the 9 8.
I have had a Naish 11 6 for about 8 mths just sold it so I could get a board that is better in the waves. I tried the Starboard 11 2 but it felt very similar to the 11 6 when on a wave; with drawn out long board style turns only.
At a dainty 110kg I was a bit worried about the volume in the 9 8 fish design. It was a challenge in the choppy onshore conditions but not too dissimilar to the 11 2 in stability, very impressive. A little more sensitive but with more time on the board you would adapt easily.
A surprise for me was the ease at which I could catch waves, the board turns and accelerates really well when paddling.
On the wave it was exceptional when compared to the 11 2 and 11 6, the board turns like a much smaller board and generates speed easily. Bottom turns really feel solid and the speed generated allows you to turn straight back up the wave at a sharper angle than the other boards I have ridden. I could imagine in better surf really being at a different level of wave riding on this board rather than cruising.
Well worth a look if you are in the market for a wave orientated SUP.
JL 10 8 next on the list to demo.
Cheers Andrew
Good review. I can think of a couple of blokes that are going to be very interested in reading this!
Yeah, cheers, I really needed to hear that. I now HAVE to demo one sometime soon! 
Hey Andrew, long time no see.
Yeah I reckon I dont need to demo the 9'8.
Im just gonna go out and buy it
can't wait til you demo the JL and compare/contrast it w the 9-8 *board. two of my buddies have and love the JL but none of us have ever ridden, much less seen the 9-8. very interested to hear what you have to say about their merits relative to one other in terms of stability, wave-catching prowess and the like. here's hoping you do it soon, because i'm itching to open my wallet.
My first ever SUP experience was on a 9'8" starboard.
I am about 85kg (maybe more) and have been wavesailing for 20 years, but have no surfing background as such. I found the 9'8" very stable and pretty easy to paddle around on for a first timer. I paddled it on flat water and in surf conditions, took a while to get my legs in the surf but all in all I was pretty happy with the run on it.
I expect to spend most of my time on he board in the surf with some flat water when I can't make the 1hr trip to the wave and there is no wind. Don't really care too much about covering distance on flat water, more interested in the workout, but still undecided if I should go something slightly longer...pretty much down to this or the Naish 10'6"...I want something I can put a sail on as well.
any advice would be appreciated.
The Shortboard side of SUP is growing very quickly. And I think it is going to be a very big part of the sport. The Smaller boards are a lot of fun, and there are now some very nice boards about. Definately ride them all if you can get the chance, as some have conciderably more performance than others and it's not always in relation to the size.
I haven't ridden the 9'8" SB yet, but I would really like to. I have ridden the 9'0" SB back to back with the 9'6" Naish, and there is a world of difference there (my review www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=36684 ).
I found the SB rode with a lot more longboard traits than the Naish, it had longer lines, and a much more cruizy feel, where as the Naish 9'6" is very fast, and loose, snaps around like a short board, and is far more drivey. Now I know you probably all expect to to say the Naish is better, but thats not really what I am saying, I just think the Naish has more shortboard performance than the SB. Stability wise the boards are very similar, but on the wave the Naish feels significantly smaller even though it is actually bigger! Sam from WSS has been riding the 9'0" SB for months now and I lent him my 9'6" Naish and haven't seen it since, his comments were something like "it's like a totally different sport". So maybe hang out for a month until the Naish 9'6" arrive and give one a demo and see for yourself.
I will be in Perth in June around the 16-20th doing a product night, and will have a 9'6" with me (As well as the 11'6", 11'4", 10'6"). So come along and have a look. I will be paddling every morning also. I will post more confirmed dates up here soon.
Regards,
JB
One thing I forgot to mention was I could get the 9 8 inside my landcruiser which is bonus.
Greenroom try the 9 probably better for a skinny bloke like you.
Sorry guys hard to get a JL 10 8 over here will have to see Marty down south (no demos in Perth) so review may be a little while coming.
Hey JB make sure you let me know where you will be when you in Perth.
Dont bother going to Dutchies. Its fat and straight
Are you running seminars? Demo days? BBQ's etc or just keeping your business trip over here low key?
Anywho hope to catch up with you then
GR,
You will be surprised at your wave count on the smaller boards. I would say your top speed is pretty close but only in short bursts, and you end up catching about the same number of waves. The only real disadvantage is it's harder to maintain the speed. So for distance paddling, the longer boards are definitely better, it is also easier to get over most waves on the bigger boards as the smaller ones tend to be stopped by big white waters. But as you paddle more and get fitter, you don't notice this as much. But as you mentioned, nose riding and the cruiziness of the longer boards is also very appealing. I like to mix it up.
I will be in Perth for the week, and will be paddling every morning, so we should definitely hook up for a session. I will be doing a public seminar on one of the nights at SOS with beers and nibblies etc, but it is yet to be confirmed. I might try and get the SB boys to hook up one day and combine out quivers for a bigger demo? but will have to see how time goes.
I will also be doing a Kite seminar on the Friday night at SOS.
But I will post more confirmed details soon.
Regards,
JB
But my concern would be the wave count ability.
Not an issue!
I found it paradoxically easier to catch waves on the 9 8 than the 11 2. The key was moveability and acceleration.
Cheers Andrew
Ive been clocking up some hrs now the Starboard 9 8" and loven it.
For waves around chest high and smaller its perfect.
I tried it once out at Moffat wich is a right hander (my back hand) point break in a solid 5-6 foot and found it a little hard to bottom turn without running to far out on the flats and staying on a nice tight line.The board picks up so much speed on the bigger day's when your droping down from a nice peak! and because it is so wide you feel every bump and the deck grip seems to loose all its stick when you fanging down the face! The 9 8" seemed to be more at home in the slightly smaller waves Wich suits me fine as so am I.
The 9 8" is so easy to manouver around the line up.if you see a wave that you want to catch and your faceing the complete wrong direction its too easy to spin the board around and line it up.
I also found on the steeper more sucky waves,it tends to be not fast enough through the bottom turn and wont stick to a nice line to help you make that section that your so desperatly trying to out run.
But that is only on those steep fast sucky waves that I find that.And this is out on the Caloundra bar wich can be a bone cruncher sometimes! I proberly should be on a short board on those sucky days trying to get barreled,but I can not get off the SUP especially the 9 8".
I reckon for most people wanting a shorter more manouvable SUP the Starboard 9 8" is the go.
The stability of this pocket rocket is Amazzing! 30" wide dose seem to be the majic number. it makes it so much more fun compared to some of the less wider boards I have tried.
Also had some complete newbies on this board who have found it dead easy to get the basic down with.
Over all the best board I have tried.
Cheers
Luke
Champcrow,
I will be in Adelaide early July. Check in with Onboard, as they are hosting it. I will let you all know when I have dates confirmed.
JB
Had another great sesh on the 9 8 yesterday.
I was out off the Northern tip of Bribe Island catching these Crystal clear 2-3foot rollers.
The board just gets better and better as I get more used to it and the way it likes to be riden.
For waves under head high it just dose not get any better than 9 8"
So good for linking up a few turns without loosing speed and staying in the pocket.The board turns so tightly with ease.
The 9 8" just seams to fit and turn pefectly in waves around chest high.
Some of the other boards I have tried tend to draw out the turn to much missing the sweet spot and waisting the wave.
I seriously think that this board has been over looked by many SUPers.
Dont buy anything until you try this board!
Stoked
Luke
