I recently traded my coast runner in for one of these. I don't do any racing but paddle distance and enjoy playing in the surf and wanted it to fit that sort of role. I also wanted something smaller and easier to carry. Second time out I took it down the river which I often paddle in an Epic ski. It was 10 knots breeze and I did 3 kms down the river. On the Epic it takes around 18 minutes cruising and I did it in 24 minutes so not bad. I had read David John's review and was interested in his sprinkler effect so I tried that on the return leg. Standinig with my heels 4" in front of the handle the bow sinks, you hear a gurgle as the bow pushes through and it feels cool. I did the return trip in the same time so I am not sure if it helps a lot even though it might reduce wind age. The coast runner had plenty of secondary stability and after a few minutes I can say this board has some but you need to be a little more trusting. As far as speed I think it may be faster than the coast runner I had being the first model but down winders could be harder.
On the weekend I went surf supping and threw the Bop on the car just in case. There was a reasonable swell from head to head and a half high with 15 knots offshore wind. The swell was a little funny as it was not breaking as we hoped it would so after 1 hour on my 8'5" I thought I would trade up. First time out I kept clear of the surfers. First wave was a surprise how easy it caught waves and how far I went. It didn't take long and I was 20 meters out the back. This is my normal break and I knew nearly all the surfers out there. I caught the waves early and getting the feel surfed the shoulder allowing the surfers inside me. I don't believe I interferred with them and gave them right of way. I played around for 2 more hours. My impressions were that I was wind affected but less than the coast runner, the board on waves surfed a lot better than I thought it would, the carbon made the board stiffer so less movement than Ast and it went really well going out through the surf. In these conditions it was a lot of fun and it is the sort of board I was looking for. In the afternoon I knew I had a workout as I could feel my muscles tightening up.
Next day I went back there surfing with the longboard club. The wind was 5 knots offshore and the swell was up contrary to the forecast. After the event I tried my Laguna Bay 8'4" and although stiff the board was great. This board is a fair bit harder for me to stand on than the Starboard 8'5" pro but on wave it takes it to the next level. So all in it was a very successful weekend.
