jimmy lewis super frank 8'6

This is my feedback on the 8'6 super frank.

I am 50 and starting sup less than a year ago. I started with a 10'6 nalu, then a 9'6 naish quest. Both awesome boards and 170ltrs.

I weigh around 90kg and am 180cm. I surf mainly manly beach and fairy bower.

I got the super frank a while ago but was overseas for a while and didn't get to use it. I also went to serangan for a week and used a 9'3 jimmy lewis world wide.

The 8'6 x 32 super frank is the biggest of the model range at 141 litres. I was a bit nervous stepping down to this from the comfort of 170ltrs. I used an 8'9 world wide in about 4 foot at serangan when I was away and it felt pretty tippy. The thick rails seemed to catch in the chop and I didn't feel great.

I finally got a chance to use my super frank for the first time this morning at fairy bower. Fairy bower is a point reef break that is awesome for sups when it is about chest to head high. This morning it was that size with offshore winds.

I thought I would have a bit of struggle with the new board, and the outgoing tide running over the reef. There was also a bit of residual slop from the strong nor easter the day before.

However I was amazed. In a session where I caught may be 10+ waves, I fell in once. That was when I tried to squeeze into a small barrel and got knocked off. Other than that I had to jump off the board to cool off. The stability was not what I expected.

I simply paddled onto these nice waves, felt totally in control, hopped off at the end and paddled back.

On the wave the board is totally different from the world wide and the naish quest (9'3 and 9'6). The bigger boards take a fair bit of pushing to turn hard, and really like a straight line. The SF at 7 kgs and 8'6 just went everywhere, bottom turns, cutbacks galore. Now for experienced paddlers, this is no big deal, but for me being able to do these turns was amazing.

I was also surprised that the SF caught waves that I thought I had missed. A couple of times I stopped paddling only to find I had actually caught the wave. Nice. It catches waves as easily as the bigger boards.

I also found that if I moved my back foot right back the board would stall nicely. Something I had not experienced before.

Overall I am stoked. The build quality of the board is perfect and super tough. It is so light, and clearly has been very carefully designed. It has opened up the next level of surfing for me and so I am excited to keep going. The board is so smooth, in its stability and in its performance. It turns effortlessly and I think it has lots more to give.

For guys like me who are just moving to intermediate level the SF at 8'6 is an amazing step. I highly recommend it.