Really keen to get my hands on the Raptor but dont want to invest without having a demo. Anyone know where i can do this preferably without having to travel to far. I live in mollymook (south coast) Nsw 2.5-3hrs south of sydney.
Cheers
Im sure some shops in Sydney would let you take one to Demo over night if you made the effort to drive up. Try Windsurf and Snow
The Raptor is so much fun. It takes a while to work out, From the point of view of knowing when pull it out and what days its best used for, As well how to surf it (which is so fun working out!)
For me its been my go to board for smaller mellow days and even smallish sucky punchy waves say up to hip high. Also on fuller higher tide waves where I would have normally consider taking a longer more mal style board.
Anything waist to shoulder+ high and steep walls were you need more drive I much prefer a conventional pulled in tail. Although I hear some guys are riding the small one and hunting down barrels and loving it as they are so fast.
Im stoked with the small Raptor and a 7 8" and 8 10" LE Hokua quiver. This covers me for everything!
Have fun trying it!
Luke
Hi Luke
I just bought the v116 raptor , at 93 kg , without a demo and it is good fun. The board is that stable its not funny. It is now my every day board because it can handle pretty average conditions.
I've surfed it 3x , twice in waist high+ on-shore 10-12 knots and last Monday was in perfect , off-shore shoulder to overhead+ sets , and loved it. Once you work out the paddle in take off , your nearly there. It also bottom turns and surfs so much differently to the other boards I've had. I'm far from dialling it in and will try some larger fins just to get more bite in steeper waves.
One thing I will say , is that its a new challenge and IMO , 1 demo may not give you the correct feel about this board. You have to re-adjust a few technics and adjust to the short length .
Good luck , you'll love it .
Hey stm cheer mate they sound sick im hoping to get a crack on one this weekend the same size as yours. Im only 70kg so should be sweet cheers for that mate
Hi JB, I got your message and Adrian said you were coming down i was looking at the V116 if you can that would be unreal
Hi Oceanaddicts,
Cheers for the review sounds awesome im going to test a couple of the Hokua's tomorrow morning ive been riding the nalu 10'6 nice board but i need to add some options to my boards, and hopefully might get my hands on the raptor for a ride as well over the weekend. Thanks again ill keep them in mind if i cant get onto one 
I would like to offer an alternative view. My usual board is a Naish 9.1x32 LE and I am looking for a smaller board for bigger surf and to allow more progressive moves and aggressive surfing.
I surfed the 7 x 31 at 116 litres in a good 2ft day. First impression were how easy it floated me and how stable it felt. Paddling out was slower than what I was expecting but the blunt nose displaces more water than a similar volume with a pointier front (obviously). Going through white water is a breeze and the board handles punching through the wash with ease, it didn't seem to push the nose of the board high as I imagined it would. Catching waves is altogether a different style to anything I have done previously and it is not a case of a glide in but waiting for a steeper face and drop in. The board underfoot is skittish and really too loose. Others may like this and accept the challenge..I didn't and really found nothing to enjoy about the board surf wise. That is no indication of the board but how I ride and what I want from a sup.
I am currently demo'ing a sunova soul 8.3 x 29 @ 110 Lts and all I can say about it so far is WOW…what a rocketship.
Have put a post on another thread, but agree with the commentary around stability and how loose the board is. It doesn't glide as well when paddling, so you do need to adjust your positioning from where you'd paddle in (especially from a 10'6 Nalu that can take off on pretty much anything...)
In smaller waves the thing rips, it does take a few surfs to get used to it, I took JBs advice and surfed it more off the back of the board (similar to. I found it able to get vertical more easily than a lot of other boards, the wide quad leaps up the face and is loose enough to come back around easily. Super easy to slide the tail out, the stability allows control whilst doing that.
I'm 94ish kg and the medium is good, plenty of volume and stability (deferent centre point, stand further back than say the 7'8 or 8'10 hokua).
Definitely a good addition to your quiver, particularly if you aren't looking at taking on bigger waves (but the 10'6 will be OK in plenty of size - had mine 8'+ and it is OK).
The raptor doesn't like the bigger more powerful waves, but that's not what it's made for...
Enjoy!
Be worth thinking about the jp slate if you get a chance to demo at 88kg the 7'6 x29 is as stable as and is pure high performance on the wave. Ive had it out in 1ft mush to 4ft heaving barrels hasnt missed a beat am sure can handle a lot bigger wave too. Maybe check out keahi's slate in buy and sell on here great bargain and at 70kg is probably doable if you could get a demo on the same size first. Way more a performance board than raptor in anything half decent. Am sure the naish would be better in sloppy waves but i think id rather have be ripping 2 to 6ft over 1 to 3 ft .
Put some HI-1 fins in my v116 and was really happy with how it went. Better drive and still some slide. Thanks to advice from JB.
Surfed today in glassy , chest high waves that were a bit fat , but had a ball. What a great small wave , summer board. I have even found , it holds a reasonable line , when timing your take off. Sure it takes a late drop but I found when a wave sucks out , to stand up , it holds your line due to the water movement. It actually gives you some glide into waves if you time it right.
If you get plenty of average waves at your home break , I think you may like this board.
