Hi all, a faithfull French lurker here who has a question for those of you who have an experience with the Nuevos.
I'm contemplating the perspective of changing some of my wave quiver , and found pretty good deals on 2015 Carbon Nuevos from the 86L up to the 120L one, with all sizes in between.
I live in Britanny and usually sail "fast" waveboards, the ones with an onshore or side-on bias, that gets you planning fast. Namely a Quatro Sphere 82, a Starboard Kode wave 87 , an Exocet X-Wave 93, and also an old Exocet Kona longboard 9'5".
That's already a lot of boards, I know 
;
I'm looking to add one board for the rare special days we get with good side-off conditions in logo-high waves.
These are the few unforgettable magic days we score sometime, where I need a more dedicated down-the-line toy, but with good positive buoyancy or floatation to carry me in the inside, when there's usually not more than 10 knots max, sometimes way less than that. I'd usually use Ezzys 5.3 and 5.8 in those conditions.
I'm 77 kgs , well experienced in waves, but I'm also hitting 50 this year meaning by that that I'm no athlete 
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I want to put confort and ease of use first, and turning ability second. I want to be able to confront the incoming white water without stress before getting to the lineup (no channel).And yet it has to turn great on a wave in a side to side-off breeze.
the Kona sometimes works great in a longboard style, when the waves don't have a lot of shoulder and are not too steep, but when it gets a bit more than that it can become a handful. I love the confort of the 120 L of volume though.
So I heard from a few people that depending on the model , the Nuevos may have a either a more curvy or a more planning oriented rocker.
I've heard that the first 2013 shapes where the curviest, the 80 and 93.
Then in 2014 they replaced the 93 by the 92. Is this one really better to get going ?
How about the 100, the 110, and the 120 ?
I heard conflicting reports that the 110 was really not as good as the 120 to get going. I think I read on this forum a while ago someone who claimed that on the contrary he thought the 110 to be ok in that department.
Someone told me the 86 was really good at planning , and the 100 as well. Another that the 86, the 92 and the 120 were the best of the range regarding planning, while the 100 and the 110 were not as good. So I'm not sure.
I'm more interested in the faster planning rockered Nuevos, regardless of volume. I'm just not sure which one has which.
For instance, even if I'd be better on the 110L or 100L of volume for shlogging, if they have a banana rocker I would rather settle for the straighter rockered 92L, if that makes any sense.
(and then maybe I'd be silly enough to get myself the 120L as well
).
Or maybe I should stick to the biggest Nuevos no matter what and forget anything smaller than 100L of volume (?).
In which case 100, 110 or 120 ???
Anyone has tried the large Nuevos, or heard anything of substance regarding their rocker and their range across the line ?
Thanks.
I had a 2014 Nuevo Carbon 110L for two seasons from new. I bought it as a light wind wave board / schlogger but it didn't end up fitting that bill for me so, although I did like the board and had some great sessions on it, they weren't the sessions I bought it for so I sold it. My best sessions on the 110L were powered-up on a 5.7m Blade. I never had much luck with it using my 6.2m Blade, even after changing the fins for larger X-twins.
I weight 90 kg. The 120L Nuevo came in for 2015 - I would have bought that instead of the 110L if it had been around at the time. As you probably know, the 120L has a faster rocker than all the other Nuevos - it's quite a different board.
The 110L was certainly slow to plane. It was however pretty epic on a wave face - incredibly tight turns and carried it's speed really well - a very forgiving wave board for surfing.
You are much lighter though so the 110L would work better than it did for me.
Good luck with your choice!
Why not going into a SeaLion instead? maybe my lack of skills, but when I was 77kg, i found board larger than 90 L was not letting me go out more easily in critical condition(light wind) but was surfing bad...could't put enough pressure on edge, bumpy ride...so I was better with a 92 than a 98 or a worst a 106. I bought a sealion that I can Sup and in super marginal side-onshore or side-off, i have a wave carching machine, without straps that teach me more about surfing...different style of eindsurfing..you can move your feet while surfing and learn more about weight pressure etc. Good luck!
Select to expand quotet2wheeler said..
I had a 2014 Nuevo Carbon 110L for two seasons from new.... As you probably know, the 120L has a faster rocker than all the other Nuevos - it's quite a different board.
The 110L was certainly slow to plane...
Thanks , so you confirm at least the 120 has a straighter rocker. Faster than the 110, and the other lower volume Nuevos..
But I just found the 2014 Wind Magazine wave test of the 86 Nuevo, and it was picked as tester's favourite, and was given the best mark in early planning ! I kid you not.
It is said to not be very nervous in a straight line, but accomodate all levels, is super easy on the wave, goes upwind well and planes super fast ! So they either owed a good test to Starboard for whatever reason, or the 86 shape is indeed the other exception with the 120, in the Nuevo range, as having a relatively fast planning hull for such a surfy board (?).
I'd really love to have James Hooper's opinion on that.
Select to expand quoteNordRoi said..
Why not going into a SeaLion instead? ...Good luck!
Thanks.
A friend of mine has the sealion, he uses it when I'm on my Kona.
For me the lack of straps is a big "no". He can turn tighter than me on the Kona if he really pushes it and is very mobile on the deck, in small surf, but most of the time I have the feeling I catch more waves than he does, can shlog around in next to no wind at all just like him, with the benefit of being able to continue sailing in with confort when the wind picks up 20 knots + .
It is as fast in a straight line as a JP freestyle Wave, that always surprise my friends .
The Kona needs a learning curve to its long shape, but when you're dialed, it can be surprisingly radical for its size, hit the lip and do aerials consistently in waist high swell. This is impossible with the sealion.
Anyway I was thinking of the large Nuevos to get even more reactive and tight turning in very low winds, and the sizable and steeper waves in which the Kona is getting to long for me (9'5").
It's not so much the size of the wave which hinders the Kona , but its steepness . I've surfed confortably and had some amazing sessions in mast high swell with it, 5.8 weather with 10 knots in the inside, because the waves were mellow and mushy.
But same wind in steeper faster head-high ground swell, and the same board was too much to handle, almost dangerous.
That is when I need a more radical and compact big board.
