Monday, May 30, 2011

The New North End Rippers

Head high Bomb for Ian

Hold on tight!

Like a pro at age 9

The new rippers in town,  Joey and Ian

Joey (hope I got the name right)

3 comments:

CB1 said...

Thanks to you, Jacky, Brad, Surfmachine, and Z for all the help and words of encouragement to Ian this past weekend. He was so stoked, he didn't want to get out of the water yesterday! He was also happy to meet a new friend his age (or close to his age) out there on the water as well!

Douglas said...

I have been following your blog since I started SUP last summer. Although I have lived in Charleston since 1996, I never surfed until I got on an SUP board last June. I am 5'9", 180 lbs, currently surfing a 9'5" Mana. Looking to go smaller/faster, I think our waves are comparable to yours, although maybe a little smaller. I have been very interested in the 7'8" Hokua, but haven't been able to get my hands on one yet. Was curious as to your thoughts on the 8'0" PSH WR vs the Hokua since i'm sure you have tried them both. Thanks for all the graet posts, your site has been invaluable to me as I have immersed myself in this sport! DLM

NC Paddle Surfer said...

Douglas,

It's hard to recommend something as small as 7'8, or even 8'0 to anyone surfing the 9'5 Mana without knowing you. The 9'5 Mana is a huge house boat. A great house boat though!

I think it's too radical a skill level jump down to something that small. Unless you're young and aggressive. It's taken me a pile of smaller downsizing moves to get to 7'8.

If you were already surfing something in the 9'0 range, I would say get the 7'8.

I think you have to try something that small before making such a radical step in required balance skill.

Maybe the 9'0 Hokua?

Anyway, if you're determined to do it, and maybe keep the 9'5 for choppy days while you're skills develop, then it could be do-able.

I prefer the 7'8 over the 8'0 PSH. I can ride whatever I want, so I'm not tied to one brand. Right now, the way Iggy's shapes work, just fit what I expect from a board better. The PSH has a narrower tail block and narrower nose. Those are features PSH puts into every size board. Being on the heavier side, it just robs too much stability and doesn't gain "me" anything. The Hokua has a wider nose, which saves my butt almost daily and yet doesn't hurt my performance. The PSH boards run heavy vee in the bottom, again another feature adding to the wobble factor at my weight. Iggy is using almost no vee, yet the 7'8 turns quicker than anything on the water.

Stability per liter of volume, Naish wins.