Yesterday I was lucky enough to test out the very new Oxbow 9'6”. A demo board from Bevan at glide industries. It was the first production board to arrive in Australia.

One word: Shredder.

The board is: 9’6” x 28.5” x 4.25”. The board I tried was set up as a 2 + 1 with G5s in the sides and an 8” (or maybe 9”) centre fin.

I’m 86 kilos and ride an 11’ Oxbow SUP about 50% of the time. The other 50% of my surfs are on a 6’4” shortboard, a 5’10” fish or a 9’2” performance longboard.

I had seen a schematic drawing of this board a few months back. It showed the outline, thickness, rocker and even the rail profile. It looked great in black and white on paper but nothing compared to when I first saw it with my own eyes. Bevan slid it out of the back of his van and I just went - yes. The shape is just beautiful, exactly what I have been looking for in a shortboard SUP. Nice clean lines, a shortboard-esk pulled in nose and that great little diamond tail with not too much foam in it.

The new decals and paint job add to impact of seeing this board for the first time. It's a real head turner - something that I could just sit and look at for hours.

But I didn't want to just look at it. I wanted to see how that beautiful plan shape performed in the surf. So I threw it on the roof racks and I was off.

I took it down to the middle of Manly (on Sydney’s Northern Beaches). It was only small, about two feet with lots of closeouts but a nice light off-shore blowing. I popped it in the water and jumped on. Woooh, this thing is wobbly. Much more than the 11 footer I usually ride. I regained composure and started to paddle out. I pushed through a couple of tiny waves without any problems. Then I came across my first major test for the board. Two feet of broken whitewater was hastily heading my way. I was a little under-gunned in the wetsuit department - with a short armed steamer in the middle of winter. It was going to be cold, the first time I fell in. I was a bit worried. The whitewater hit me, but the narrow nose of the 9’6” Oxbow just pushed up and over easily with just a little wobble as I was at top of the wave. A bit of steadying with the paddle and I was up and over the whitewater and still dry. Stoked ... as I probably would have been wet by now with that sized whitewater hitting the full nose of my 11 footer. I continued to paddle out the back without falling off and by the time got there, I had already lost those death wobbles from earlier. That didn't take long. The board now seemed very stable - I just had to learn to relax and move with the board - not against it.

A little wave came. This will be good enough for my first. I stroked into it without any problems. The wave picked me up and I started planing quickly, more quickly than I expected from a short little board. I bottom turned and took off down the line on my forehand. They were fast little waves and as the sectioned loomed ahead I thought I would try riding it like my 6’4” shortboard. I started pumping the 9'6” and it responded really well. Up and down the face, gathering speed, something I can't/don’t really do on my 11 footer. It felt great. The wave started to close out so I went for a lip sliding floater. I didn't quite make it ... but almost. Not bad for my fist major manoeuvre on a brand new board. It would’ve been a fantastic first wave if I had made the floater. I could tell I was going to have fun on this little puppy.

The next wave was a short left - on my backhand. A quick bottom turn and up into a pretty sharp re-entry. Again I impressed myself with this almost vertical turn - I wasn't used to being so radical on a SUP. I got caught in the white water a little but managed to hang on and make it back down the face and stay on the wave. I decided to ride out the rest of the wave to the beach and see if it would reform. I pulled off a few little bottom turns, and foam climbs as I waited for it to reform. Nice. Easy. You can really throw this board around. I worked the wave again as it reformed and then did another little floater right on the shorey. I’m feeling very happy with that wave and the overall performance of the Oxbow 9'6”. My second wave and I'm already very keen on making one of these boards my own.

The rest of my waves went really well with some snaps under the lip and big, almost vertical, re-entries. I fell off a bit more than normal but I was really pushing it and attempting moves I never thought I would be able to do on a SUP. Getting out was never really a problem and by the end of the session I was very comfortable standing on it while in neutral. I had to change hands to keep paddling in a straight line more than my 11 footer but that’s to be expected and it’s not trying to be a flat water paddler.

I stayed out for about 1.5 hours and then got told by the lifeguards to exit the water as a 6 foot shark was moving its way up the beach towards me. Bugger. I had it to myself for a few minutes after all the prone boys had gone in and before my wife and kids (on the beach) demanded I stop being so stupid.

The board weighed just over 10 kilos including the deck grip - not too bad but I have felt lighter in the 9’6” length. Construction and workmanship seemed OK. However, foot compressions were already starting to appear (same as my 11’ Oxbow) but with the lower retail price over a wood veneer board - this is almost to be expected. I kind of like these in-dents where I paddle anyway - Taj Burrow gets these specially sanded into his new Firewires for comfort and a slightly lower centre of gravity.

This board isn’t for the faint hearted but if you are a competent surfer and are after a great looking, high performance, radical SUP - check this board out. It shreds.

Highs:
- Fast down the line speed.
- Easy to throw around.
- Early planing.
- Easy to get vertical.
- Great looks.
- Relatively inexpensive.

Lows:
- Doesn't track exceptionally well.
- Not the best workmanship when you look closely.
- Not the lightest 9’6” on the market.

Here are some photos:







and here's a bit of video from the session: