Hi guys,

Firstly, apologies for starting a new thread on this board as there are already a few threads on it but they seem to be too old for me to add anything to them any more....

Anyway, I've got a quick question for anyone who owns a 12'6 PSH Ocean Hull Paddler. I'm looking at purchasing a second-hand board which looks like being in very good condition. However, when I pick it up using the hand-grip in the deck, the board doesn't seem to be balanced - i.e. the ass end of the board drops down. Now I would have expected the handle placement to be at the balance point of the board so I found this a bit surprising. I'm beginning to wonder if a repair may have been done at the back of the board which has altered the balance as far as the hand grip is concerned?

So my question to any PSH 12'6" Ocean Hull Paddler owners is - when you pick up your board by the hand grip in the deck, is the board balanced or does it drop down at the back?

Thanks for any help or suggestions you can provide me with guys - really appreciate it!


Cheers,

Coen

Hi. I have a 12'6" hull paddler and no there isn't a problem with the board other than when they made them they didn't take into account the weight of the fins and deck pad when they placed the carry hole. It frustrates me but not enough not to love the board. I use it for flat water, downwinders (awesome) and small surf. Great board!

There's many boards out there by many brands that got the handle balance point wrong..

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DavidJohn said...
There's many boards out there by many brands that got the handle balance point wrong..

Don't get me started.....

Hi 913Pepper,

That's great news! Well, actually it isn't 'cause the handle should have been put in the right spot in the first place! I can't believe that board manufacturers don't take things like deck grip, fins etc into account when positioning the hand grip!!

Just out of curiosity, how bad is the imbalance of your board? Are you still able to carry the board easily without running the risk of scraping the ass of it on the ground or do you actually have to use two hands - i.e. one to carry the board and the other to press down on the rail of the board, forward of the handle?

But glad to hear that you're otherwise very happy with the board. Reading the specs on the board, various reviews etc, I haven't found one person yet who's unhappy with the board which is a really good sign.

And thanks for your posts as well, DavidJohn and Zeusman - sounds like it's a reasonably common problem...

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913pepper said..
Hi. I have a 12'6" hull paddler and no there isn't a problem with the board other than when they made them they didn't take into account the weight of the fins and deck pad when they placed the carry hole. It frustrates me but not enough not to love the board. I use it for flat water, downwinders (awesome) and small surf. Great board!

I've just realised what the "quote" button does - should have used this before...

I've got one more question 913pepper (or any other kiwi for that matter) if that's alright - would you have any idea as to what the NZ new price was at the time for one of these boards? I've scoured the web for pricing info on these boards but can't seem to find a NZ price for them. I thought about converting a USD price I found, but that's probably not realistic as NZ and the US are obviously completely different markets with different pricing structures.

Anyway, if you could help me with this at all, it would be greatly appreciated!

One more thing it could have sprung a leak , look around the fin boxes for fine cracks or just dings it could have water in the tail.

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Piros said..
One more thing it could have sprung a leak , look around the fin boxes for fine cracks or just dings it could have water in the tail.

Cheers for that Piros - will definitely check that out...

If I found a new board like that - I would not be buying it. To me, that is faulty. Obviously, you are getting a second hand model (almost said "job" there.. errrr - ) - and you might be taking the price into consideration - but as Piros mentioned.... check its not cracked and "sucking" water.

Hi. I'm pretty sure that it was $2,199 RRP and paid $1,999. I've seen a number of boards from 2-3 years back with a misplaced handle and I had the opportunity to return it. I'm glad i didn't. I've had it for 3 years. I've used it alot, its been great fun and It looks like new . Cheers

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913pepper said..
Hi. I'm pretty sure that it was $2,199 RRP and paid $1,999. I've seen a number of boards from 2-3 years back with a misplaced handle and I had the opportunity to return it. I'm glad i didn't. I've had it for 3 years. I've used it alot, its been great fun and It looks like new . Cheers

Thanks again for the info - much appreciated! And yeah, the construction of these boards seems to be fantastic - the one I'm look at buying looks close to new as well. Mmmmm... might have to seriously consider purchasing it (after checking for cracks etc of course), despite the misplaced handle...

Had a couple of boards with this problem.....one a Fanatic and the other a Naish which was miles off. They got returned......don't buy it as it will drive you nuts......basically you have a board without a handle as you will need to carry that beast over your shoulder.

Handles not put in the balance sweet is far too common across many different brands.

Manufacturers just don't think carefully enough about the weights of grip and fins.

Doesn't make the board surf any different which is a bonus

Frustrating but not the end of the world

Great board by the way.

Thanks heaps guys for all you input above - really appreciate it!

Re: the handle issue, I've been thinking that it could be a pain in the ass as well, especially if you have to carry the board some distance to the water and there's a bit of wind blowing. Love your solution to this problem "robdog"!!! BUT, from what I've been reading, the board really is superb in all other respects so it might just have to a be a compromise that I have to learn to live with. After all, there's plenty of large "standard" flat bottomed SUP's around, plenty of displacement hull type racing SUPs but not a lot in between (on the second-hand market that is)...

A small trick if you have an unbalanced board: carry it with the heavy end (tail here) forward, it is easier to carry this way (your index finger is stringer than the pinky, and the forearm muscle seem stronger this way), plus you can easily see when the tail is moving too close to the ground.

Really happy with the board even to the point of paying retail to get one knowing the flaw in terms of balance. You are able to get this for less than retail so that makes it great buying.