I would like to start by thanking Jim K from Extreme Windsurfing for arranging the importation of this board to Canada. Jim thinks this is one of the first Sunovas on our west coast and definitely the first that I know of here in Tofino. The board arrived in Vancouver unscratched. The packing of this board for transport was excellent. My thanks go out to the Sunova team in Thailand.

I am a novice SUP surfer with about one year of paddling a SUP, 61 year old male 5'9" and 69 kg (about 73 kg with winter wetsuit, boots, gloves and helmet). Ocean background of sea kayaking, surf kayaking, and wind surfing. Started on a 10' 27" wide Laird and a 9' 29" wide Fanatic fly that I could only flat water paddle. Both were too unstable as a beginner in the surf. Spent 8 months learning basic SUP surfing on a Starboard Whopper and two months ago sold the three boards for a 9'5" starboard widepoint. This winter I took two surf SUP lessons from Catherine Bruhwiler of Tofino Paddle Surf that were transformative. Catherine has been the Canadian women's surf champion (short board and long board) many times and is an ambassador for SUP surfing here in Canada.

The 8'10" 2016 Sunova Skate is 141 litres (written on the board), 9 kg (just under 20 lbs) with my luggage scale and 32" wide. It is a beautiful board and the lift handle makes it easy to pickup and carry compared to conventional handles. The fins supplied fit perfectly.
<div>Day one. 15-20 knot side offshore wind. Choppy with 2-4 ft beach break. This board is stable. At least as stable as the 9'5" wide point side to side and a bit more stable front to back. Picked up the small waves easily despite the challenging wind and chop.