The first ALL-NEW Jimmy Lewis 8'5" Strikers rolled off the production line & arrived in Australia 2 days ago...The new model is 8'5" x 30" x 4" (116L) & now comes with Quad fin option (the board weighs around 6kg with full deck grip & it's not even the Carbon version)...The board comes with a 2+1 fin set-up but I like to ride my Strikers as a normal Thruster (Futures Ceramic Vector side fins & a 4" Future fin in the box...Although I can't wait to try it as a quad....I must admit I have mixed feelings about Quads but I just put them in my Super Tech & I can't believe what a difference it made, especially to the down-the-line speed)
The surf was 2-3' at my local beach break with a residual bump from yesterday's onshore & no morning offshore to clean it up but it was New Years Day & there was hardly anyone out...
As soon as I jumped on it to paddle out it felt like I was on my 8'11 Striker...It felt just as stable & as easy to paddle even though it was 6 inches shorter & 14L less....
First wave felt just as familiar but just that bit looser without the swing weight the extra length gives you...I surfed for an hour having a ball....The board surfs off the tail like any of my short sup's but still nose-rides amazingly for an 8'5"....
As Jimmy says "It's NOT about how many litres a board has, but about the outline, rocker, deck, bottom & rail shape & the flow of the board that give you the Golden Ratio of a board that will paddle well, be stable & perform..."
I use to say for a long time "if I could only ever have ONE board for the rest of my life it would have been my 10' Laird" until I got my first 8'11 JL Striker....It does everything the Laird did but more & without the extra length in the nose....
Because I ride a 7'10 & 8'3 Super Tech, the 8'1 World Wide & the 8'7 Stun Gun as my quiver of boards I would probably stick with the 8'11 Striker to fill the gap but if I was looking for that 1 board quiver then the 8'5 Striker would definitely be it...

How much does a 8'11" Carbon striker weigh mate?

Hi Hoppo, the new ones are around 7-7.5kg but will have to check now with the new quad boxes

Picked up my new 8,5 two days ago.
What a great board, love the way you can rely on the JL rail line to carve a turn.
Owned the 8,11 striker a couple of years ago, I feel the 8,5 is a better all rounder.

Thanks guys,

I guess what I should have asked was how much lighter would a carbon 8'11 be over the standard construction?

i'm 105kg so 116L is a bit small for me

HI Hoppo,
Whether you got the Carbon version or not you would still be better off with the 8'11 but the beauty of Jimmy's boards is that the NON-Carbon is only a few hundred grams heavier....We put a NON-Carbon JL World Wide 8'5 (125L) on the scales in one of the big dealers shops & it came in at 6.9kg with a full deck grip next to one of the BIG brands 8'5 Carbon Pro models (110L) & only a tail pad & it came in at the same weight but 15L less....And nearly $1000 more at retail....
I guess I'm trying to say you don't need the Carbon version of Jimmy's surf sup's....

Glad you like your NEW 8'5 GlennC :)

Thanks JLB,

I guess it's not about need ;)

Looks a sweet board alright. Would love to see some action shots Rob, the ones of you riding your 8'11 are great!

Thanks Windsurftom, we'll see what we can do :)

On a 9 5 Striker


It's a fab board, especially on clean days.....

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Jimmy Lewis Boards said..
The first ALL-NEW Jimmy Lewis 8'5" Strikers rolled off the production line & arrived in Australia 2 days ago...The new model is 8'5" x 30" x 4" (116L) & now comes with Quad fin option (the board weighs around 6kg with full deck grip & it's not even the Carbon version)...The board comes with a 2+1 fin set-up but I like to ride my Strikers as a normal Thruster (Futures Ceramic Vector side fins & a 4" Future fin in the box...Although I can't wait to try it as a quad....I must admit I have mixed feelings about Quads but I just put them in my Super Tech & I can't believe what a difference it made, especially to the down-the-line speed)
The surf was 2-3' at my local beach break with a residual bump from yesterday's onshore & no morning offshore to clean it up but it was New Years Day & there was hardly anyone out...
As soon as I jumped on it to paddle out it felt like I was on my 8'11 Striker...It felt just as stable & as easy to paddle even though it was 6 inches shorter & 14L less....
First wave felt just as familiar but just that bit looser without the swing weight the extra length gives you...I surfed for an hour having a ball....The board surfs off the tail like any of my short sup's but still nose-rides amazingly for an 8'5"....
As Jimmy says "It's NOT about how many litres a board has, but about the outline, rocker, deck, bottom & rail shape & the flow of the board that give you the Golden Ratio of a board that will paddle well, be stable & perform..."
I use to say for a long time "if I could only ever have ONE board for the rest of my life it would have been my 10' Laird" until I got my first 8'11 JL Striker....It does everything the Laird did but more & without the extra length in the nose....
Because I ride a 7'10 & 8'3 Super Tech, the 8'1 World Wide & the 8'7 Stun Gun as my quiver of boards I would probably stick with the 8'11 Striker to fill the gap but if I was looking for that 1 board quiver then the 8'5 Striker would definitely be it...

With all due respect, I am having difficulty coming to terms with your stated weight of around 6 kgs for a 8'5 x30x4" 116l board...If this is actually the weight.. That's fantastic.. How did u weight it?

Hi Dirtburp, we just stuck it on the scales in one of the local shops....there's probably .5kg margin for error but we weighed a few different boards & they seemed pretty accurate...

My 8'11 striker weighed 7.85kg out of the box.
My 7'9 world wide weighed 6.3kg.
Also weighed a 8'3 super tech 6.41kg
Weighed on a digital luggage scales.
Very good weights for non carbon boards, Striker and World wide have full deck grips which adds a fair bit.

Great & thanks for that Carbs79 :)

Finally had a couple of good sessions on the 8'5", I've been a big fan of Jimmys boards and this is my 5th. I had the 8'11" striker a few years ago and found it to be the most "funnest" SUP's I've surfed, as eveyone says you can surf it on the nose or tail and still goes great, but I wanted a full on old school nose rider so let it go and got a JL Black & Blue.
When I found that Jimmy was making strikers with quad setup and a shorter version I just had to have one, as usual when a new board turns up the surf goes flat for weeks on end, but the last few days I have finally scored, couple of great sessions at my local and I couldn't be happier, this board just feels so comfortable, so easy to get on the nose, but get back on the tail and it flys, they are just such a FUN board. Sure there are better nose riders about and better high performance shortboard style SUP's about, but if you want to take one board to the beach that covers all bases this is it, try and stop smiling after a surf on one of these

Hey Riverider,
Glad you love your new 8'5 Striker......Such a fun board & I'll have to try it as a quad but I'm so lazy because it goes soooo good as a normal surfboard thruster setup as well....
I must admit once I tried my Super Tech & World Wide as quads I loved the way they surfed....Being a short boarder all my life I'd been through the quad stages with my surfboards & as fun as they were they'd get quirky just when you didn't want them to....
I'll have to try my 8'5 Striker as a quad

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Jimmy Lewis Boards said..
Hey Riverider,
Glad you love your new 8'5 Striker......Such a fun board & I'll have to try it as a quad but I'm so lazy because it goes soooo good as a normal surfboard thruster setup as well....
I must admit once I tried my Super Tech & World Wide as quads I loved the way they surfed....Being a short boarder all my life I'd been through the quad stages with my surfboards & as fun as they were they'd get quirky just when you didn't want them to....
I'll have to try my 8'5 Striker as a quad

Will there be any up around the Gold Coast for demo at any stage?

Are the carbon boards still going soft like we had MAJOR issues with and hence stopped selling them !!!

No problems with any JL's here....NOT ONE warranty issue.....Very petty business practice over there though! Maybe move on to something else...For everyone else's information you STOPPED selling them because Jimmy took the distribution off you because you were rorting his generosity....Let it go!!!

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windara said..

Jimmy Lewis Boards said..
Hey Riverider,
Glad you love your new 8'5 Striker......Such a fun board & I'll have to try it as a quad but I'm so lazy because it goes soooo good as a normal surfboard thruster setup as well....
I must admit once I tried my Super Tech & World Wide as quads I loved the way they surfed....Being a short boarder all my life I'd been through the quad stages with my surfboards & as fun as they were they'd get quirky just when you didn't want them to....
I'll have to try my 8'5 Striker as a quad

Will there be any up around the Gold Coast for demo at any stage?

Hi Windara,
I'll be at the Noosa Festival with a few models onboard...

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Jimmy Lewis Boards said..
No problems with any JL's here....NOT ONE warranty issue.....Very petty business practice over there though! Maybe move on to something else...For everyone else's information you STOPPED selling them because Jimmy took the distribution off you because you were rorting his generosity....Let it go!!!

Thats what Jimmy said, no other issues anywhere in the world!!

We replaced nearly 20 boards, even the replacements for guys like Hilly and king of the point failed.

You just keep telling everyone how good they are.

You seemed to be the ONLY person on the planet who had a problem & JL was good enough to replace them site unseen for you nor did he even ask you to return them or cut them up so they were unusable like EVERY other brand does...You got replacement boards & got to sell the original ones...Move on....As I said I haven't had ONE warranty issue in nearly 12 months & over 200 boards sold....ALL my customers seem very happy & even owners of JL's bought years ago ALL rave about the quality of his boards....

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Carbs79 said..
My 8'11 striker weighed 7.85kg out of the box.
My 7'9 world wide weighed 6.3kg.
Also weighed a 8'3 super tech 6.41kg
Weighed on a digital luggage scales.
Very good weights for non carbon boards, Striker and World wide have full deck grips which adds a fair bit.

Yes, very impressive knowing that a pad typically adds at least 500g to a board!

Note that I encourage all of you to by a luggage scale (some are quite cheap on amazon fr instance), and weight all your new boards. This makes it easy to check for water entry after a ding, and monitor the drying process.

I've no experience of the carbon boards but not seen any problems highlighted online to date. I do have the "normal" boards and they are ace....they last. And Jimmy is a good guy...