I paddled one yesterday. Having done my research, I decided this was a board worth demoing when they were available in Australia. Steve Piper, from Coreban NSW, emailed that one was ready try.

By the time I drove up to the Northern Beaches from Maroubra, the easterly wind didn't give any surfing options that were right for my first go on this little board. Onshore junk with no channels. So, I paddled Fisherman's. Chop and wind were moderate, with some little swells over towards the reefs. Enough to test paddling, float, stability, and positioning into the takeoff.

My normal ride is a 9'3 Naish. I'm 68kg, 5'7.

Float: no problems. Most of the buoyancy was concentrated under my feet, around the carry handle.

Stability: in the windy chop, it was relatively hard work, mainly rolling side to side. I did fall now and again, especially as I fatigued after an hour. But I fell heaps less than I thought i would in those conditions. As I got used to the Nitro's behaviour, I felt much more comfortable, just relaxing into it. The high sensitivity of the board meant that I didn't have to move my feet more than a couple of inches to get the right paddling trim.

Positioning: The Nitro turns into position really quickly, so only a few paddle strokes were needed to get into the takeoff position. Powerful quick strokes saw it accelerate pretty quickly... but then the little swells filled up so that was as much wave riding as I could manage this session.

The shape, rail profiles, rocker all looked flowing and functional. Being a small guy, I liked the pulled-in tail and the thin, hard edged tail rails. Fin set up is 5" centre fin, with normal Futures shortboard side fins.

I understand that one of our elite Seabreezers is gonna test the Nitro soon.

By the way, the board looks awesome... and it's really light.

I liked it. I trust it's gonna surf unreal- I ordered one

Hi there,
Another 8,5 Coreban Nitro is doing the demo rounds up my way in Lennox Head. I've ordered mine a while back and Guy Shroeder from Coreban Oz has been very helpful. After breaking a few boards and snapping a few Carbon paddles I changed to the Stealth Kevlar Coreban paddle and it's been through some 12ft swell a week back. The paddle is so awesome I opted for the Coreban Nitro 8,5 as my board of choice.
If you are interested in testing the board, give Noel Graham from All Above Board in Lennox Head a ring. You won't buy another board from anyone else. This guy knows what he's talkin about.

Yeah- Noel rips. A great surfer and communicator. How did you find surfing the Nitro demo?

I tested the board in very similar conditions to Steve (Maroubra Sup) I'm 6ft & 90kg and the boards still floated me fine , my other board is a 8-7 DC.

The choppy conditions did make it hard as the board would want to roll , this was mainly due the the extra nose lift , I'm used to flatter noses on the small boards and I keep the nose very flat on the water to stabilize the board , couldn't do this on the Coreban , but get it on the wave and I would'nt change a thing , very fast and very easy to throw around , my first wave was a cracker just flying down the line on a close out section , I was amazed at just how far I actually made it.

The board design is really clever the way the nose and tail have been pulled in but it still has 110L of volume.

I would love to see Noel on this board , there would be buckets thrown everywhere.

Rob

I got two days in the water with the demo 8,5 on the weekend and I'm stoked. Hurting a bit as my pride took a bit of a big hit. It's a huge step-up from the 28inch 10,4 Naish I used to ride. I found I had to change my paddle style to stop the board jawing left and right. I just couldn't get used to the responsiveness on the first day. What a dweeb.... must have fallen off about 1000 times. BUT....once it's on the wave....ooooo baby it's like my old 6,4ft Thruster I retired last year. I could give those fins some good air on the cut-backs and she seemed super quick and stable on the turns both inside and out.
Man this journey is gonna hurt, but imagine having the best of both worlds SUP fun and the thrill of a thruster. It's so exciting I could just bash my head against a ..... man I can't think of anything I'm so excited.

Hey Jbay, I know exactly what you're talking about my self ATM. It looks like a nice board!

Does anyone know if the Coreban 8'5's are through customs yet? The due date for the shipment was around the 15th Oct and that's way past already. I sooo want to get my board in the water already.

Latest news I've heard is that the Nitros will be available in shops within 2 weeks.

Hey thanks for the heads-up. I hope it'll be sooner than two weeks.

Yep- they're in!!! Picked mine up yesterday from Steve & Penny. Once I get some stitches out of my wrist I'm.... I'm.... It's so exciting I could just bash my head against a .....

Hey Maroubra, I've had my board for a week now and only just started to see some progress today. It's hard work, especially in the choppy conditions of late. Once you have her cruizin down the line she's like a Testerossa. Glad to hear the board arrived, please post some pics and I'll do the same.
Cheers

I returned from Noosa a couple of weeks ago. Courtesy of Coreban australia, I got to surf their 9 foot prototype for a week straight. It's a 9' version of the 8'5 Nitro. Great board in so many ways. So, now I'm home in Sydney I'm easing myself into the 8'5 pretty smoothly. The progression from 9'3 to 9' to 8'5 has been helpful for me. Am yet to really surf the Nitro yet, so will ley you know how it goes. So far, in swell, wind, and moderate chop, I can now handle the 8'5 as well as my 9'3. I'll try to get a local grommet to photograph/video what happens...

I came across this hot little vid from Rob. It shows the Nitro's performance quite well in fun GC conditions.
Amidst the other demo boards being tested that day, the Nitro is the pure white with wooden deck showing on front deck. The Nitro features a fair bit in the second half of the vid.