Whilst holidaying in the Sunshine State recently, I caught up with Simon Hunnybun, the mastermind behind DEEP Oceanboards, for a surf. We went to a quieter spot on the Goldy and he brought along his mini quiver of strange looking "Minion" quads. I wasn't sure if these weird looking things were really my cup of tea so I didn't borrow one then and just took out my standard 8'0". Halfway through the surf, my curiosity got the better of me and I asked him if we could swap boards for a couple of waves. Long story short, after few waves on his little 7'0" - I HAD to have one myself and consequently had one ordered by the time we got back to the car park.

One word: Speedy

The board is 7'2" x 26 7/8" x 3 15/16" x 92L

/images/misc/forum-image-missing.gif

My own little baby arrived a few weeks later and I wasn't disappointed - and that was just based on its looks. The pigment tint impregnated, carbon striped, innegra glass job turned out beautifully. The glasser at the DEEP factory sure knows what he is doing - especially with all those sharp edges, channels, bevels and concaves that go into these crazy Minion designs. At only 5.6 kilograms, he obviously also knows how to squeegee out the excess epoxy to reduce weight while still maintaining strength.

I woke up at 4:30am after a restless night's sleep (way too excited to sleep) in order to make the journey to a secluded river mouth which was forecast to be cranking. I knew the waves at this place would make the ideal proving ground for the new 7'2". We were greeted with fast, mechanical, walling lefts peeling down the bank for over a kilometre - an epic canvas to work with. The super long break is great until you have to paddle a 7'2" the 1.4 kilometres to the take-off zone. I don't like paddling that kind of distance on my 14 footer!

After about 20 minutes I arrived at the peak just as a decent set arrived. Being the only one out there, I was able to take my pick. I chose the second one and stroked into it. It was a feathering, just overhead, super smooth, left hander and I was in the perfect position for it. The 7'2" picked it up nicely and I was reminded of my surf on Simon's board that these things actually paddle into waves very well - they seem to start planing even with the slightest lift provided by a wave before it even breaks.

Dropping down face of this gentle giant from the depths of Broken Bay felt great on the little sled. One would think I was under gunned (an 85 kilogram guy on a 7'2" in overhead waves) but the Minion stepped up and handled the drop and subsequent drawn out bottom turn with the grace of a much longer board. I guess the parallel rails allow her to impersonate a semi-gun and perform appropriately when required. Banking back up the face after the loooong bottom turn, I was presented with the first speedy section of this aquatic journey to the channel. A quick redirectional top turn was in order before slamming the little girl into overdrive for the race to the cutback section. BOOM - this is where you really see the relatively huge planing area kick in and the Minion took off. A few little pumps for good measure and in no time at all I had outraced the lip and covered the 50 or so meters to the next section. Wow, this puppy is quick! Buckle up and hang on peeps.

Being a natural footer and this beast being a left, I was about to conduct the first official backhand cutback assessment of the 7'2". The words swooping, grinding and smooth come to mind. A clean, flowing, round house cutback ensued which felt so lovely. The rail dug deep and held all the way through and the board maintained speed until it had come around a full 270 degrees where I was confronted with wall of foam. I stomped on the tail to lift the big square nose up just enough to clear the bottom of the foam and the Minion proceeded to rise vertically up the white wall almost magically levitating above the turbulence below. A quick crouch down and a transition of weight to my heels had me spinning my snubby friend through a tight pivot at the top of the foam which ricocheted me back onto the green wall of clean water again. These foam climbs, along with white water floaters, was one of the most surprising things about this board - it deals with the turbulence and bounce so well with that large planing area maintaining stability so beautifully. In conclusion, the 7'2" performs exceptionally well in a big wave backhand cutback scenario. Exceptionally well in indeed.

A couple of nice big s-turns were next on the menu where I was just feeling out the rails and the lines they would draw with differing levels of push and tilt. Again, a very smooth response with heaps of speed maintained through the turns that utilised the rail.

After a plethora of different sections offering ample opportunities to experiment with different turns, the end section eventually arrived. I had plenty of speed (not an unusual situation to be in when surfing this SUP) and the crumbly close-out was just asking to be slapped. I swooped into a critical backhand bottom turn with my paddle on my heal side and drove up the face towards the lip. A quick paddle transition and weight distribution to my toe side rail just as I reached the foamy crest resulted in me being in the perfect position to test out the Minion's dish pan potential. I sank the big double swallow tail to begin the whip then flattened out the deck and pushed hard with my back foot. The tail spun, then slid as it lost resistance in the white water and came all the way around until both my heals were pointing towards the shore. The fins then bit into a bit of green water and I managed to reverse the spin direction and bring the 7'2" back around so it was facing the right way again. That felt nice, really nice and gave me a glimpse of the versatility of this funny looking duck under my feet - not only is it great for long drawn out carves but also for critical whips and controlled slides. Woo hoo, what a great combination.

I got a heap more waves before the tide eventually swallowed the fading swell and every one of those waves consolidated my feelings I had about this board after that first one. This is one super fun board with so much speed to burn, so much potential and so much versatility.

Highs:
- Super fast
- Planes through dead sections beautifully
- Holds a rail all the way through big carving turns
- Floats over turbulent foam nicely
- So light and easy to throw around
- Super strong construction
- Very stable for its width
- Paddles ok for its length
- Works great in tiny or large waves

Lows:
- Can take a few waves to feel out its nuances if you're used to a traditional shape
- Too short for my toes to push off the tail when jumping to my feet from a prone paddling position (makes that process slightly awkward)
- Scary looking tail that has potential to do some damage to one's head during a legrope fling-back
- Too popular (everyone wants a go so it reduces my time on it)
- Too interesting (everybody wants to stop me to have a chat about it).

A few more pics:

/images/misc/forum-image-missing.gif

/images/misc/forum-image-missing.gif

/images/misc/forum-image-missing.gif

great reading about these boards, really excites me, well all apart form the 92l part.
Tell me/us is paddling this like paddling a std shape 92l board or do they paddle a lot easier?
Do you think a board this sort of shape would work at say 110-120l so scaled up slightly?
any thoughts be great.
To the high performance skilled riders 92l maybe easy, but to us regular joes that get out when we can, well if you are like me you want to have a short board you can throw in the tray of the ute and throw around in the smaller junky surf to head high but not need to paddle daily and watch the diet to be able to keep upright. Also for me i think if you cant paddle a board out standing its not really SUP surfing. my opinions and its an open forum.

I just sip this report
Only one thing missed...the smell of wax

PS: is the black stripe a bitch mark to step on when jumping from a prone paddling position to your right feet position of paddle paddling

Casso - that review was serious sup porn! Cheers.

Thanks for the great and detailed report!

Yes, parallel rails are so great when the waves get faster. Rounded outlines seem often to hold the board back unless you are always in the pocket.

Also, the short length and wide extremities allow to really surf the foam, which makes these kinds of boards so great also in windy mushburgers.

And this should put a final rest to the common misconception "Short SUP are ugly discs and cannot hold a rail in turns" ... (although yours is quite narrow to be called a disc I guess)

"Caution" wide everywhere make these boards much stabler than their dimensions would suggest. And of course you should scale them up (or down) to adapt to your weight & height.

Select to expand quote

CAUTION said..

great reading about these boards, really excites me, well all apart form the 92l part.
Tell me/us is paddling this like paddling a std shape 92l board or do they paddle a lot easier?
Do you think a board this sort of shape would work at say 110-120l so scaled up slightly?
any thoughts be great.
To the high performance skilled riders 92l maybe easy, but to us regular joes that get out when we can, well if you are like me you want to have a short board you can throw in the tray of the ute and throw around in the smaller junky surf to head high but not need to paddle daily and watch the diet to be able to keep upright. Also for me i think if you cant paddle a board out standing its not really SUP surfing. my opinions and its an open forum.

Caution, I have the scaled-up version at 115 litres, dimensions are 7'8" x 28 1/4" x 4 1/4".

Casso is not exaggerating in any way, these boards are fast, loose and like on rails through roundhouse cutties.

Have had mine for a couple of months now and still come in frothin, the extra speed is insane

Bob.

Coles

Is this board as close to a Gong style board in design that we are going to see here in Australia?

Do they have a website and contact numbers?

Ozzie

Nice thanks for the review, i take it it has the same single concave down the full length the tomo has and if so how deep? i have just shaped myself a 7'0 x 25" 3/4. i went pretty crazy with the bottom pretty much just scaling up a tomo and changing a few little bits cant wait to get it on the water now!

Select to expand quote

colas said..

And of course you should scale them up (or down) to adapt to your weight & height.

And there's the key issue, I suppose. I'm keen to know what those in the know would say about the scaling issue on these boards. I've watched almost every available bit of footage I can find of all manner of people surfing these boards and it all looks good. But I imagine there are different scaling issues for dimensions on these boards depending on your height, weight, ability and whether you want it for 2-3foot smooth conditions or to be able to handle up to 4-5ft with a bit of bump n the water etc.

For example, I'm just over 6'4" and around 90kg in a wet steamer, and the surf down here rarely gets glassy clean with consistent joggle or chop on it. I ride a starby 8'5" pro in good waves and an airborne x31.5 in small stuff. The 8'5" sings when it's over 4ft, but it's a battle with chop after half an hour. I was thinking of scaling one of these boards up to aroundabout 7'6" x 28 x 4 and 110/115 litres for the stability. I just need that 5-10% more stability than the 8'5" gives. Or will the extra nose and tail width do that anyway?

What do you reckon? Thanks in advance.

And has anyone tried c-drive fins in one yet?

Cheers
Tang

Great review Casso. Even got me interested and you know what that can mean.

But seriously where was my phone call? Could've even taken my own boat. We headed over to the rivermouth at about the same time the following day and it wasn't breaking. Big swells getting over there so we were pretty pumped. There was just too much water on the bank as well as a man in a grey suit.

You and the captain have my number and the boat is fuelled and ready to go.

Select to expand quote

TheGoodDr said..

CAUTION said..

great reading about these boards, really excites me, well all apart form the 92l part.
Tell me/us is paddling this like paddling a std shape 92l board or do they paddle a lot easier?
Do you think a board this sort of shape would work at say 110-120l so scaled up slightly?
any thoughts be great.
To the high performance skilled riders 92l maybe easy, but to us regular joes that get out when we can, well if you are like me you want to have a short board you can throw in the tray of the ute and throw around in the smaller junky surf to head high but not need to paddle daily and watch the diet to be able to keep upright. Also for me i think if you cant paddle a board out standing its not really SUP surfing. my opinions and its an open forum.

Caution, I have the scaled-up version at 115 litres, dimensions are 7'8" x 28 1/4" x 4 1/4".

Casso is not exaggerating in any way, these boards are fast, loose and like on rails through roundhouse cutties.

Have had mine for a couple of months now and still come in frothin, the extra speed is insane

Bob.

pictures please . that sounds like dimensions im after

Select to expand quote

ghost4man said..
Is this board as close to a Gong style board in design that we are going to see here in Australia?

This, I don't know. The minion shape seems quite refined, in different ways than the Gong shapes: the nose obviously but the rear lines & channels are very interesting.

I can just say that I would be very glad to have the opportunity to ride these minions! For instance, If I was visiting Oz, I would be happy to just get a Minion there rather than the trouble of bringing my own boards...

Hey I was out there Casso where was my mention lol!!!!

Select to expand quote

colas said..

For instance, If I was visiting Oz, I would be happy to just get a Minion there rather than the trouble of bringing my own boards...

Hang on, Colas. You said you're not the travelling kind a few threads ago, so if you are coming you better bring that 6'10" of yours for me to try or I'll be very disappointed. Maybe I can swap you a go on my new minion (I live in hope)....?

Select to expand quote

stm said..

TheGoodDr said..

CAUTION said..

great reading about these boards, really excites me, well all apart form the 92l part.
Tell me/us is paddling this like paddling a std shape 92l board or do they paddle a lot easier?
Do you think a board this sort of shape would work at say 110-120l so scaled up slightly?
any thoughts be great.
To the high performance skilled riders 92l maybe easy, but to us regular joes that get out when we can, well if you are like me you want to have a short board you can throw in the tray of the ute and throw around in the smaller junky surf to head high but not need to paddle daily and watch the diet to be able to keep upright. Also for me i think if you cant paddle a board out standing its not really SUP surfing. my opinions and its an open forum.

Caution, I have the scaled-up version at 115 litres, dimensions are 7'8" x 28 1/4" x 4 1/4".

Casso is not exaggerating in any way, these boards are fast, loose and like on rails through roundhouse cutties.

Have had mine for a couple of months now and still come in frothin, the extra speed is insane

Bob.

pictures please . that sounds like dimensions im after

Just after delivery, now has tail pad and using wax for grip.

Select to expand quote

TheGoodDr said..

Caution, I have the scaled-up version at 115 litres, dimensions are 7'8" x 28 1/4" x 4 1/4".

Casso is not exaggerating in any way, these boards are fast, loose and like on rails through roundhouse cutties.

Have had mine for a couple of months now and still come in frothin, the extra speed is insane

Bob.

Gday Bob,
I'm on the verge of ordering one this weekend and wondering what your dimensions are ie height and weight, for the 7'8"? Simon's given me that as a starting point, but I am wondering if 115L is a smidge too much foam....
cheers

Epic review, Tim Winton eat your heart out

Select to expand quote

TheGoodDr said..

stm said..

TheGoodDr said..

CAUTION said..

great reading about these boards, really excites me, well all apart form the 92l part.
Tell me/us is paddling this like paddling a std shape 92l board or do they paddle a lot easier?
Do you think a board this sort of shape would work at say 110-120l so scaled up slightly?
any thoughts be great.
To the high performance skilled riders 92l maybe easy, but to us regular joes that get out when we can, well if you are like me you want to have a short board you can throw in the tray of the ute and throw around in the smaller junky surf to head high but not need to paddle daily and watch the diet to be able to keep upright. Also for me i think if you cant paddle a board out standing its not really SUP surfing. my opinions and its an open forum.

Caution, I have the scaled-up version at 115 litres, dimensions are 7'8" x 28 1/4" x 4 1/4".

Casso is not exaggerating in any way, these boards are fast, loose and like on rails through roundhouse cutties.

Have had mine for a couple of months now and still come in frothin, the extra speed is insane

Bob.

pictures please . that sounds like dimensions im after

Just after delivery, now has tail pad and using wax for grip.

thanks doc seen it on the deep web site

Select to expand quote

Tang said..

TheGoodDr said..

Caution, I have the scaled-up version at 115 litres, dimensions are 7'8" x 28 1/4" x 4 1/4".

Casso is not exaggerating in any way, these boards are fast, loose and like on rails through roundhouse cutties.

Have had mine for a couple of months now and still come in frothin, the extra speed is insane

Bob.

Gday Bob,
I'm on the verge of ordering one this weekend and wondering what your dimensions are ie height and weight, for the 7'8"? Simon's given me that as a starting point, but I am wondering if 115L is a smidge too much foam....
cheers

Tang I am 6'2" and weigh 90kg. While I found the board difficult for the first few surfs, I am now quite comfortable in most conditions.
A friend of mine is 105kg and he has the same board with no problem.

At my size I'm at my limit but have only had the board 2 months so I guess that will change, as it has with every other step down I've done. I feel that my height is more a limiting factor rather than weight.

You'll love it Tang, good luck.

Select to expand quote

TheGoodDr said..

Tang said..

TheGoodDr said..

Caution, I have the scaled-up version at 115 litres, dimensions are 7'8" x 28 1/4" x 4 1/4".

Casso is not exaggerating in any way, these boards are fast, loose and like on rails through roundhouse cutties.

Have had mine for a couple of months now and still come in frothin, the extra speed is insane

Bob.

Gday Bob,
I'm on the verge of ordering one this weekend and wondering what your dimensions are ie height and weight, for the 7'8"? Simon's given me that as a starting point, but I am wondering if 115L is a smidge too much foam....
cheers

Tang I am 6'2" and weigh 90kg. While I found the board difficult for the first few surfs, I am now quite comfortable in most conditions.
A friend of mine is 105kg and he has the same board with no problem.

At my size I'm at my limit but have only had the board 2 months so I guess that will change, as it has with every other step down I've done. I feel that my height is more a limiting factor rather than weight.

You'll love it Tang, good luck.

Sorry if i drop in your talking ...but i think the length of legs does not allow too much shortening of boards. As you said height like legs length can be limiting factor to shortened a board.... also the width can't be narower when you get taller than heavier.

I reckon you're both right - height is a massive issue (or a massive excuse, depending on whether you;re tall or short I suppose..).

Simon's given me a 7'8"x27 7/8"x4 1/4 drawing to think about over the weekend, and I want to get it right of course. But I've just brought out the high school maths and worked out that this board on me would equate to someone 5'6" and 76kg riding a 6'7"x24 3/8"x3 11/16" (a 13% reduction all round or so). And that's a small board by any stretch, unless my maths is no good, of which there's a very good chance.

My issue is that with a crook back I don;t really want to wobble for too long, but at the same time I want to have a tight-turning little board again! Oh, the curse of the middle-class......

No much nose scoop - don't you get often nose dives when taking off on the wave ? Especially as the tail is wid.
Gong short SUP boards do have a fairly steep nose scoop over 4-5 inches

Select to expand quote

John4F said..

No much nose scoop - don't you get often nose dives when taking off on the wave ? Especially as the tail is wid.
Gong short SUP boards do have a fairly steep nose scoop over 4-5 inches

Well, not all the models, only the ones for hollow conditions. You get used to flatter entry rocker, especially on shorter lengths. Just angling a bit on steep drops for instance. flat entry rockers speed are so great on weak waves...

Hi Tang

I reckon those dimensions would be fine, the vangurd style sup i made is the same length but 30" wide. I am 6'1" and 92 kgs and find it is surprisingly stable. Not super fast to paddle though. You could go up to 30" in width and still have plenty of rail to rail feel, you have of weight and size to throw around.

Cheers Chris

HI

When it comes to rocker when you are talking short sups, i think you have to think of them as having the rockered nose section chopped off. It has the benefit of fast down the line and less swing weight. Has the downside of a bit less security when dropping into hollow beach breaks, heavily weighting the back inside rail of the board really seems to do the trick but took me a few surfs to dial in.

Cheers Chris

Thanks for that Chris. At the moment 28" is looking good.
Cheers

found the following video. To be honest I have not seen a better representation of such a small board performing in what I would describe as being crappy surf. One wonders what this board would be like in overhead waves:

I don't have the same board but i get A 6'4" as shown before which is quite similar except for the parallel nose lines and some mores things for sure ..., yesterday i had 4'6' waves and it was just unreal, i did such maneuvers like i never think to do after some use of that kind of board, i'm so stoked and I bet it will be OK in larger surf with some habits.
Do not want longer than that kind...just the dim ratio of a SB with standup paddle option.
Paddle is made for surfing, no paddling

Paddle is made for surfing, no paddling
Agree totally - SUP is a new type of surfing allowing to get into waves that wouldn't be always feasible to reach. Maybe SUP replaces tow-in surfing bit.

Still those who want to paddle can have their workouts wherever they want.

really like that fang tail Casso, ticks a lot of boxes for a wide tail, give him a thumbs up from me.

Select to expand quote

Tang said...
Thanks for that Chris. At the moment 28" is looking good.
Cheers

Hey Tang, Did you end up placing an order for that board? What about the tail? Did you go with the big sharp fish or change it? I was thinking about wandering down to their factory for a look since its in my neighbourhood :)