An nsp 82l 7'8 x 27 board came Up recently at a super cheap price- the lowest vol I've ever gone is the 8'0 sunova flash at 93l and sold it due to being a bit of work. My normal range is around 104l.
I honestly wasn't expecting to be able to be to surf it but was blown away that I could! She's pretty sunken and was a quick learning curve in howling off shore and shifty beach breaks today but caught a couple of slightly overhead hollow crackers! The rails literally feel as thin as surfboard rails!
Anyone else ridden these nsp shapes? Seems quite neutral and stable feeling for the size but certainly noticed the very small sweet-spot of standing and trying to keep the board from sinking when a wave came. Took a few waves to start getting the timing right but had one absolute cracker of a right and the board felt so alive and playful.

Dave Chapman has always made good shapes IMO. Good to see your achilles is good to go now mate!!

Cheers man! Just got back from Bali too, will post some pics from Uluwatu when it hit 5m! It seems like an awesome shape, nice vee in the tail and lifted rocker in the nose. Honestly surprised I could paddle It around in our west coast conditions.
I prob need a few more sessions and then back to back with my spitfire to see whether the volume drop is worth the extra hassle. Can't believe the spitfire is 25l more volume,

What a beautiful little board! Perhaps the volume is low enough that it sinks and provides a bit more stability in the rough water? What is the width?

cheers

Bob

Thanks Frp, it's funny- I remember looking at some of the longer and wider lengths when they came out thinking they were pretty low volume and prob wouldn't work for me, but this one is surprising.
You might be right with the assumption as it is pretty sunken, rather than left or right stability the main focus is trying to stand just far enough back that the nose keeps out of the water but not too far back or whole the board then sinks and the nose wants to pop out. Same with an inch or too further forward.
It's 27" wide, most narrow board I've ever hard. But it's just soo thin in the rails, makes My 8'2 pin tail Smik spitfire feel thick!

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FRP said..
Perhaps the volume is low enough that it sinks and provides a bit more stability in the rough water?

That's what I thought too.

Low volume boards can actually be stabler, even though they require more mental (concentration) and physical (no real resting) energy.

Hey TGS how does it compare in shape and surfing to the spitfire?

Hey backbeach, are you from new Plymouth by any chance?
shape wise pretty similar, both have a light single to double to noticeable vee out the tail and have rounded pins. my spitfire is 8'2 x 29 x 107l vs the nsp at 7'8 x 27 x 82l, so quite a big difference but I was surprised at how stable the nsp was. I think the nose on the spitfire is more narrow and prob has more tail rocker. the spitfire has proper thin surf rails too, but hard to compare the 25l volume difference between them. I imagine the smaller spitfire would be closer but even my 8'2 has a pretty thinned out tail and made my 8'0 hipster feel thick.
I've only tried the nsp board once so still haven't really got it dialed in it (plus howling off shore winds so hard to paddle on to waves) but my last wave felt like fire. the spitfire had a naturally controlled feel that I'd been searching for a long time for from my other boards on juicy waves. It can hold a tight wave, but still cut loose with the tail rocker and vee.

Here's a couple of pics comparing them

Hey tsg I'm in the northern rivers NSW, and we're getting some great surf atm ;-))
I'm hoping to get my 8'3" smik hipster pin next week when the slow boat finally docks. Hope to progress to the spitfire in due course and its heartening to see a 100kg bloke like urself going off-love the bali stuff. Cheers

Nice one! I reckon you'll love the hipster pin, I'd been messaging Scotty just before he launched it when I had both the regular hipster and spitfire pin about whether a merge of the two would work! Sounds like a super fun board!

In another thread it was noted that Smik boards feel smaller than other makes of similar volume, and this is my observation also.

I've ridden quite a number of boards in the 120L range and settled on it as my magic number - 8'7 sunova flowV1 (119L?), 8'7 Sunova placid (125L), 8'9 flash (122L), custom 8'5 which was 115L, and the 8'3 hipster pin at 123L is the most difficult to ride board I've ever had in comparison.

I have an 8'6 hipster twin also and I feel like that compares closer to my sunova boards and its 132L.

My transition from 121 L, to 113 L to 107 L over the last 2yrs, at 105-95 kg, during this time.
If you don't keep trying to go smaller in volume, your surfing won't properly progress, that is if you want to SUP comparable to progressive short board surfing. All cool if you just enjoying sup and also stick to the same size, each to their own.
My progress from the 121 (infinity blur v2) to SMIK 113L was the biggest step. First couple of surfs, exhausted after 1.5/2 hrs, heaps of blowing waves and falling off.
After dialling in the 113L SMIK, I wanted to improve my barrel riding, not just pulling in but making them. I need thinner rails and less volume. So stepped down to 107L, same again first couple of surfs, falling off and missing waves, but over time my surfing improved.
For me the bigger board, is great for small fat waves, and the smaller one for juice, it helps moving between the 2 that they are almost the same so makes the transition easy between the 2.
Also when you shaving volume, don't discount how much weight a wet steamer adds to the equation. Cause my body weight now 97 kg is close to 107 volume, the 3 - 5 kgs, estimate weight of wet steamer makes a big difference. Same obviously with conditions, wind, bump in swell etc.
For me have two similar boards in wagon and choosing which one for the conditions work for me.
one I've dialled the 107L and loss some more kegs, I'll like to progress to a 100 L custom SMIK, and then default my 107L as my big board.
Great shapes, love the SMIK's.

thegreatsup - what's your kg and how deep does the board sink? Do you have to be in full surf stance to balance when sunk? So hard to find small boards to try that I don't have a good sense of what happens between ~1.15 and 1.0 L/kg, thanks

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jb1979 said..
In another thread it was noted that Smik boards feel smaller than other makes of similar volume, and this is my observation also.

I've ridden quite a number of boards in the 120L range and settled on it as my magic number - 8'7 sunova flowV1 (119L?), 8'7 Sunova placid (125L), 8'9 flash (122L), custom 8'5 which was 115L, and the 8'3 hipster pin at 123L is the most difficult to ride board I've ever had in comparison.

I have an 8'6 hipster twin also and I feel like that compares closer to my sunova boards and its 132L.

Hey jb thats an interesting observation and was hoping you could elaborate on your experience with the 8'3" hipster pin feeling so difficult and the differences you've felt not only between it and the sunovas but also the 8'6" hipster.
I've got the 8'10" hipster @140L and it's so stable but want to get to a more surfing feel like Nerdburger, and am going to drop to an 8'3" hipster pin, which looks like its got the same DNA but refined. Cheers

Hey kisutch, I'm about 72kg dry and add on a bit with a full wettie and booties. it was pretty sunken, with my main goal Of keeping the nose out so I could still paddle it forward. Felt like maybe the back half was maybe ankle deep. Weirdly it was a big struggle paddling it on my knees but felt more stable standing up.
those conditions for my first sup on it weren't easy either and I dropped over 20% compared to my normal volume, so not a gradual shift down at all.

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backbeach said..

jb1979 said..
In another thread it was noted that Smik boards feel smaller than other makes of similar volume, and this is my observation also.

I've ridden quite a number of boards in the 120L range and settled on it as my magic number - 8'7 sunova flowV1 (119L?), 8'7 Sunova placid (125L), 8'9 flash (122L), custom 8'5 which was 115L, and the 8'3 hipster pin at 123L is the most difficult to ride board I've ever had in comparison.

I have an 8'6 hipster twin also and I feel like that compares closer to my sunova boards and its 132L.

Hey jb thats an interesting observation and was hoping you could elaborate on your experience with the 8'3" hipster pin feeling so difficult and the differences you've felt not only between it and the sunovas but also the 8'6" hipster.
I've got the 8'10" hipster @140L and it's so stable but want to get to a more surfing feel like Nerdburger, and am going to drop to an 8'3" hipster pin, which looks like its got the same DNA but refined. Cheers

Hi Mate - for reference I'm 100Kg + my wettie, etc. and 6'4.

There is a big jump in size from the 8'6 to the 8'3. I find the 8'6 really easy to ride in terms of stability, and it is certainly fun on a wave, definitely need to use your feet a lot to keep it moving, and need to be right back to get it turning well. But I do feel the size of it if that makes sense?

The 8'3 has a really small sweet spot for standing - my back foot is in line but just in front of the handle and the front almost inline with the end of the deck pad - forget even trying to stand not in a surf stance. If I'm off position the back of the board sinks, same with the front if I'm not paying attention. Overall its just challenging in the lineup.

On a wave the 8.3 is smooth and easy to turn and ride - I would suspect that the weight difference plays a part in this as well as the size, and the tail design. I'd look at it as think, do, with the 8'6 is more think, set up, do?

Hope that helps, good luck with it. Interested to see how it goes for you.

Surely this won't be less work than the flash you sold? Anyway that's impressive you could make it work. Less surface area is better for offshore wind I think.

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slsurf said..
Surely this won't be less work than the flash you sold? Anyway that's impressive you could make it work. Less surface area is better for offshore wind I think.

Yes its a lot more work than the flash ever was.

How did you find the flash btw?
that board ripped harder than anything else I've ever ridden- although it was my prior lowest volume at 92l too, which is similar to what yours would've been compared to your body weight I think?
Haven't really had enough time on the nsp to really hone it on for comparison but that flash was magical. Super fine rails, good rocker, loved the pin. Only a single concave too. That nicely tucked rail. the Nsp seems quite similar but with vee in the tail.
the 8'0 x 27.5 flash was just a lot of work in choppy west coast and big whitewash. The nsp was ok if not trying to fight decent whitewash oncoming sets to battle over

I would take the NSP's 82L volume with a pinch of salt - it is likely to be considerably more as it would be much more difficult to paddle than your 90L board. I've seen starboard pros with the incorrect volume printed on them by as much as 10 litres.

ok just re read the bit where you say you are 72kg - 10 litres above your weight should be fine anything higher volume in decent waves will feel a bit much for you imo.

Hey Jimbo, naa it was considerably more sunken than my flash was and harder to balance on. I also owned the flash 3yrs ago and had a lot of time on boards since to improve. I mean the nsp is the only board I've ever almost not been able to paddle on my knees without falling off but was oddly more stable standing

So I use a 90L blurr v2 7'11 x 27 as my everyday board in any conditions and I'm 82kg and 6ft . I can use an 80 Litre board but it is super hard work with equal weight to volume ratio. For me personally the sweet spot is between plus 5 - 10 litres as you still have a bit of float that makes getting in to waves easier. But it did take about 10 years to get to that point of paddling smaller boards.

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Jimbo83 said..
So I use a 90L blurr v2 7'11 x 27 as my everyday board in any conditions and I'm 82kg and 6ft . I can use an 80 Litre board but it is super hard work with equal weight to volume ratio. For me personally the sweet spot is between plus 5 - 10 litres as you still have a bit of float that makes getting in to waves easier. But it did take about 10 years to fget to that point of paddling smaller boards.

Always wanted to try 7-11 V2 as I am on the 8-0 and it's easy on clean days (but distracting to balance on bigger days when water is moving more). I found that a 93L Speeed sits about the same in water just more tippy, and ~80L kids foamie sinks fast and is a whole diff beast, im about 82 kg dry too

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thegreatsup said..
How did you find the flash btw?
that board ripped harder than anything else I've ever ridden- although it was my prior lowest volume at 92l too, which is similar to what yours would've been compared to your body weight I think?
Haven't really had enough time on the nsp to really hone it on for comparison but that flash was magical. Super fine rails, good rocker, loved the pin. Only a single concave too. That nicely tucked rail. the Nsp seems quite similar but with vee in the tail.
the 8'0 x 27.5 flash was just a lot of work in choppy west coast and big whitewash. The nsp was ok if not trying to fight decent whitewash oncoming sets to battle over

Yes mate I loved the flash also. Wish I hadn't sold it.

90 liters!!! Are you guys jockeys,or still growing!love the forum but this is a topic I cannot relate to!well done to all that are in that literage

@justaddwater, you'd be surprised mate! Going off my original post I dropped from 107 to 82l back to back and still was ok! Surpsingly! So you might be ok giving it a crack?
@Jimbo, good effort on the 90l! I'm still debating whether that 82l nsp is worth the extra hassle, lack of glide etc. Def needed a good wave push to get it moving!

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thegreatsup said..
@justaddwater, you'd be surprised mate! Going off my original post I dropped from 107 to 82l back to back and still was ok! Surpsingly! So you might be ok giving it a crack?
@Jimbo, good effort on the 90l! I'm still debating whether that 82l nsp is worth the extra hassle, lack of glide etc. Def needed a good wave push to get it moving!

Tbh and I know this is a bit controversial .but I think the vast majority of sup surfers are on boards that are way too big or over volumed for them. I wouldn't say I have any physical attributes or skills that other paddlers have and a 90L 7'11 is still a big board. I had a jp 7'6 92 L for years which was great but quite corky and not as refined as the blurr. The main issue is that a lot of people are unwilling to challenge themselves and progress down to lower volume boards because it takes time to get the hang of it and a few bad sessions put people off. It's great to get down to a lower volume board because the performance jumps up significantly and is similar to surfing a prone board but with the extra power of the paddle to accentuate the turns. Keep going with the progression it's great ??

It's hard to generalize about vast majority of people. So many different factors board shape/surface area, age, physical ability, tolerance for not standing all the time, type of waves, how many days you get out. When you start getting close to your stability limit a slightly less stable board can be very frustrating. The lower volume production boards tend to get more narrow pulled in shapes so where many people could benefit from less volume it might not be available in a shape that can work for their ability, thus you end up with too high a volume board to get the surface area needed for stability.

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Jimbo83 said..

thegreatsup said..
@justaddwater, you'd be surprised mate! Going off my original post I dropped from 107 to 82l back to back and still was ok! Surpsingly! So you might be ok giving it a crack?
@Jimbo, good effort on the 90l! I'm still debating whether that 82l nsp is worth the extra hassle, lack of glide etc. Def needed a good wave push to get it moving!

Tbh and I know this is a bit controversial .but I think the vast majority of sup surfers are on boards that are way too big or over volumed for them. I wouldn't say I have any physical attributes or skills that other paddlers have and a 90L 7'11 is still a big board. I had a jp 7'6 92 L for years which was great but quite corky and not as refined as the blurr. The main issue is that a lot of people are unwilling to challenge themselves and progress down to lower volume boards because it takes time to get the hang of it and a few bad sessions put people off. It's great to get down to a lower volume board because the performance jumps up significantly and is similar to surfing a prone board but with the extra power of the paddle to accentuate the turns. Keep going with the progression it's great ??

I agree mate