it's been some time since I wrote a board review, last one was the JP Surf Slate 8'2".
I see the benefits of the squarish design giving much more stability with an overall shorter length especially for less than perfect wave (and wind) conditions.
I was really interested in the Starboard hypernut design which in a way reminded me the "Tomo" surfboard designs.
The attributes that got me interested were the heavily channeled bottom, "nut" design, thinner rails, short length.
I found a used 7'8" carbon board and started experimenting with fins, leg position, takeoff technique and so on (if you haven't guessed so far I am an engineer..).
To make a long story short, after 2 or 3 times surfing with the hypernut I stopped using the JP surf slate and eventually sold it.
The more detailed version is that this board is lightning fast, turns on a dime if you place your rear leg on top of the fins, very forgiving in terms of stability, and absolutely a joy to ride from ankle bitters to about head high. Takeoff is super easy and I prefer not to paddle ahead of time but catching the wave much later when it is about to break, the acceleration and speed you get from the board are phenomenal.
In my opinion, the main point in having a short board is not to have a lot of weight at the front allowing you to pivot using the paddle much easier. For me is resembles allot the way a Fish surfboard behaves in the water.
The attention to details in the design of this board are really something to admire, it's the first time I own a Starboard and it is certainly a league of it's own. Ended up with 1 size smaller fins than the board originally came with and for my weight it is perfect allowing me to slide the tail from time to time in ways I did not think were even possible for me.
This board improved my surfing abilities allowing me to feel on the wave as if I'm riding a much shorter board.
My only problem was that the price of these boards (the carbon finish) is very high, even for used ones, but you get what you pay for.
Moving forward, I am now looking at the new 2021 Pro boards, especially the new 8' x 29" as a complementary board for clean and a bit more powerful waves, and did I mention for 2020 they cut the overall length to 7'6" and thinned the rails even more??

Like you Dean, I have the same feeling about a SUP. It has to behave like a short board and also more than an SB, it has to move like a fish. As my favorite SUP has been a fish of 6'5'' 28 " 85 litres for my 80 kg for the past years, I decide now to get a more comfortable paddling board while keeping the Fish behaving of my old faithful 6'5" .
As well as deciding to follow the genius concept of the Hypernut and like you I find that it's a lot of money worthing its excellent quality construction, I design for my own this board to make it built in a traditional and local way like EPS surfboards are.
I add a foil option to this 7'2" 28" 95 litres.
I set the fin plugs parallel with no toe because I will use www.fynsurf.com/fr/ . Those fins will allow moving the board extraordinary well in weak surf. If it gets hollower I will get H2 ( FCS) in quad set. H2 got a Toe already sets in.
www.shape3d.com/Viewers/Viewer3D.aspx?Board=7215

I would add a bit of caution about the "Tomo" concept for SUPs.

Tomo prone surf boards work because they reduce the board, cutting out "uneeded" parts (nose length and main width).
But it is not as easy with SUPs, as you must still keep the necessary volume for paddling, and width for balance.
8'2" is just too big for a Tomo shape to work in SUPs as it is designed to work in surfboards. You are then adding board parts rather than removing it, the opposite of the original concept.

Basically, finding a performing "Tomo" SUP shape is all in getting the smallest board possible for your weight and abilities. Extra volume kills the performance very fast in these shapes, as they become hard to engage in turns. So, if you are looking for a very stable board, a big SUP Tomo is great. But if you want performance with them, you need to try to get the smallest one possible.

To be able to shine some light on the Hypernut 7'8 x 30" at 115 liters and how well it performs in Dutch mushy waves did I took some time before I would give my experience on the board.

I added a picture compared to my Quatro 8'0 x 28.5 and slightly less volume 109 liters. So the difference is not only the dimensions butof course also the shape, what is been discussed in other topics, like this one "vertical" and "horizontal" surfing:www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/Review/Boards-for-Vertical-or-Horizontal-surfing-

Stability: Good
It's fairly easy to stand on it, due to the shape of the board, I still prefer to stand slightlyoff-balancestance (feet stacked) due to the fact that it's easier to catch waves and it gives more stability, however, the parallel stance is possible. With my 80 kg, I think I also could go down in volume on this type of board but I really like it in winter conditions to have that bit of extra stability and control.

Speed: Fast
It's quite fast even though it's not the narrowest boards that I have, with the Tomo shape explained also above will help as well to increase the speed. I added a few Quobba's to maximize the speed advantage and I would say it flies down the line if you want to. So generating speeds isn't an issue with the Hypernut.

Paddle speed and tracking: It's oke
This isn't the fastest, probably also because of its shape and tracking or how some call it the row effect can be minimized when you practise.You definitely need to get used to it but it's far from annoying by any means, compared to my other boards is it however not the best, but I didn't buy it for its paddle speed and tracking anyway.

Fun factor: 8 out of 10
It's really fun to surf on especially in waves from shoulder to head high, for waist-high waves I would go for more volume even though it is possible. It's useable in mushy waves because of its stability and it's very loose due to the size but you have to place your feet really on the tail to get the most fun out of it.

Conclusion:
It's not a board for everyone, but if you are looking for a board to have fun with and your sup ability is already a bit progressed from the beginner status can it be a great addition to your quicker, however, I definitely would recommend it as an addition to the quiver rather than having it as a one board quiver.

In the end, is it just my opinion but I wouldn't judge the board after one session because you might get it at the wrong end of the conclusion if you decide not to go for it. Would I buy it again to go smaller (7'4 at 106 liters or custom shape hypernut), probably not, but who knows.

I had a hypernut 8' old model 133 liters, was not impressed by the rails as they were huge and bulky! i guess the new models adressed some of the issues of the old version as they seem sharper...But as Colas said above maybe the board was too big to capture tomo style feel....

I would agree because even the 7'8 feels big, so I can see where he is coming from that the Tomo shape works probably better with a smaller board. The rails are still bulky at the model that I have from 2016 so maybe that helps as well to my verdict that I wrote in my post above.

How does reduction in width on these type of boards impact stability in comparison to a surf shape ?
I have a 7.5 by 28 at 109L ECS Slab and am now looking at taking a risk and purchasing a 7.0 by 26 at 95L (i am a lightweight at 63kg)

How much impact will the 2 inches less in width make on this tomo shape at such short lengths ?

Hi Gboots, great question, and from what I can tell from my experience is that it's the volume distribution over the board is totally different from a traditional surf shape and a Tomo shape.

Kami told me to compare it to standing on a round buoyant or a square door, which one would be easier to stand on. The door has the volume equally distributed over the length, therefore it should be more stable than a round buoyant.

A traditional surf shape has a volume distribution of somehow: back and front 13% to 14% and the rest is in the middle. As a Tomo shape will have more or less 17 to 18% of the volume in the front and the back and the rest in the middle. these few percentages will make a huge difference in the stability with the exact same volume and width.

If you compare the same shape with 2 inches less in width, 5 inched less in lenght, and a reduction of 14 liters will it make as well a difference because on the same shape you will feel that you have those 14 liters less. How much of an impact is has I can't say I never surfed the same board and in different lengths yet, but I know for sure that Colas and Sup the Creek did surf the same boards in different lengths and widths.

Other than that, the Slap looks like a really cool fun board! and with your weight, I should say that would be doable to go down to the 7'0 at 95 liters. Maybe at first the 7'0 for clean conditions and the 7'5 for the bit more choppy ones and when you get the hang of it and feel confident in clean conditions on the 7'0 you take it to the sloppy ones.

I,m 95-97kg and tried the HN 7.4, 7.8 and own the 7.10 over a year now7.4: with 104l is doable, but only in glass with a long wave period otherwise its too difficult to paddle properly. Once you catch a wave with it its super loose and fun.
7.8: awesome board. relative stable, paddles significant faster as the 7.10 and loose and turny. If i could only own 1 board this is the one I would pick for slow windwaves till Atlantic proper swell as it handles all..

7.10: slower to paddle as the 7.8 but a LOT more stable as the 7.8 Standing in choppy windwaves it feels almost like cheating. I used the 7.10 in everything from weak slow dutch windwaves till fast hollow Irish reefbreaks and imo it feels the most at home in the slower stuff. There it turns with my weight almost as tight as the 7.8 (the 7.10 has a bit more tail rocker as the 7.8 that might help with that) but reaches it limits when the waves become too fast and too big. At that point the thick rails just won,t hold and you will bounce out. And that is imo the problem with thee boards, because of the wide outline, wide tail and thickness the riders weight/volume balans is more critical as with "normal" boards. If you buy them too big you will simply bounce out a lot quicker.

Overall i think the 7.8 would be the better single board for me, but in my quiver the 7.10 makes just more sense.My other boards are the Starboard10x29x123l ft longboard sup, an custom 8.2x30x3.6x 115l with the rocker of a pro, nose of an airborne and tail of a hypernut. The thin rails makes it awesome in proper waves and still usable in the crap we have at home.
And my smallest is an 2015 Starboard pro8.5x29x112l. That I only use on holidays in proper clean waves. In everything else its too much hard work.

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Jeroensurf said..
I,m 95-97kg and tried the HN 7.4, 7.8 and own the 7.10 over a year now7.4: with 104l is doable, but only in glass with a long wave period otherwise its too difficult to paddle properly. Once you catch a wave with it its super loose and fun.
7.8: awesome board. relative stable, paddles significant faster as the 7.10 and loose and turny. If i could only own 1 board this is the one I would pick for slow windwaves till Atlantic proper swell as it handles all..

7.10: slower to paddle as the 7.8 but a LOT more stable as the 7.8 Standing in choppy windwaves it feels almost like cheating. I used the 7.10 in everything from weak slow dutch windwaves till fast hollow Irish reefbreaks and imo it feels the most at home in the slower stuff. There it turns with my weight almost as tight as the 7.8 (the 7.10 has a bit more tail rocker as the 7.8 that might help with that) but reaches it limits when the waves become too fast and too big. At that point the thick rails just won,t hold and you will bounce out. And that is imo the problem with thee boards, because of the wide outline, wide tail and thickness the riders weight/volume balans is more critical as with "normal" boards. If you buy them too big you will simply bounce out a lot quicker.

Overall i think the 7.8 would be the better single board for me, but in my quiver the 7.10 makes just more sense. My other boards are the Starboard10x29x123l ft longboard sup, an custom 8.2x30x3.6x 115l with the rocker of a pro, nose of an airborne and tail of a hypernut. The thin rails makes it awesome in proper waves and still usable in the crap we have at home.
And my smallest is an 2015 Starboard pro8.5x29x112l. That I only use on holidays in proper clean waves. In everything else its too much hard work.

Good assessment of the Hypernut, as I weigh a bit less (80kg) do I have the same experience with the 7'8 what you describe for the 7'10. i haven't tried the 7'4 but I could probably handle that as well but will go back for the stability of the 7'8 what feels a bit like cheating. Myabe in the summer I'll get my hands on a smaller one we will see how that goes.

Funny to read that you use it as well for Dutch messy waves, of how you call it weak slow dutch windwaves.

Last week I still decided to sell the Hypernut 7'4, it was a great winter had an awesome time on it but it has to move for another board in my quiver.

As I said before in my conclusion it's not a board for everyone, and I stand by this statement. You really need to love it, I just have the disadvantage that I also have a JL destroyer in my quiver and I just take always that for a session (because I have more fun on it as well).

So anyone in the area of the Netherlands that is looking for a board like this can grab it for a fair price.

Could you ever come around down in french SW?

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Kami said..
Could you ever come around down in french SW?

Definitely planning a trip at the end of September to France! We will try to catch up for sure, looking forward to it.

I have a 7.8 115L carbon Hypernut which I purchased used 2 years ago when I was after something easier to turn than a 9 foot board. It took a while for me to get used to it. Posts and videos from Colas on how to surf the shorter sups really helped as well as some flat water paddling.

I have surfed it in messy, choppy, windy and up to double head high conditions but now wouldn't take it out in the bigger or choppy stuff. It is a bit out of control on the big days and hard to balance in lots of chop.(good exercise!)

It shines in knee to head high clean waves because it is so light and easy to throw around. It feels a lot like my YOW surfskate. I have ridden shories on the Hypernut that I wouldn't attempt on a bigger board.

Super fun, small, clean wave board and I agree with estingo that it is an addition to the quiver rather than a one quiver type of board.

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estingo said..
Last week I still decided to sell the Hypernut 7'4, it was a great winter had an awesome time on it but it has to move for another board in my quiver.

As I said before in my conclusion it's not a board for everyone, and I stand by this statement. You really need to love it, I just have the disadvantage that I also have a JL destroyer in my quiver and I just take always that for a session (because I have more fun on it as well).

So anyone in the area of the Netherlands that is looking for a board like this can grab it for a fair price.

Sold it within 2 weeks amazing board but now on to something different.

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Kami said..
Like you Dean, I have the same feeling about a SUP. It has to behave like a short board and also more than an SB, it has to move like a fish. As my favorite SUP has been a fish of 6'5'' 28 " 85 litres for my 80 kg for the past years, I decide now to get a more comfortable paddling board while keeping the Fish behaving of my old faithful 6'5" .
As well as deciding to follow the genius concept of the Hypernut and like you I find that it's a lot of money worthing its excellent quality construction, I design for my own this board to make it built in a traditional and local way like EPS surfboards are.
I add a foil option to this 7'2" 28" 95 litres.
I set the fin plugs parallel with no toe because I will use www.fynsurf.com/fr/ . Those fins will allow moving the board extraordinary well in weak surf. If it gets hollower I will get H2 ( FCS) in quad set. H2 got a Toe already sets in.
www.shape3d.com/Viewers/Viewer3D.aspx?Board=7215

Wait wait wait a minute .... are you setting FCS ?> H2 have toe set vs the bottom plugs ?

I have jp surf pro's ... that have straight set FCS 1 plugs .... And have been resorting to butchering tabs to get the fronts set with some toe (as it rips way better with toed fronts in anything bigger than solid chest and above ) - are H2 my solution ?

Select to expand quote

seabreezer said...

Kami said..
Like you Dean, I have the same feeling about a SUP. It has to behave like a shortboard and also more than an SB, it has to move like a fish. As my favorite SUP has been a fish of 6'5'' 28 " 85 litres for my 80 kg for the past years, I decide now to get a more comfortable paddling board while keeping the Fish behaving of my old faithful 6'5" .
As well as deciding to follow the genius concept of the Hypernut and like you, I find that it's a lot of money worthing its excellent quality construction, I design for my own this board to make it built in a traditional and local way like EPS surfboards are.
I add a foil option to this 7'2" 28" 95 litres.
I set the fin plugs parallel with no toe because I will use www.fynsurf.com/fr/ . Those fins will allow moving the board extraordinary well in weak surf. If it gets hollower I will get H2 ( FCS) in quad set. H2 got a Toe already sets in.
www.shape3d.com/Viewers/Viewer3D.aspx?Board=7215

Wait wait wait a minute .... are you setting FCS ?> H2 have toe set vs the bottom plugs ?

I have jp surf pro's ... that have straight set FCS 1 plugs .... And have been resorting to butchering tabs to get the fronts set with some toe (as it rips way better with toed fronts in anything bigger than solid chest and above ) - are H2 my solution ?

Hi Seabreezer, FCS H2 worth having a go when you want to carve and hold higher in the face. They got extra toe and Kant already set in

Medium size fins work good on my small SUP, I've tried the large ones but they flex a bit due from tabs but large one are the go on SUP , can be rare to find them now...