Hi All,

Chasing some feedback on the starboard hypernut or similar boards.
I'm looking for a stable board in choppy/ mushy conditions and something with enough volume for small days but also still manoeuvrable when it gets a bit more solid.
Thinking the shorter wider board would best fit.
Unfortunately not able to demo anything here in Southwest WA so really hoping for some advice on what works and what doesn't.

Cheers.

You dont want boards with a full square nose. A slightly wider nose gives you better stability while not killing the paddle speed and not being cumbersome in turns. And the added widths in nose and tail will give you enough stability so you do not have to have too much main width, that would be hard to handle in solid conditions.

Basically nose and tails no wider than the Gong Fatal (full dims at www.gong-galaxy.com/categorie-produit/sup-fr/sup-shortboards-fr/ ). This is just an example, most brands have these kind of shapes now (JL, SMiK, JP, ...). Kind of "semi-Tomo" shapes.

And if you look for best performance, I find the bullet nosed boards a very valid choice: still noticeably more stability than a pure performance shape, with very close performance, and a more smooth/carving ride than a semi-Tomo. The Infinity RNB, The new strarboards pro, the new Gong Karmen, ...

I've had a 7'0 Minion for 4 or 5 years now, fantastic board and a lot of fun. Not quite as durable as the big brand boards, I've pulled 3 finboxes out at various times and had a few other repairs. Had I not liked it so much it would have been a throwaway by now due all the money spent on repairs. The other bonus with the Minion is that you can paddle out among surfers and they are genuinely interested in the board, no negativity or aggro.
Regarding the Hypernut I rode a rental at Sanur last year and loved it. A bit narrower in the tail than the Minion and super fast.
My other board is a 7'11 Prowave and rarely do I have to debate which board to take out, if its small, ****ty and bumpy the Minion, when it gets bigger and clean the Prowave.

Have had 7'4" hyper nut for a few years. At 95kegs it can be a handful in poor surface conditions. First sup I have had where I had no hesitation pulling in or smacking a close out. Only down sides is lack of glide, stiff off shores and long paddles.

I am 85kgs and also surf a 7'4 Hypernut and really like it. Lots of speed and drive in the small mushy conditions that you describe. At 7'4x106L may not be my first choice for choppy conditions but perhaps in the larger sizes. It makes small waves fun! My downsides are that the shorter size puts me close to the prone surf lineup and it is not the board for hyper-critical waves with the wider nose/tail. In my quiver, if it is choppy conditions I will generally reach for my 9.0x29.5x113L long-board style Laird Surfer which has more front-back stability than my 7'4 Hypernut.

Probably pretty rare in the west but the ECS Mckee turbo sounds like a good fit.

I ride the 7'10" hypernut 115L in all conditions on the sunshine coast, generally small waves and it is great fun. I weigh 82kg. The 105L 8' prowave however is just fantastic when size and quality goes up, not as stable to paddle but so solid and settled on the wave. Life is compromise - there is no perfect board.

It's really hard to find a board that is great in all areas , I've found in my own experience that I had to be honest with my self in the type of waves I ride and the time on the water .For me I ride beach breaks 1-3 foot . As you all know you get a big mix of waves small,wind chop , mush and clean face waves And glass if I'm lucky . I had to be honest is it my surfing or is it the board that is making me look at other boards and I've found doesn't matter what bard You get if your surfing is not up there your just turning over boards and wasting your money . So I've been concentrating on my surfing
I've had jp surf wide 8'8 that was a good sup easy to catch waves good stability
currently got custom sunova flow great board fast good stability
sunova shrom 7'9 it's my favourite in the beach breaks I ride it handles it all for me it's fun easy to surf fast gets into turns easy ( I don't know about the bigger sizes but small shrooms are great boards )
look at the smik as well short mac saw a guy absolutely ripping it the othe day leaving guys on performance shapes all day
thats my plan I'm going to rip the arse out of my sunova shroom
good luck mate

Thanks Happyhaydo,

I also have a sunova flow which I love bit I guess I,m chasing something different to ride. Like you I also spend a lot of time on beaches and slop, hence looking for the short/ wide option for stability and also something I can throw around a bit more than the flow.
I get what you say about your own surfing performance, I also have an old GSI 60/40 which is pretty beaten up as it's the all rounder for the kids to muck around on and usually goes with us everywhere. Took it out last weekend to a 2-3 foot beachie as it was the only board I had and had one of my best surfs in ages, so totally agree it's not all about the board.
I think the thought of a nice new board in the quiver is also hard to beat.
Happy surfing.