These boards fall well short of the credit they deserve. Yes i do sell them BUT, i have never made secret my personal opinion of these style boards nor am i a fan of the whole "shorter for performance' thing. This being said, whilst in a mad rush the other day to get back in the water, i managed to pull a 7'11 off the rack rather than the 8'2 i was intending to. Well aware of the volume and stability these boards have for there size @90kg i would never consider riding a sub 8ft board under 100L.

I got down to Burleigh on the tail end of a pulse to find a few nice little beachy's ready for the picking. There was a fairly decent sweep still running and conditions were defiantly not glassy. I jumped on the board and straight away struggled to get comfortable, I put this down to the fact that i had not been in the water for nearly 2 months and was possibly a shad heavier after all the winter rums to help stay warm. After the first wave i began to regain my comfort and found my mojo again, the board surfed better than any 8'2 ever had before!!!

Upon returning to the shop and running through a couple of boards with a customer i finally relised my mistake and to say i was mind blown is an understatement. Personally, I would still choose and recommend the 8'2 for most people over the 85kg mark but will be happily spending more time on the 7'11.

If you are in the market for a small performance style board, these things are second to none!!! even though i was riding a sub 100L 7'11 board, the paddle speed was amazing. The rail on these things are so dialed in and the performance is ballistic!!! If you have any questions i know i speak for all the crew when i say, we are more than happy to run you through the range. From the sub 8s up to the 8'8 there really is a board for everyone. The 8'8 would make THE ULTIMATE learn to surf SUP. Stacks of volume, super stable and when you ready to start throwing it around it will obey!!!

Stay Stoked and thanks for reading....
Now get off the computer and go get some waves

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SaltyCulture said..
the whole "shorter for performance' thing.

Note that this is not the case here (7'11" is still quite long), but more "narrower for performance" and "lower volume for performance". Reduction in each of the 3 dimensions (length, width, volume/thickness) brings different advantages and drawbacks, that can be useful or detrimental depending on the kind of waves and intended surfing of the day.
(This said, the Infinity RNB seem to have very sensible dimensions as they are not ultra-narrow like some "pro" boards. The huge experience and abilities of the shaper shows...)

Your post is also interesting because it shows that most of the time you have to force yourself on a harder board (in your case by mistake :-) ) to progress, and demoing a board can be misleading as the first hours on a step down shape may seem impossible.

And it makes things all the more difficult to advise people on what kind of board to step down on. Some people will hate a board that they have to "struggle to get comfortable", and will never want to put the (small) number of sessions to get used to it, others will gladly forget the falls once they experience the extra looseness on the waves. It is very hard to know in advance and offer a proper advice...

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colas said..

SaltyCulture said..
the whole "shorter for performance' thing.

Your post is also interesting because it shows that most of the time you have to force yourself on a harder board (in your case by mistake :-) ) to progress, and demoing a board can be misleading as the first hours on a step down shape may seem impossible.

And it makes things all the more difficult to advise people on what kind of board to step down on. Some people will hate a board that they have to "struggle to get comfortable", and will never want to put the (small) number of sessions to get used to it, others will gladly forget the falls once they experience the extra looseness on the waves. It is very hard to know in advance and offer a proper advice...

Thank you for your words and opinion regarding the shape and the shapers capabilities Colas. I completely agree that to demo a board for a short period can be misleading however, when someone is at a level where they are ready and willing to look for a performance board, they can not be expected to potentially blindly drop a couple of thousand dollars in the hope that they may get used to it and "learn to love it". Again you are correct that some people enjoy the challenge of a much smaller board where as others prefer comfort. Personally, i prefer a little more comfort.

Board length and dimensions dont necessarily dictate performance. A persons capabilities and skill are primarily what delivers performance. As with anything, there are always options and what works for one doesn't mean its going to work for everyone. This is why when in a position to do so, It benefits our customers to try as many boards as we can. Personally, at some point i have ridden every board that i stock including most size variations.

It is personal preference at the end of the day and when looking for a "performance" board there are a lot of people out there that lack knowledge due to the fact that to begin with they may have been sold boards or bought boards second hand that may not suite them or were to advanced in the first place, This is actually more misleading than someone demoing or a retailer offering there personal experiences. I still stand by my belief that everyone should learn to ride a 10ft at some point as this teaches you critical board control skills that benefit immensely.

At the end of the day, when someone is looking to progress and take that next step whether it be up, down or otherwise it is our responsibility as retailers to ensure they are well informed of all the options and educate in order to assist rather than front with criticism.

Stay stoked and i hope everyone is getting some waves...

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colas said..
It is very hard to know in advance and offer a proper advice...

Re-reading me, I wasn't clear clear enough. I was actually speaking of myself, offering (mostly) advice via internet without seeing the guy/gal in action, I wasn't in any way implying that your advice had no value!

And this brings an important point: if you demo a board, having some good SUPer looking at you - SUPers on the water, the shop guys, the shaper, ... - can bring you even more relevant advice than what your own feelings could tell you.

In the Gong line, there is a shape that is quite sensitive to the weight of the rider, as it wont work well with too much volume. It is sometime hard to advise people when they are just in between model sizes. Recently I advised a guy after seeing him demoing my board, and another remotely by chatting on internet. My advice was useful for the first one, but I advised the wrong size for the second...