Somewhere near Merimbula
30 Nov 08

Conditions: Medium cross-offshore wind. Fast, steep, head high waves.

An epic session. Quite crowded but some amazing waves.

They were drawing off the shallow bank on the take-off then walling up down the line - just asking to be whacked and caved for (sometimes) 200 meters.

The littlest Oxbow performed really well in these perfect conditions. Easy to draw a big bottom turn to set up an off-the-top carve. It’s got enough manoeuvrability to pump it down the line on a steep section even on my backhand (which is a bit harder when you have a paddle, I reckon).

Once you’re riding on a wave of this size (3-4 foot) it provides a stable platform which is conducive to working on your style (ie, you’re not struggling to just stay balanced on the thing). This allowed me to pull off a couple of backhand drop-knee bottom turns and even a soul-arch cutback - fun.

I got up onto the lip a couple of times trying to do a floater over a closing out section - I don’t remember making any of these though (maybe one). Good fun none-the-less.

Overall: An awesome session - the best I’ve ever had on a SUP. Very glad I had a high performance board to deal with the high performance waves.

Highs:
- Great performer in decent sized waves
- Good down-the-line speed
- Pulled in nose doesn’t get caught in critical positions on the wave

Lows:
- Hard to keep balanced while waiting out the back (especially in chop from a river running out)
- Hard to get near the nose (if that’s what you’re into)

Nice review Casso !

I just got mine yesterday, set up with creature pads and a 15cm center fin + the 2 fcs side fins

I don't need to do another review, I just say I'm stoked with this new toy, and yes, I'll miss the long nose rides but it's still possible to walk to the nose and 360s helico are pretty easy as well (or maybe it's coz I start to control the move...).
riding the tail is a real pleasure and the board is much easier to paddle than I was expecting.

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eric344 said...
I just got mine yesterday

Cool. Who's a lucky duck? You'll love it. I hope to see one of your great videos coming our way soon - staring the Eric and the littlest Oxbow.

Hi Casso,
from all the 9'6'' you have ridden so far, where would you put the naish 9'6'' which somehow came first in this size and has been your favorit for a while?
Which is easier to paddle?
Regards, Jens

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breezeout said...
from all the 9'6'' you have ridden so far, where would you put the naish 9'6'' which somehow came first in this size and has been your favorit for a while?
Which is easier to paddle?

Sorry Jens - I don’t like to compare boards against each other or make recommendations for people. You will have to read each review individually and come to your own conclusions based on your own requirements.

In terms of paddling, I will say, the Naish 9’6” has quite good stability for a performance SUP, probably due to its width.

Check out my full review of the Naish 9’6” here:
www.CyberSUP.com/review2.html