Disclaimer - I like big
butts boards.
Been paddling around on sub 9 foot boards since my JL Hanalei 10 4 fell apart. I have missed that easy glide takeoff and the ability to paddle over "there". It always looks better over "there" :). I tend to paddle to outer reefs so my typical surf looks like:
Not so much fun on the 8 5 @ 105kg if conditions are not perfect, which let's face it on the West coast they rarely are.
I have been eying off the possibility of entering the 10 ft class comps and boards like Deep Dogman model and the Style Lord have interested me. Got in touch with Scotty and he said he had a 10 x 29 @ 149l available for demo. I was a bit surprised as the website said 133l, oh well beggers cannot be choosers so I grabbed the board for a paddle. After riding my feather weight8 5 @ 120 something litres carrying the Style Lord was a shock. Big and heavy, the wood eps built is solid. Jumped on it in windy offshore conditions I was blown away with the effortless paddling and how well it tracked, brought back so many pleasant memories, beautiful, this is why I wanted one.
It was quite windy out the back but the weight and length came into its own helping plow back into the wind and staying on the face when you dropped in. Bit of a challenge flipping the 10 ft length around for a wave compared to a 8 5. But then you paddle and it picks up anything resembling a wave, awesome. The relatively narrow width really helps transition from rail to rail. Scotty has put some magic in the bottom:
I like the pulled in nose that means you can get closer to the steeper parts of the wave but still allows you to get to the nose. Not my forte nose riding so I will let someone else comment on that.
Best part of the board is the tail. Perfect for a bit of size, holding in really well on a couple of slightly larger sets I managed to steal off the pack. When you engage the rail in the bottom turn there is a really noticeable acceleration along the wave, best feeling ever. It needs a bit of aggression to get it to whip around in a cutback, foot right at the back and dig the paddle in. The reward is a nice carve back into the curl with enough speed to bank off the foam, sweet.
If you paddle less than ideal conditions or a long way to breaks this board is worth a paddle. Comes in various widths but I find over 30 inches wide compromises surfing too much for me. The29 inch model will handle whatever you throw at it from6 inch ankle snappers to solid double overhead windy outer reefs. The swiss army knife of the sup world. Oh and the trouble and strife can paddle it on the river, it can be "her board" :)
hilly
> 9 months ago, 19 May 2018
