Merimbula Beach
29 Nov 08

Conditions: Light cross-offshore wind. Fat, knee high waves.

I took my Oxbow 11 footer out because the waves looked very gutless and I planned on paddling about 1km down the beach where there was a bit more swell. Once I got there I was catching a few dribbly waves, focusing on my longboard style surfing, when up paddles Scotty Mac on his high performance 9’4” quad fish. He, he - wrong board for the conditions mate, I thought to myself.

He asked if I wanted a go, and not being one to refuse a try of a new board, I accepted. Mainly just planning on doing a bit of paddling to see how it felt.

It felt great. Quite stable for a little board and it looks fantastic when you are looking down on its plan shape - nice lines. A real credit to its shaper. It doesn’t glide as well as my 11 footer but that’s to be expected.

A little one footer came through and I thought I’d give it a try on a wave. I nearly stumbled as I swung around and consequently thought I’d miss the wave - but with a few hard strokes I somehow got on it. The minimal lift from the wave allowed the 9’4” to get enough momentum and drop down the tiny face of this wave.

Now this is when the Scotty Mac 9’4” really surprised me. I was able to fade the takeoff , lean into a decent bottom turn, hit a crumbly section, race down the line, do a nice floater as it closed out and then hop up onto a little foam climb in the white water. All on a wave similar to what I had just been riding on my 11 footer and only been able to trim and nose ride. I think I was wrong about this being the wrong board for the conditions.

The quad fins bite enough to generate drive when bottom turning and cutting back, yet I managed to release them in the foam to pull off a bit of a tail slide - that felt cool.

I can only imagine how well it’d rip in some decent stuff. I love it.

Overall: This board is a ripper - even in tiny waves.

Highs:
- Good stability for a short SUP
- Great plan shape
- Quality workmanship
- Gets onto waves well
- Very manoeuvrable yet has drive

Lows:
- Slow paddler on flat water
- Doesn’t track very well (need to swap hands often)