While this isn't a new board, it's my first surf after 3 months off due to concussion and also my first surf on the hypernut at all so thought it was worth a mini review


It's the shortest board I've owned and I was skeptical about the length. My previous shortest board was a 8'0 Sunova Flash.
It is crazy stable! So much more stable than my 8'0 flash and likely more so than my 8'3 x 28.5 Jimmy Lewis Supertech too. I managed to spend about 30mins and 8 or so waves before even getting my hair wet!

The wave conditions were tiny. First surf back in 3 months so wanted to take it easy and realistically wasn't sure whether I would be catching any of the .6-.8m waves on offer.
To my surprise, the hypernut picked them all up! It was mental how quickly it squirts off the mark and starts to plane.

The waves were pretty mushy so trimming down the line was easy but didn't really get enough speed to try and turns.
I did notice the lack of rocker on the wave- I've been sup-surfing for a few years and even I noticed that it could pearl could easily unless you got back on it real quick or stood in surfer stance. Didn't actually pearl or stop any waves, but caught the nose a few times on entry and had to eject back to get it out of the water and moving.

The few turns I did do though, I found it not as pivotal as my longer boards and missed the middle thruster fin. However, if you got your foot right on the back it spun around pretty quick.

As a board for surfing un-surfable conditions- it was wicked! Did the trick nicely. Super stable. Fast, picks up waves. Intrigued to see what it is like in something with a big more juice.

There's still quite a bit of volume in the board from memory ? Over 100 L ?

Glad your enjoying the Hypernut Benjl, I've got a 2020 7'10 and love it.

It turns on a dime when you get your foot right back over the fins and is super fast down the line when you engage the rail. I do find it slower to paddle than a bigger board however as you state it planes quickly so is easy to catch waves. When taking off late as long as you have your foot back then it can handle it no problems. I've ridden mine from sloppy 2ft to decent 5 - 6ft and I'm sure it could handle bigger - just not sure I could!

Yeah I think mine is 105 or 103l? Quite thick rails throughout.
@siege, I read the 2020 models had more refined rails?
I just can't believe how stable the board is at 7'2 x 28. I used to have a 8'1 gulliver vbox @ 27.5 x 115l and I had that thing out in 6ft double
overhead and everything in between. I hoped the hypernut would be the same, although I do miss that middle fin!

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benjl said..
The few turns I did do though, I found it not as pivotal as my longer boards and missed the middle thruster fin. However, if you got your foot right on the back it spun around pretty quick.

Glad to see you discovered the joy of ultra short boards (but with comfy width & volume) for small waves!

Yep, these wide tailed board come alive only if you nest your rear foot between the arch and the kick on the pad. It also has the benefit has not requiring you to move the foot laterally to thread turns.

You can add a nubster, or even a 5th fin to get a better handling, if you push in your turns, the extra drag will be offset by the extra drive.My favorite setup on my 6'10" when I was using C-Drive fins (in 2013):

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benjl said..
Yeah I think mine is 105 or 103l? Quite thick rails throughout.
@siege, I read the 2020 models had more refined rails?
I just can't believe how stable the board is at 7'2 x 28. I used to have a 8'1 gulliver vbox @ 27.5 x 115l and I had that thing out in 6ft double
overhead and everything in between. I hoped the hypernut would be the same, although I do miss that middle fin!

you could always get a shaper/surfboard repairer to add a centre fin box....

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Hoppo3228 said..
you could always get a shaper/surfboard repairer to add a centre fin box....

Yup done this. Quick and cheap and extremely useful.

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benjl said..
Yeah I think mine is 105 or 103l? Quite thick rails throughout.
@siege, I read the 2020 models had more refined rails?
I just can't believe how stable the board is at 7'2 x 28. I used to have a 8'1 gulliver vbox @ 27.5 x 115l and I had that thing out in 6ft double
overhead and everything in between. I hoped the hypernut would be the same, although I do miss that middle fin!

I have an ECS Slab . 7'5 . 28
wide and about 109L. So 7'2 would be even better for getting foot back. Slab does have a centre fin. Would love to try the HN

I'd love to try a slab.

hmm yeah, I'm dubious about a shaper cutting a centre box in to the board? I don't know why they didn't add one for the hyper nut.

the gulliver vbox was similAr, but personally I found it way better As a thruster than quad

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benjl said..
I'd love to try a slab.

hmm yeah, I'm dubious about a shaper cutting a centre box in to the board? I don't know why they didn't add one for the hyper nut.

the gulliver vbox was similAr, but personally I found it way better As a thruster than quad

Why would you be dubious? They do it all day every day...

I'd imagine the reason Starboard didn't put a centre fin box in is because of the added drag, as it should slow the board down (wth a fin in), the whole idea behind a hypernut is speed, Speed, SPEED!

It's interesting that the SUPboarder review of the Hypernut says exactly the same thing, that they 'wish' starboard had put a centre fin box in...

I guess I was more concerned about where the shaper would put the centre box or how would they know how far forwards or backwards to put it etc?
wonder if anyone's added one on a hypernut before?
everyone said the gulliver vbox was made for a quad but I found mine was a lot more pivotal and fun as a thruster.
just adding centre plugs wouldn't add that much drAg would it?

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benjl said..
Yeah I think mine is 105 or 103l? Quite thick rails throughout.
@siege, I read the 2020 models had more refined rails?
I just can't believe how stable the board is at 7'2 x 28. I used to have a 8'1 gulliver vbox @ 27.5 x 115l and I had that thing out in 6ft double
overhead and everything in between. I hoped the hypernut would be the same, although I do miss that middle fin!

Yes the 2020 & 2019 models have more refined rails, I was riding an Allwave before this and the HN has a lot thinner rails than that. I find because the board is so short I can easily get my back foot on the kick pad which lets me whip the board around super quickly. On a longer board more often than not I was turning more from the middle and not getting back far enough. Coming from a more traditional shape It did take me few sessions to adjust to the Hypernut and unlock its potential

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benjl said..
I guess I was more concerned about where the shaper would put the centre box or how would they know how far forwards or backwards to put it etc?
wonder if anyone's added one on a hypernut before?
everyone said the gulliver vbox was made for a quad but I found mine was a lot more pivotal and fun as a thruster.
just adding centre plugs wouldn't add that much drAg would it?

The plugs themselves no, you wouldn't notice drag.

There are formula's that shapers use to set fins in relation to front fin position, rail line and rocker. I'd let his/her experience decide where it should go.

Of course you'd add more pivot using as a thruster compared to a quad, that is pretty much universally known.

Me, i'm yet to surf a quad I really like... Thruster / Twin is more me. I like drive, and I like pivot. On the quad sups i've surfed, i've found them too 'stiff' for my liking so far...

Initally I would try a hypernut as a quad with a centre nubster, then as a thruster. You might find enough of a change with the nubster to not require a thruster set up anyway.

Vid worth a look;

Benjil, I'm back on your topic about The Hypernut, I don't get this board but I can the feeling of it trough the 6'5'' 28" of my concept. I reckon you have the right board!!!
Since I try to scale up your SB on an another topic, I keep drawing and iI find out that the HN is the shortest cut from the SB to the SUP. Scotty did explain why and I will not do it again.
Last night playing with Shape3D I went back on the HN file of my own.

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benjl said..
just adding centre plugs wouldn't add that much drAg would it?

No, I have filled my US Boxes with foam for years, as you can fill a tiny bit of turbulence at the high speed of windsurfers, but I never feeled anything with FCS, or even Future surfboard fin boxes. And you can guess that some Pros would have sealed them if there was any advantage.

I personally use boxstix now, but I know it is only psychological. www.facebook.com/boxstix/

A good solution is to have multiple fin positions for the central fin, moving your fin a bit can change things a lot. Either multiple aligned FCS plus, or a short US box, or maybe the future Quobba "slider" center fin.

I have surfed a hypernut quite a bit. As others have said, it works really well if you get your back foot right on the kicker. I would spend some time working on that before I had a center fin box installed. It is always fun to have options, but I think you can get a lot out of the board if you get your foot back and use a lot of dynamic compression in the turns.

I have been riding 7'4" pinetec for 3-4 years. Great board. I run nubster in some of my short boards but have never been inclined to got to the trouble of getting a fin box added for a nub on this board. It goes amazing in just about anything, not broke so no fix.
Have 7'10" Smik hypster transformer now, so mainly foil /wing and sup only smooth stuff. Even it has 4 more litres than the nut I cannot manage in all conditions. The nut I can surf in anything.

Ah interesting! Any particular fins work better than others?

Love my 7'2 HNut
I had the small hipster tin for a few months also.
Going back to the hNut was like putting on my favourite shoes, I found I can generate more speed more quickly on the hnut. I have surfed the hnut truckloads.
Hipster was lighter than the hnut. Less weight does not always translate into more speed.
Im running with the new small rear 3"s and 4.5" in front, board goes even faster now.
I think trying smaller rears is better than mucking around putting in a middle fin of sometype, it would confuse the design principles of a bloody good board.
My other boards are 3 fin.
Im not buying any new boards, happy with the ones I've got.
Crew on this forum chop and change board designs too much I believe.

Interesting, what size were the previous rear fins?
ive heard quite differing views on the speed of the hyper vs the hipster twin. How did you find the turning of the two?

Unfortunately most Surf-craft can not be compared fairly unless you have people like Kai Lenny or Zane Schweitzer riding and comparing.
I mainly surf fat clean deep water beach breaks so I am biased to a board that works well in those conditions.
if I lived at a reef break location the hipster may be the preferred board.
even if you had amazing conditions and both boards at your disposal you may find discrepancies in the outcome.
For example
the first board you ride may be in favor because you are a little fatigued on the second session
or the second board you ride may be in favor as you are now properly warmed up during session no. 2
The pros can surf all day and could do comparisons yet do not get involved as the board brand they ride helps pay the travel bills and so on.
I believe Mark Ochilupo's first year in Hawaii he had only one x 6' red Rusty and surfed 2' to 10'+ on the one board and blew everyone's concept of a quiver of boards out the window.
Getting very familiar on one board and working on technique is a better venture than the belief of changing models or your board dimensions will improve your surfing.

I have the 2020 8"4. 140L Hypernut. I am 40 year old intermediate 6"3. 105kg. Has good float and great balance, just struggling to paddle onto waves keeping it straight and lining it up. Once on the wave the thing is amazing, fast and easy to turn.

Imagine the pain of trying to paddle and keep my 7'2 going straight on a wave! Haha.
what board have you come off?