I picked up the board yesterday afternoon. The first impression that hits you is how light it is for an 8'8" 140 litre board. Absolutely incredible compared to my 8' Hypernut, or the 10'2" Wedge.

I applied rail tape in the evening and went for a session this morning. It was around 10 knots onshore slightly from the side with mushy 1-2 foot rubbish. The swell was all over the place, coupled with wind chop and a bit of backwash. Challenging conditions, but the board felt very stable, even as the wind picked up by 8am to 13 knots with 20 knots gusts. It took a minute or two to understand how to stand on the board. It would have been interesting though to go back in time a few months before I got used to my Hypernut and jump onto this board straight from a 10.2 Wedge.

I am 190 cm tall (although reached that shrinking age) and around 105 kgs and I am used to an 8' Hypernut with 133 litres. I would say it's more stable than the Hypernut, as one would expect. The huge difference though is how much easier it is to catch rubbish tiny waves. I was expecting it to be better than the Hypernut in this regard, but it's almost as good as the 10.2 Wedge. It's amazing how much satisfaction an extra 8 inches can provide . Just a few strokes and you are on early. Obviously the shape makes a huge difference too and the more streamlined nose makes for an easier entry. The waves weren't great, but the board showed me flashes of brilliance and promises of a very happy future relationship.

The board comes with FCS 2 boxes, which is brilliant, in my opinion, but I was slightly disappointed that the carbon fins are FCS 1. Not the end of the world, but a minor gripe. Also, it comes as a quad and I do love quads, but I wish they bundled the carbon back fin to give me the option of a thruster, without spending more money.

The biggest disappointment so far is the fact that it does not quite match my car!! The blue is too bright! Seriously though, the board is everything I had hoped for, and more than I was expecting. There should be some clean swell over the weekend, so I shall post a proper review next week, and take some photos of the board too.

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theSeb said..

It's amazing how much satisfaction an extra 8 inches can provide .

...that's what she said!

All seriousness, thanks for the initial write-up. Looking forward to more impressions as you get more time on it.

I'm thinking of the 8'2" potentially or the 8'3" JP SurfPlus (not much on that out yet either).

Sounds like a winner, Carbon is the only way to go in my opinion. Tried a 8/3 in the budget construction and it felt sluggish in the water and relatively heavy to carry compared to Smiks, Sunovas etc

Mate, forget the Sup....A Hyundai Ioniq!!!! Wowsers! Thats my dream vehicle to transport my Wedge!

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Rossall said..
Sounds like a winner, Carbon is the only way to go in my opinion. Tried a 8/3 in the budget construction and it felt sluggish in the water and relatively heavy to carry compared to Smiks, Sunovas etc

Don't forget it could be that I am so used to my other boards that this feels amazing, relatively speaking. Never been on a smik, or a Sunova. It definitely does not feel sluggish though. A few strokes and I can really feel the board easily picking up speed and rearing to go, even on waves that have barely formed.

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CaptainJimbo said..
Mate, forget the Sup....A Hyundai Ioniq!!!! Wowsers! Thats my dream vehicle to transport my Wedge!

I love mine, especially the stealth getaways at 5:30 am without disturbing the wife, or neighbours.

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theSeb said..

Rossall said..
Sounds like a winner, Carbon is the only way to go in my opinion. Tried a 8/3 in the budget construction and it felt sluggish in the water and relatively heavy to carry compared to Smiks, Sunovas etc

Don't forget it could be that I am so used to my other boards that this feels amazing, relatively speaking. Never been on a smik, or a Sunova. It definitely does not feel sluggish though. A few strokes and I can really feel the board easily picking up speed and rearing to go, even on waves that have barely formed.

I've got Smiks and Sunovas and the Spice is in the same league in my opinion! Rossalls right though.. you have to go with the carbon. Enjoy your new board.

The colour may not match the car but I appreciate you masking your reg plate with a similar colour to the tail of the Spice - tells me a lot about you!!!!!

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Rossall said..
Sounds like a winner, Carbon is the only way to go in my opinion. Tried a 8/3 in the budget construction and it felt sluggish in the water and relatively heavy to carry compared to Smiks, Sunovas etc

I think the only exception to the rule is the Jimmy Lewis line up..his standard construction is light and very tough. Not sure he sells many carbon sups as a result.

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Napnap said..
The colour may not match the car but I appreciate you masking your reg plate with a similar colour to the tail of the Spice - tells me a lot about you!!!!!

Thank you for noticing. These are important details. Just wait till you see what colour electrical tape I've used to put around the paddle blade for that extra touch.

Another windy session this morning. Cross / slightly offshore windy day with a few 2 foot sets. Board is happy enough to paddle directly into the wind and did everything I asked of it. Our relationship is currently very much like new love where everything is exciting and you cannot keep your hands off each other and you are doing it constantly, like rabbits.




Frankly, I may as well throw my other boards away. I'll definitely still have fun on the 8' Hypernut and I definitely still need a board to paddle when it goes flat, but the 8.8 Spice can easily catch all of the waves from 0.5 foot to whatever foot that my 10.2 Wedge can. I cannot throw it around quite as easily and slide the tail like I can on the Hypernut, but it brings its own qualities to the table. The rail digs in beautifully to allow for an aggressive bottom turn. The ocean gods noticed our joy and happiness and pushed out some solid 2 foot sets and I managed to do two sweet off the top turns on one of these silly tiny waves. The other thing I noticed is how easily the spice keeps speed through flat sections.

It's just so easy and comfy now and that leaves me wondering if perhaps I should be brave and get myself an 8.2 x 121 litres Spice as well to keep "challenging" myself. Best to put those thoughts away till next year, I think. On the other hand, if I get a carbon one, then the wife won't notice the difference between them, as long as all 3 of them (the wife, the 8.2 and the 8.8) are never in the same place together

The most sensible thing to do in the short term is to get rid of the Wedge and replace it with a longer board, like a 14 Generation for the flat days and keep the Hypernut for mucking about and continue trying to learn to foil. Really, with the wind conditions today I should have gone foiling, but surfing will always be my first love.

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Goodbye said..

theSeb said..

Rossall said..
Sounds like a winner, Carbon is the only way to go in my opinion. Tried a 8/3 in the budget construction and it felt sluggish in the water and relatively heavy to carry compared to Smiks, Sunovas etc

Don't forget it could be that I am so used to my other boards that this feels amazing, relatively speaking. Never been on a smik, or a Sunova. It definitely does not feel sluggish though. A few strokes and I can really feel the board easily picking up speed and rearing to go, even on waves that have barely formed.

I've got Smiks and Sunovas and the Spice is in the same league in my opinion! Rossalls right though.. you have to go with the carbon. Enjoy your new board.

Thanks. I am loving it, so far. I must agree. I've had boards with all 4 Starboard constructions now: Limited, lite tech, Starlite and carbon. The carbon one is the only one that has arrived without any small (annoying, but insignificant) imperfections. If the board is available and you can afford it, then definitely try to get a carbon construction is my biggest take away from all of this. Penny wise, pound foolish as the saying goes.

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Slab said..

Rossall said..
Sounds like a winner, Carbon is the only way to go in my opinion. Tried a 8/3 in the budget construction and it felt sluggish in the water and relatively heavy to carry compared to Smiks, Sunovas etc

I think the only exception to the rule is the Jimmy Lewis line up..his standard construction is light and very tough. Not sure he sells many carbon sups as a result.

Yeah Slab fully agree, I just meant the Starboard budget ones, almost put my back out ?????? and JL standard construction is legendary in my opinion

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Rossall said..

Slab said..

Rossall said..
Sounds like a winner, Carbon is the only way to go in my opinion. Tried a 8/3 in the budget construction and it felt sluggish in the water and relatively heavy to carry compared to Smiks, Sunovas etc

I think the only exception to the rule is the Jimmy Lewis line up..his standard construction is light and very tough. Not sure he sells many carbon sups as a result.

Yeah Slab fully agree, I just meant the Starboard budget ones, almost put my back out ?????? and JL standard construction is legendary in my opinion

I agree the kinetic factory builds are premium!IMO the pvc sandwich factor is what it's about ,check,the Jimmy Lewis video showing his pvc sandwich builds and how they relate to strength!

I did a little surf trip on early Sunday morning to an out of the way spot which normally works in the SW groundswell conditions. Walking to the edge of the cliffs I was greeted by clean offshore empty 2-3 foot beauties, with the occasional 4 foot set. I had an absolute blast.

One can't help but smile when you see this from the top of the cliff.

Show this board a clean face and it's amazing what it can do. There aren't enough words in my vocabulary to describe it fully and give it justice. I ended up surfing for 2 hours, then a 15 minute break, and then another 2 hours. I caught many, many waves and because I am not a grom anymore, feeling it a bit today, but still frothing about that session. The last time I've surfed this well and pulled off such awesome moves I was in my early 20s on my short board. The board feels super smooth and stable and easily chuckable.

One wave in particular I was buzzing about afterwards. I keep replaying it in my head. It felt like everything just came together - the board and the wave and I worked as one in unison. Easily the best I've ridden on a surf SUP. It was like I was practising on my surf skate around little cones. I could not stop smiling paddling back out after that one.

The board feels like I've unlocked an easy mode cheat code.

I ordered the Spice a few days after it was initially announced, so it's been a very long wait. In that time the slightly lukewarm supboarder mag review has made me question my decision in the back of my mind. Should I have gone for an 8.7 Pro? Should I have done this, or that... and so forth. I now know that I made the right decision, but I truly did not think this board would be so easy. That's one thing I was not expecting. Bizarrely, I am left wondering if it's "too easy" ?

A few further thoughts that I realised I forgot to mention:

It's all about the bottom turn! I am firm believer that if you can work out how to do a solid bottom turn, that's 60% of surfing, because a good bottom turn is the key to setting up the next "flashier" manoeuvre. This board nails the bottom turn for me. It just grips and holds. The rails don't bog either. On that topic. Doing a round house I often catch the inside toe rail when bouncing off the whitewater to turn back on the Hypernut, . No such issues here.

On Saturday I was surfing somewhere else with 2-3 foot, but mostly close outs on shallow sand. I was doing late drops just to see where the limits were. I even stopped consciously stepping back because the board seemed to be dealing with it fine without my intervention. I finally did find the limits and did a beautiful nose dive and got thoroughly worked on the sand. But that took some actual effort and work to force the issue. I have found that sometimes on both my Wedge and Hypernut things can get a bit unruly in on a late drop and a close out with the rear losing left/right stability when I am being chased by the foamy, if my back foot is too far back (which it often is since I've moved back to avoid a nose dive). I've not noticed that on the Spice.

The board climbs over foam and through breaking faces easily and remains stable.

It keeps its speed through the flat sections remarkably well.

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theSeb said..
A few further thoughts that I realised I forgot to mention:

It's all about the bottom turn! I am firm believer that if you can work out how to do a solid bottom turn, that's 60% of surfing, because a good bottom turn is the key to setting up the next "flashier" manoeuvre. This board nails the bottom turn for me. It just grips and holds. The rails don't bog either. On that topic. Doing a round house I often catch the inside toe rail when bouncing off the whitewater to turn back on the Hypernut, . No such issues here.

On Saturday I was surfing somewhere else with 2-3 foot, but mostly close outs on shallow sand. I was doing late drops just to see where the limits were. I even stopped consciously stepping back because the board seemed to be dealing with it fine without my intervention. I finally did find the limits and did a beautiful nose dive and got thoroughly worked on the sand. But that took some actual effort and work to force the issue. I have found that sometimes on both my Wedge and Hypernut things can get a bit unruly in on a late drop and a close out with the rear losing left/right stability when I am being chased by the foamy, if my back foot is too far back (which it often is since I've moved back to avoid a nose dive). I've not noticed that on the Spice.

The board climbs over foam and through breaking faces easily and remains stable.

It keeps its speed through the flat sections remarkably well.

Great notes mate I was originally think being slightly fuller nose at 32w like Smik hipster might be interesting padding out sounds like Spice nails it through

Awesome - so glad you are enjoying this board.

So far no regrets going for the Spice, I'd tend to agree with everything you've said so far.

The platform is so predictable and stable, it reminds me of the Widepoint platform so much where I cut my teeth learning to sup surf.

As you say, with clean faces and decent punch in the swell this board allows you drop in fairly late and really comes to life, whereas the widepoint was quite slow on the wave the Spice is as quick as performance wave board.

The limited construction is bombproof, but I'd agree carbon is probably the way to go if you've got the cash.

I was over at Hells Mouth last weekend, really funny conditions with a cross shore wind that just seemed to kill the waves and it was a bit of a struggle to get the board going.

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chestersup said..
Awesome - so glad you are enjoying this board.

So far no regrets going for the Spice, I'd tend to agree with everything you've said so far.

The platform is so predictable and stable, it reminds me of the Widepoint platform so much where I cut my teeth learning to sup surf.

As you say, with clean faces and decent punch in the swell this board allows you drop in fairly late and really comes to life, whereas the widepoint was quite slow on the wave the Spice is as quick as performance wave board.

The limited construction is bombproof, but I'd agree carbon is probably the way to go if you've got the cash.

I was over at Hells Mouth last weekend, really funny conditions with a cross shore wind that just seemed to kill the waves and it was a bit of a struggle to get the board going.

Glad you are enjoying yours as well, mate. I have a whole easter weekend full of surfing planned. My local slab reef break should be clean 2-3 foot tomorrow. Then on Saturday I am off to North Devon with promises of clean of 3-4 foot. Sunday I'll be back on my reef break in the morning, then wife stuff unfortunately. Monday not looking so great, but will make the most of it somewhere closer to home.

I said it before, but it is very much like fresh new love. After every session I look forward to the next time I'll be spending quality time with my new board.

The board needs a bit of speed and the only time I have wiped out so far is trying to do a cutback when going in slow motion on 1-2 foot nearing high tide mush. It can only feel like it's getting stuck at the top of the wave in such conditions.

North Devon ok Friday, SS was good. Stuck in the van Wool today as it's blowing an offshore hoolie!!

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The board needs a bit of speed and the only time I have wiped out so far is trying to do a cutback when going in slow motion on 1-2 foot nearing high tide mush. It can only feel like it's getting stuck at the top of the wave in such conditions.

Just going back to this... I've had the same 1-2 foot mush for the last few days, so figured I would take the opportunity to compare the 8.8 Spice vs my 8 Hypernut. I went on the Spice yesterday and the Hypernut this morning. The swell direction and size was pretty much the same. The only difference is that this morning the wind was more offshore, vs the cross / offshore yesterday, so the conditions were a bit cleaner.

Distance surfed yesterday 233m over 7 rubbish waves
Distance surfed today 199m over 8 rubbish waves

Bizarrely though, in my mind I thought I rode longer waves than yesterday and the Hypernut felt faster, because it's easier to drive down the line. Similar feeling of getting stuck on top when trying to do a turn off the top on both boards, on these weak and gutless waves, but the Hypernut felt a bit less sticky and, overall, more "fun" and faster... even though it clearly wasn't faster.

It's been a month and a half since I got my Spice and still loving it. The waves have not been amazing, but we had swell for most of April and I did quite a bit of travelling around Devon and Cornwall. One day was around 3-5 foot when I went to Widemouth Bay, but otherwise it has been in the 2-4 foot range waves, so nothing to get frothed over.

I have also figured out how to get the board to wake up and feel more alive in the weaker small waves. I put on fairly large front fins (designed for a twinny surfboard) and it has made a ton of difference. Really enjoying the board in mush now.

Looking at my Surf Dawn stats, I've had 24 sessions on the Spice (I've been riding my Hypernut in between on the smaller days). I've caught 298 waves and surfed a total of 11.5 km equating to ~51 minutes of wave time.

Top speed: 22 km/h
Longest Wave: 127 metres
Best Wave Time: 28 seconds

All of those numbers were achieved on the same 2-3 foot clean offshore day at Saunton Sands. It was quite an interesting day for me. I surfed a total of just under 5 hours and I somehow managed to catch 67 waves that day. For those who don't know, this is a fairly crowded spot on a clean day that is absolutely beloved by long boarders.

I rented an 8'2 x 30.75" Spice here in La Jolla for a few sessions and even with weak, unpredictable surf it's been a blast. Easy to get on wave, tight in the bottom turns, and way faster than my own boards (8'7 Wedge & 9' New Deal). Just great fun all round. I didn't think it would be this good having seen the Supboarder review; I've now ordered the Carbon version (I rented the Limited one which I though lacked a little flex) which I fully expect to arrive here sometime in in the Fall of 2027.

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SoCalYokel said..
I rented an 8'2 x 30.75" Spice here in La Jolla for a few sessions and even with weak, unpredictable surf it's been a blast. Easy to get on wave, tight in the bottom turns, and way faster than my own boards (8'7 Wedge & 9' New Deal). Just great fun all round. I didn't think it would be this good having seen the Supboarder review; I've now ordered the Carbon version (I rented the Limited one which I though lacked a little flex) which I fully expect to arrive here sometime in in the Fall of 2027.

They must have a lot of back orders ??

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LastSupper said..

SoCalYokel said..
I rented an 8'2 x 30.75" Spice here in La Jolla for a few sessions and even with weak, unpredictable surf it's been a blast. Easy to get on wave, tight in the bottom turns, and way faster than my own boards (8'7 Wedge & 9' New Deal). Just great fun all round. I didn't think it would be this good having seen the Supboarder review; I've now ordered the Carbon version (I rented the Limited one which I though lacked a little flex) which I fully expect to arrive here sometime in in the Fall of 2027.

They must have a lot of back orders ??

And messed up logistics. I was told it's on a boat that has to circumnavigate the globe four times first (or thereabouts) before it arrives in the Port of LA. But it appears it's the same for other brands as well, not just Starboard.

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SoCalYokel said..
I rented an 8'2 x 30.75" Spice here in La Jolla for a few sessions and even with weak, unpredictable surf it's been a blast. Easy to get on wave, tight in the bottom turns, and way faster than my own boards (8'7 Wedge & 9' New Deal). Just great fun all round. I didn't think it would be this good having seen the Supboarder review; I've now ordered the Carbon version (I rented the Limited one which I though lacked a little flex) which I fully expect to arrive here sometime in in the Fall of 2027.

What is your height/weight, experience level if I may ask? I also have the 8'7" Wedge and looking at the 8'2 Spice and wondering if that would be too big of a jump down. I'm about 5'11"/195#(89kg), intermediate-level. Did you rent it from Disco's? Maybe I should just try that.

I'm 6'1 and about your weight without a wetsuit, intermediate level. You'll find the Spice similar to the Wedge but a little "sharper" if the term fits - I felt like I was pushing water less, and once I was on wave it was faster and far more agile. At first I worried a little bit about side to side stability (because of the decrease in width and the bevelled rails) but the surf was pretty choppy then; as soon as it calmed down a bit, and I got used to the shape, it was just great. Not too big a step down at all; they market the 8'2 for guys our weight and they're not wrong. And yes, I rented the one at Disco's. It's worth a try.

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SoCalYokel said..
I'm 6'1 and about your weight without a wetsuit, intermediate level. You'll find the Spice similar to the Wedge but a little "sharper" if the term fits - I felt like I was pushing water less, and once I was on wave it was faster and far more agile. At first I worried a little bit about side to side stability (because of the decrease in width and the bevelled rails) but the surf was pretty choppy then; as soon as it calmed down a bit, and I got used to the shape, it was just great. Not too big a step down at all; they market the 8'2 for guys our weight and they're not wrong. And yes, I rented the one at Disco's. It's worth a try.

Cool... thanks for the feedback!

I'll add my 2p's worth with regards to the spice board. I've got the 9'3 spice in carbon. I'm 5'11/100kgs without a wetsuit.
I've had two surfs in head high surf in the two days I've had the board. First in choppy head high conditions but as others have commented the board is stable as and my wave count was a lot higher than it usually is and generally pleased with the board

This morning a dawnie in clean head high+ surf. All I can say is wow. It's fast, responsive and I've no regrets. It is a wave machine.

Saw this recently... features an 8'8" Spice. Looks pretty good!
sup.star-board.com/the-starboard-spice-is-heating-things-up-in-indo/