Hi , looking at getting a second hand of either board mentioned above for more fun in small surf on the Sunshine Coast. I have a fanatic pro wave 9'6" for bigger surf and a fanatic fly for ripples and cruising around Old Woman Island. Any advise would be appreciated. Both are around 120l.

Hi Muddy,

Not too sure about the Gulliver.

A lot of the compact shapes are quite short, which is great for loose surfing but makes it hard to catch waves.

The Stubby is slightly longer in the water, so the paddling onto waves and back out is way easier, but you still get the benefits of the compact shape for surfing.

I rode the 8"2, (now the 7"10 in the new 2017 range) and they are the best goto boards fanatic have.

Try a demo if you can.

cheers and good luck

Hi muddy, demo the starboard hypernut in 8' 2017, you might like it!

Thanks for the feedback JB and John, sounds like demos are the way to go.
Cheers

I've got the 27" 7'9 (?) vbox 2 and its a very full on board. Its great, discount the hard to catch waves comment as been demo smik, sunova boards around the 29" width 111l mark and was surprised at the extra effort needed to catch waves on these larger boards compared to the vbox. Different stance needed with having to crouch lower etc. Vbox is really lively and fun but after 1-2hrs you are buggered. I can jump out the wave and from the lip on this board. Also really happy with the construction. The carbon deck has 'give' in it to absorb impacts which is so good my board still looks like new after 3 months. Which is not the same as my brand new Tom carroll SUP that has a rock ding in after first session .

I agree with Peguin about disregarding the hard to catch waves comment from JB. The parallel rails and flat rocker of these boards gives the paddle power of a board at least a foot longer. I have a 7'6 Vbox and its been a great board. I'm really hard on boards and the carbon inegra construction is bullet proof. One thing I don't agree with peguin on tho is being buggered after 1-2 hrs or maybe its cause hes catching so many waves . The parallel rails also make it super stable too but being short you can throw it round easily. The only draw back of these shapes is if u go vert or the waves a small and sucky u can catch the nose. These boards are really fun, you wont regret it.

Select to expand quote

peguin said..
discount the hard to catch waves comment

Yup, "hard to catch waves" comments on short boards should be read knowing the technical level of the rider. In a nutshell, if you take off with your feet parallel, waves will be hard to catch with any short board.

Hi guys,

Maybe my comment wasn't totally understood.

I see a tonne of people at demos, that have ridden compact shape boards (all that have straight rails) and a lot "write off" the concept due to trying some models that are way too short. Simply because the boards turn a lot and don't paddle straight when you need to paddle hard to catch a wave.

I'm 75kg, been paddling for 7-8years and can paddle boards with pretty low volume.
I can ride most compact models on the market, but for the average rider, some of these are pretty hard going.

The concept FANATIC went with, is to make the boards, thinner, narrower and slightly longer.
You still get the parallel rail speed, but with some extra glide and rail ability.

The best way to know is to demo some.

Enjoy and apologies for confusing or misleading people.