End of summer board sale time again. Got this Laird Surrator in the PVC carbon version from Exit Surf in Christchurch for $1500 including shipping. Very keen on trying it out....but first mission will be a flat water paddle to explore the stability

www.lairdstandup.fr/boards/surrator/
this about the best site for info on this board. Is in French but lots of pics and graphs

Je vous remercie

And you got the carbon version too! Amazing board--the 9'10 is great for bigger waves (shoulder high and bigger) and surfs smaller than its size. One guy I surf with moved from another brands' 8'10 board to the 9'10 Surrator and feels it is just as maneuverable and better in every way. I surf an 8'10 Surrator which is great for my 85kgs--they are a bit tippier than other boards their size due to the pronounced rocker and pulled in nose and tail but this makes it super maneuverable on the wave. Oh and word is that the 9'10 is the board that Laird shot the pier with...

Did a tiny flat water paddle in glassy conditions on river this morning. All good....seemed to paddle fast. Is 4 litres less volume than my sunova speed 9'2

Very nice pickup

Tried it out today at Makorori centre break......strong offshore and fast breaking hollow waves. No stability problems. The best board .I have tried.....fast and fun.....super easy to turn. Was almost high tide so didn't have to scowl at any rocks

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GizzieNZ said..
Tried it out today at Makorori centre break......strong offshore and fast breaking hollow waves. No stability problems. The best board .I have tried.....fast and fun.....super easy to turn. Was almost high tide so didn't have to scowl at any rocks

Isn't it amazing!?!? Definitely more tuned to the conditions you describe than the Speed. Between the two I think you have a great quiver. In addition to my 8'10 Surrator, I have a 9'0 Laird Surfer and 7'4 Hypernut. If anyone in the US is looking for a Surrator, Laird Standup has a sale going on, on their website. Rumor is that Nidecker is dropping distribution of Laird. Would be a shame if noone picks up distribution as they are amazing boards.

Hi any more feedback on the surrator at all? A carbon 8'10 has come up locally and thinking of adding it to the quiver for hollower and bigger days when need a bit more float and rail line.

I just found an 810 surrator at cash converters New Plymouth they wanted 1000 but i got it for 475 keen to try it but not sure if it can be as much fun as my 88 hokua

Looks like you may have to put the Sunova into the bargain bin - trying to sell my Jimmy Lewis Quad and maybe this beatiful board will go to the bargain bin as well!

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tomooh said..
I just found an 810 surrator at cash converters New Plymouth they wanted 1000 but i got it for 475 keen to try it but not sure if it can be as much fun as my 88 hokua

Haha I think I've seen that board on trademe for ages. What a steal!

Great buy--still loving my 8'10! If your Hokua is an x32 very different board... will be interesting to hear your ride report.

Yes it's an x 32 and I love it seems so easy to surf and very loose as long as you keep working the board from the tail it's fast but not a board for just standing and trimming on. Thinking that the laird will be good in bigger meaner waves perhaps but just seemed too cheap to not buy it and I like to not always ride the same thing. Sounds positive reviews so far 805 how is yours compared to your hokua and which do you prefer. I m 60 and 85kg and the hokua feels like magic to me.

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tomooh said..
Yes it's an x 32 and I love it seems so easy to surf and very loose as long as you keep working the board from the tail it's fast but not a board for just standing and trimming on. Thinking that the laird will be good in bigger meaner waves perhaps but just seemed too cheap to not buy it and I like to not always ride the same thing. Sounds positive reviews so far 805 how is yours compared to your hokua and which do you prefer. I m 60 and 85kg and the hokua feels like magic to me.

I don't own a Hokua but have a couple of friends that do and toyed with the idea of picking one up when the LEs were overproduced but didn't want something that wide and with so much volume as I like to float closer to the surface of the water. I too am 85 kg as well and my quiver is comprised of a Laird Surfer 9'0x29.5x113L, a Hypernut 7'4x30x105L and the Surrator 8'10x29x118L.

The Surrator is the most reactive board that I have ever surfed. It surfs smaller than its size and can handle waves from waist high to double overhead really well. The narrower width should outperform the Hokua in my opinion but I would love to hear your first hand experience. The downside is that it is not an ego-stroking board--its pulled in nose and tail coupled with its aggressive rocker makes it less stable for its size (and its users can't say: "I surf a 7' board"). It took me a little while to get used to the stability of the 8'10 but once I did, I have been rewarded--perhaps you will dial it in quicker. I have the 2015/2016 and Laird improved the deckpad dramatically in 2017 with the diamond deck pad. I changed my deckpad to an OAM that I love.

Free postage to Sydney? :-)

Not sure of the year of my 810 but its 30.? Wide which should help as I don't want to struggle I find the 32 hokua really easy and just goes so well but I tried other size x 32s and didn't like them much

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tomooh said..
Not sure of the year of my 810 but its 30.? Wide which should help as I don't want to struggle I find the 32 hokua really easy and just goes so well but I tried other size x 32s and didn't like them much

Interesting--haven't seen a 30" 8'10 on this side of the pond. Perhaps it is a custom Terry Chung or different sizes were shipped down under? The 9'4 is 30.3" wide I believe.

Yes I think 30.3 is what is on it and 118 litre maybe it is one of the early ones or just wrong numbers not carbon either but feels quite light hopefully I will be able to paddle it comfortably But at the price i couldn't resist having a crack. A few years ago I had a similar looking jamie Mitchell board that felt awesome in bigger waves

Still deeply in love with this board. Have got the "fat guy" version.
Only prob is deck pad ripping away at edges.....probably going too fast

No gelcoat chipping.....even where have put paddle whack dent

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805StandUp said..

tomooh said..
Yes it's an x 32 and I love it seems so easy to surf and very loose as long as you keep working the board from the tail it's fast but not a board for just standing and trimming on. Thinking that the laird will be good in bigger meaner waves perhaps but just seemed too cheap to not buy it and I like to not always ride the same thing. Sounds positive reviews so far 805 how is yours compared to your hokua and which do you prefer. I m 60 and 85kg and the hokua feels like magic to me.

I don't own a Hokua but have a couple of friends that do and toyed with the idea of picking one up when the LEs were overproduced but didn't want something that wide and with so much volume as I like to float closer to the surface of the water. I too am 85 kg as well and my quiver is comprised of a Laird Surfer 9'0x29.5x113L, a Hypernut 7'4x30x105L and the Surrator 8'10x29x118L.

The Surrator is the most reactive board that I have ever surfed. It surfs smaller than its size and can handle waves from waist high to double overhead really well. The narrower width should outperform the Hokua in my opinion but I would love to hear your first hand experience. The downside is that it is not an ego-stroking board--its pulled in nose and tail coupled with its aggressive rocker makes it less stable for its size (and its users can't say: "I surf a 7' board"). It took me a little while to get used to the stability of the 8'10 but once I did, I have been rewarded--perhaps you will dial it in quicker. I have the 2015/2016 and Laird improved the deckpad dramatically in 2017 with the diamond deck pad. I changed my deckpad to an OAM that I love.

Definitely a "hollow fast breaking wave board you can depend on"......took my sunova speed out and found I had lost faith in its abilities as far as "big drops" go

and of course is really a Terry Chung board

www.facebook.com/kauaisurfboards/

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GizzieNZ said..
Definitely a "hollow fast breaking wave board you can depend on"......took my sunova speed out and found I had lost faith in its abilities as far as "big drops" go

Isn't it crazy how that happens!?!? I have made drops on my Surrator that I am sure that I would have wiped out on other boards!

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tomooh said..
Yes I think 30.3 is what is on it and 118 litre maybe it is one of the early ones or just wrong numbers not carbon either but feels quite light hopefully I will be able to paddle it comfortably But at the price i couldn't resist having a crack. A few years ago I had a similar looking jamie Mitchell board that felt awesome in bigger waves

I have had non-carbon Lairds in the past and they are just a little heavier and possibly a bit more stable in chop. If it is the wrong width listed, it is definitely worth working to get it dialed imho and will reward you with the performance you are looking for in bigger waves. Just had mine out in this head high long-period swell that just hit and it reminded me how much I love surfing the board. Will look forward to hearing how your first surf goes.

It will be my first surf since March after recovering from an accident so I will probably start with my bigger boards but will be keen to see how stable it is in the next few months.

Had to take off my surrator deck pad.......the edges ripping away. Major effort getting glue off board. Have just done back so far using Creatures deck pads. Think its looking okay....kick pad a tiny bit over 400mm from back of board

Did find a soft spot......helmet impact or something. Boldly drilled 3 holes through deck pad and used tiny funnel to put resin in. Already had resin.......or would have taken to expert. Also will be covered by deck pad

Looks good although I like to get my back foot right back close to the leash plug, I took my 810 for a little paddle in the river yesterday and it feels okay, not as stable as my x32 but easy enough while paddling.will wait for a good day to surf it.

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tomooh said..
Yes I think 30.3 is what is on it and 118 litre maybe it is one of the early ones or just wrong numbers not carbon either but feels quite light hopefully I will be able to paddle it comfortably But at the price i couldn't resist having a crack. A few years ago I had a similar looking jamie Mitchell board that felt awesome in bigger waves

Seems the numbers on the board are wrong after all, just measured it and can't find much more than 29 inch across the bottom which is what it's supposed to be not the 30.3 it's got written on it, 29 would be the minimum I would buy now, was a struggle on the first board I had a 26 or so wide x about 9ft 6 from Hawaii