On my recent Moon's Maldives trip, I won a Sunnova SUP. (I feel guilty, I already have a few boards.)

But now I get to choose a new board!

My current "go-to" board is the 8'8" x 31.5 Flow V2. I am 60 yo, 6'3" and down to 94 kg (but will be back to 100 kg soon enough).

I was surfing the Flow in the Maldives, and during one session, there were a bunch of guys surfing Genration boards. One guy was some kind of champion and was up to his knees in water whilst waiting for the wave. I got talking to another fella who turned out to be Ian Cairns. He was telling me that the board he was on was much more sophisticated than the Flow: concave this, fancy rails, something about the tail - I forget what he said... And I don't know which board he was on... Wasted opportunity?

So, who out there knows the SP24 or SP25 (or Kanga) and the Flow V2?

The goal is to find a better board when attempting to bring out my inner grom (turns in all their forms): waves big enough so you can get the speed to turn, but not too big (i.e., a little over head high) so you can stay in control.

I love my 8'5 Blurr V2 but it is a bit small/tippy. The 8'7 Placid is fun in certain conditions. I am very happy with the Flow - but maybe there is something better?

Any ideas?

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cantSUPenough said..
On my recent Moon's Maldives trip, I won a Sunnova SUP. (I feel guilty, I already have a few boards.)

But now I get to choose a new board!

My current "go-to" board is the 8'8" x 31.5 Flow V2. I am 60 yo, 6'3" and down to 94 kg (but will be back to 100 kg soon enough).

I was surfing the Flow in the Maldives, and during one session, there were a bunch of guys surfing Genration boards. One guy was some kind of champion and was up to his knees in water whilst waiting for the wave. I got talking to another fella who turned out to be Ian Cairns. He was telling me that the board he was on was much more sophisticated than the Flow: concave this, fancy rails, something about the tail - I forget what he said... And I don't know which board he was on... Wasted opportunity?

So, who out there knows the SP24 or SP25 (or Kanga) and the Flow V2?

The goal is to find a better board when attempting to bring out my inner grom (turns in all their forms): waves big enough so you can get the speed to turn, but not too big (i.e., a little over head high) so you can stay in control.

I love my 8'5 Blurr V2 but it is a bit small/tippy. The 8'7 Placid is fun in certain conditions. I am very happy with the Flow - but maybe there is something better?

Any ideas?

CSE .. I recon there are quite a few of us in the same situation.... I have the flow V2 at 8'8 and agree its an awesome board. With the cost of a new board now, its no longer a case of buying one new and if you dont like it sell it as you stand to lose hundreds of $$$$.

Perhaps its an opportunity for a board manufacturer to offer a buy back scheme. It may build brand loyalty, put more good second hand boards back in the market potentially. Retail shops have more stock on hand at various price points and gives punters more reason to visit the retail outlet.......

Back to the boards... I too have an expanding list of interest ... SP25, Kanga, spice, 9'6ish custom revolution...... $$$$$$$

Get either the wedge or 25 at 7'8", if you don't like it I'd be happy to have it.

Congrats on winning a new board! I had a similar experience, my wife surprised me with a new board (felt like winning the lottery!) because she said she could see a massive improvement in my surfing. She knew I'd been looking closely at the Kanga and low and behold an 8'9 Kanga appeared at the door. I'm 59 6'2 85-90kg sup surfing last 6yrs, long board in late teens early twenties. Still early days with the Kanga, possibly only 5 or 6 sessions. To be honest, when I first saw the board I felt a bit intimidated, it scared me! Quite a dramatic change from my other boards (JP Surf Wide 8'2 and 9'2 Steeze). Pointy nose, very fine rails, obvious rocker, low weight (compared to previous boards) etc,
First impressions:
1. Bugger, got to put my own deck pad on - which one? (thanks Colas advice spot on!) went FCS
2. Fins, quads/thuster/quads/thruster still not decided not been out enough yet
3. First outing, smooth, flat - easy peasy, bit slower to paddle than I anticipated, no problem dry hair.
4. Second outing, chose deliberate crappy conditions, choppy, confused unpredictable sea, surprisingly settled until first dunking! I had to work at finding the exact sweet spot when getting to feet, or for me, it was straight back in! Once found (rear foot closer to the handle and front foot slightly further forward, but not too far forward, sweet spot found again)
5. Third outing decent waves for us (4ft), still choppy and wow! Very intuitive and easy board to surf (for me), really instinctive and easy and once settled even managed some positive comments from a couple of prone guys. easy to trim, quick enough and very nimble and responsive to foot pressure.
6. Fourth outing, slightly bigger day, fewer caught but the two stand out moments were a bottom turn that had me back up the face in seconds, then the following mistimed top turn that had me sliding across the lip, sh****** myself - apparently it looked cool and every one though I meant to do it.

Short version - really really like this board it has all the right elements to push me further. Feels like a safe/comfortable high performance board for me at the moment of my development. I feel I'm just about able/skilled/experienced enough to manage to the 'first rung' of it's capabilities, if that makes sense. Am off to Devon (UK) soon and it will be the only board I'm taking, hope this provides a little bit of useful info.



ps. since these pics, is now thruster and the gap between the two front pad sections, I've filled with a thin strip of deck pad as this was where the heel of my front foot was resting and I didn't like the fell of my heel being in the gap!

A close up of a close up - taken from the top of a cliff half a mile away hence the dodgy quality. At least it shows the board on the first outing!!

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cantSUPenough said..
I got talking to another fella who turned out to be Ian Cairns. He was telling me that the board he was on was much more sophisticated than the Flow: concave this, fancy rails, something about the tail - I forget what he said... And I don't know which board he was on.

He was most likely on the Kanga as it's his signature model. Congrats on winning a new board! Amazing... a surf trip in the Maldives AND a free new board? You're doing something right!

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bomberdave said..

cantSUPenough said..
On my recent Moon's Maldives trip, I won a Sunnova SUP. (I feel guilty, I already have a few boards.)

But now I get to choose a new board!

My current "go-to" board is the 8'8" x 31.5 Flow V2. I am 60 yo, 6'3" and down to 94 kg (but will be back to 100 kg soon enough).

I was surfing the Flow in the Maldives, and during one session, there were a bunch of guys surfing Genration boards. One guy was some kind of champion and was up to his knees in water whilst waiting for the wave. I got talking to another fella who turned out to be Ian Cairns. He was telling me that the board he was on was much more sophisticated than the Flow: concave this, fancy rails, something about the tail - I forget what he said... And I don't know which board he was on... Wasted opportunity?

So, who out there knows the SP24 or SP25 (or Kanga) and the Flow V2?

The goal is to find a better board when attempting to bring out my inner grom (turns in all their forms): waves big enough so you can get the speed to turn, but not too big (i.e., a little over head high) so you can stay in control.

I love my 8'5 Blurr V2 but it is a bit small/tippy. The 8'7 Placid is fun in certain conditions. I am very happy with the Flow - but maybe there is something better?

Any ideas?

CSE .. I recon there are quite a few of us in the same situation.... I have the flow V2 at 8'8 and agree its an awesome board. With the cost of a new board now, its no longer a case of buying one new and if you dont like it sell it as you stand to lose hundreds of $$$$.

Perhaps its an opportunity for a board manufacturer to offer a buy back scheme. It may build brand loyalty, put more good second hand boards back in the market potentially. Retail shops have more stock on hand at various price points and gives punters more reason to visit the retail outlet.......

Back to the boards... I too have an expanding list of interest ... SP25, Kanga, spice, 9'6ish custom revolution...... $$$$$$$

I tell you what, if you were thinking about a longer board, my custom 9'9 Insane has exceeded my hopes. It is a real keeper. I expect it would scale down nicely.

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nShoreSlider said..

cantSUPenough said..
I got talking to another fella who turned out to be Ian Cairns. He was telling me that the board he was on was much more sophisticated than the Flow: concave this, fancy rails, something about the tail - I forget what he said... And I don't know which board he was on.

He was most likely on the Kanga as it's his signature model. Congrats on winning a new board! Amazing... a surf trip in the Maldives AND a free new board? You're doing something right!

Thanks - I just wasn't 100% sure he was talking about the board he was on. At one point I thought he said he was Sean Poynter (who is probably 40 years younger), so maybe he was talking about the SP boards...

two tough choices 25 for smaller waves 24 for med-big ...Kanga maybe a allrounder.

A free board means time to explore new shapes .

8'8 flow will be hard to beat and I wouldn't get a board that runs into the same dimensions ,because the 8'8 flow is perfect

so either a size bigger or smaller board would be my choice ,8,5 x SP25 or SP 24 x 8,10

I sold my placid so I have left a space open for my next board ,

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Napnap said..
Congrats on winning a new board! I had a similar experience, my wife surprised me with a new board (felt like winning the lottery!) because she said she could see a massive improvement in my surfing. She knew I'd been looking closely at the Kanga and low and behold an 8'9 Kanga appeared at the door. I'm 59 6'2 85-90kg sup surfing last 6yrs, long board in late teens early twenties. Still early days with the Kanga, possibly only 5 or 6 sessions. To be honest, when I first saw the board I felt a bit intimidated, it scared me! Quite a dramatic change from my other boards (JP Surf Wide 8'2 and 9'2 Steeze). Pointy nose, very fine rails, obvious rocker, low weight (compared to previous boards) etc,
First impressions:
1. Bugger, got to put my own deck pad on - which one? (thanks Colas advice spot on!) went FCS
2. Fins, quads/thuster/quads/thruster still not decided not been out enough yet
3. First outing, smooth, flat - easy peasy, bit slower to paddle than I anticipated, no problem dry hair.
4. Second outing, chose deliberate crappy conditions, choppy, confused unpredictable sea, surprisingly settled until first dunking! I had to work at finding the exact sweet spot when getting to feet, or for me, it was straight back in! Once found (rear foot closer to the handle and front foot slightly further forward, but not too far forward, sweet spot found again)
5. Third outing decent waves for us (4ft), still choppy and wow! Very intuitive and easy board to surf (for me), really instinctive and easy and once settled even managed some positive comments from a couple of prone guys. easy to trim, quick enough and very nimble and responsive to foot pressure.
6. Fourth outing, slightly bigger day, fewer caught but the two stand out moments were a bottom turn that had me back up the face in seconds, then the following mistimed top turn that had me sliding across the lip, sh****** myself - apparently it looked cool and every one though I meant to do it.

Short version - really really like this board it has all the right elements to push me further. Feels like a safe/comfortable high performance board for me at the moment of my development. I feel I'm just about able/skilled/experienced enough to manage to the 'first rung' of it's capabilities, if that makes sense. Am off to Devon (UK) soon and it will be the only board I'm taking, hope this provides a little bit of useful info.



ps. since these pics, is now thruster and the gap between the two front pad sections, I've filled with a thin strip of deck pad as this was where the heel of my front foot was resting and I didn't like the fell of my heel being in the gap!

Thanks for the detailed reply! That's a nice looking board! Certainly the description of the Kanga, targeted towards older guys (I am 60) who still want to pretend they can surf certainly fits my situation.

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Tardy said..
two tough choices 25 for smaller waves 24 for med-big ...Kanga maybe a allrounder.

A free board means time to explore new shapes .

8'8 flow will be hard to beat and I wouldn't get a board that runs into the same dimensions ,because the 8'8 flow is perfect

so either a size bigger or smaller board would be my choice ,8,5 x SP25 or SP 24 x 8,10

I sold my placid so I have left a space open for my next board ,

So you're telling me I need three boards!

The Flow is a good board. The truth is that the biggest limiting factor for my Flow is the guy riding it...

Having said that, when you transition from the Acid, to Flash, to Placid, and then to the Flow, it just shows how seemingly small changes to the design can make major differences to stability, speed, and performance. Maybe they have a better Flow.

3 boards lets not count at the moment .

Cantsupenough, this is my sp25 8'8,137 litres. I'm 100kg and at first it was a bit twichy but I never fell in and soon got used to it. I'm happy with the board and there are lots of reviews about this board including videos by supthecreek (Rick) and other's on seabreeze.

Don't hear much about the Acid any more . Are these newer boards any better than the Acid shape ? I have an over sized acid and in sub 3 foot waves it is awesome and quite agile for its size and my dimensions

My Acid as well keeps giving me the goods. While mostly used in the medium size surf, yesterday I picked it to tackles some 2xoverhead and it was a butter knife. With the quobbas the speeds I was hitting were maxed but it felt nicely controlled. If I had the disposable income to keep the new sticks coming I am sure I would. Since I do not I am lucky that Bert's older shapes are still quite viable.

Fear not Acid fans ,the Acid still lives,I got my new 8,10 insane done in the ACID rocker ,and it surfs just like it
dumps off extra speed like the acid does ,and seems to find speed on big waves and not scared of dropping down the big ones ,I still have my 9,1 acid ,its been through a lot ,and gone brown but still floats ,it was one of my first boards ,this is junior

Now that's a thing of beauty Tardy

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Steveo1 said..
Now that's a thing of beauty Tardy

cheers Steve .

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Gboots said..
Don't hear much about the Acid any more . Are these newer boards any better than the Acid shape ? I have an over sized acid and in sub 3 foot waves it is awesome and quite agile for its size and my dimensions

I need to try my Acids again. I was riding my biggest Acid 9'4 x 31.5 x 136L when the waves got bigger and lumpier (the Flow was too small), but the only issue that I had with the Acids was that to get the right volume/width/stability you had to go longer in length. They were my favorite for 2-3 years.

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Steveo1 said..
Cantsupenough, this is my sp25 8'8,137 litres. I'm 100kg and at first it was a bit twichy but I never fell in and soon got used to it. I'm happy with the board and there are lots of reviews about this board including videos by supthecreek (Rick) and other's on seabreeze.

You are right, there are some good reviews on this forum. The enthusiasm in STC's SP25 review made it sound like the perfect choice. The 8'8 version @ 137L makes it sound a bit big. The 8'5 x 30.5" could be a bit narrow... STC found the SP25 to be very stable compared to the Flow V2 - and he was on a bigger Flow. I am 'fine' on my 8'8 Flow (in most conditions I would use this board).

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cantSUPenough said..
On my recent Moon's Maldives trip, I won a Sunnova SUP. (I feel guilty, I already have a few boards.)

But now I get to choose a new board!

My current "go-to" board is the 8'8" x 31.5 Flow V2. I am 60 yo, 6'3" and down to 94 kg (but will be back to 100 kg soon enough).

I was surfing the Flow in the Maldives, and during one session, there were a bunch of guys surfing Genration boards. One guy was some kind of champion and was up to his knees in water whilst waiting for the wave. I got talking to another fella who turned out to be Ian Cairns. He was telling me that the board he was on was much more sophisticated than the Flow: concave this, fancy rails, something about the tail - I forget what he said... And I don't know which board he was on... Wasted opportunity?

So, who out there knows the SP24 or SP25 (or Kanga) and the Flow V2?

The goal is to find a better board when attempting to bring out my inner grom (turns in all their forms): waves big enough so you can get the speed to turn, but not too big (i.e., a little over head high) so you can stay in control.

I love my 8'5 Blurr V2 but it is a bit small/tippy. The 8'7 Placid is fun in certain conditions. I am very happy with the Flow - but maybe there is something better?

Any ideas?

Hi CSE

Late to the party on this one.... so distracted lately!

Definitely Sean Poynter and Ian "Kanga" Cairns!
Great crew to share a session with!
I hope you got to see Sean surf!

on to your questions...
I have all the boards you asked about:
Flow V2
9'0 - 9'4
Always a caveat when riding these boards... I seem to lose my groove if not in just the right size waves.
I surf them both pretty well in small surf, they have a nice Flow and turn easily and with some snap.
In anything over 3 feet, my videos always revel that I get a stiffer back leg and start to "pivot" turn instead of rolling off the rail.
Both have been in the Cargo trailer for a month
Today I realized that I haven't had them in my van since I got my Quobba twin tabs, that fit Flow FCS plugs.
I will use the 9'4 with Quobba Mixed Thruster Set and see it that solves my personal issue with the Flow.

SP25
8'8 - 8'11 - 9'5
The SP25's work well for me in basically everything... although I haven't had any out in well OH yet.
Fine in head high and feel they would be fine in bigger... but I don't know how big.
Fast and super snappy... and they add a wonderful smoothness to everything.

Last summer, I would have bet the farm that the bigger SP25's would be too wide, tails too thick
That is till I rode the 9'5 x 34 in Mexico last fall... so blown away!
Stupid stable, fast and really easy to snap turns!
I immediately ordered one and it has become my go-to in anything wonky or if it's small

SP24
9'7 -
way too big for bigger waves, but fun in small stuff, oddly enough!
In OH waves, after the bottom turn it is so thick that I was unable to sink the tail and scrub off speed to do any meaningful turns ... I was super stiff and colorless in a Hurricane swell.
I should have gotten a 9'1 or 9'2..... they would be plenty, even in winter gear.

It paddles amazingly well, surfs easily with no trickery to learn
Would actually be a good board for a newbie who needed some volume without a corky feel... and surfs great in average conditions, it turns easily when I don't have to deal with the speed like I do in bigger waves.
It's a great shape.... I would LOVE to get on a smaller one!

Kanga
8'9 - 9'6
and I surfed the 9'3 all week in Mexico

Like Kanga said... he worked with Bert Burger until he got his board right. Simple as that.
He created a board that works in a very small size and still sizes up to comfortably fit just about any person on the planet.
My respect for this board is no secret.... it's a one board quiver or a staple in van full of options.


Flow V2 vs SP25 - would it it be just more of the same? no.
Probably just me, but I don't see any similarities between the SP25 and Flow V2
I simply get better performance out of my SP25's

IMO the SP25 is fast, super snappy and easy on the stability end.
No contest in my view.... I always go with the SP25.
I believe my 8'8 SP25 is more comfortable than my 9'0 Flow V2... even though the numbers easily favor the Flow V2.

I like the way the Flow V2 performs in smaller surf, but for some reason I get a bit more drawn out on anything over 4'
To be honest, I haven't ridden my Flows with the Quobba's yet, so today, I put the Quobba's in my 9'4 and will surf it next session, to see how they change that board.
I picked the 9'4 because I get along with that size better than my 9'0 (I know... I am weird)

I'll make it easy :
For pure rad grom fun.... Get the 8'8 SP25

it won't be too big.... and it will offer quite a difference from the Flow V2 - IMO
and buy a mixed thruster set of Quobba's!!
and oh yeah... a deck pad
(I think I paid $22 USD for the blue pad on the SP24)
















9'7 SP24 in action.... NOT at all corky, but way too much volume to sink and scrub off speed
I did cutbacks like a runaway train going off the end of the tracks

Select to expand quote

supthecreek said..

cantSUPenough said..
On my recent Moon's Maldives trip, I won a Sunnova SUP. (I feel guilty, I already have a few boards.)

But now I get to choose a new board!

My current "go-to" board is the 8'8" x 31.5 Flow V2. I am 60 yo, 6'3" and down to 94 kg (but will be back to 100 kg soon enough).

I was surfing the Flow in the Maldives, and during one session, there were a bunch of guys surfing Genration boards. One guy was some kind of champion and was up to his knees in water whilst waiting for the wave. I got talking to another fella who turned out to be Ian Cairns. He was telling me that the board he was on was much more sophisticated than the Flow: concave this, fancy rails, something about the tail - I forget what he said... And I don't know which board he was on... Wasted opportunity?

So, who out there knows the SP24 or SP25 (or Kanga) and the Flow V2?

The goal is to find a better board when attempting to bring out my inner grom (turns in all their forms): waves big enough so you can get the speed to turn, but not too big (i.e., a little over head high) so you can stay in control.

I love my 8'5 Blurr V2 but it is a bit small/tippy. The 8'7 Placid is fun in certain conditions. I am very happy with the Flow - but maybe there is something better?

Any ideas?

Hi CSE

Late to the party on this one.... so distracted lately!

Definitely Sean Poynter and Ian "Kanga" Cairns!
Great crew to share a session with!
I hope you got to see Sean surf!

on to your questions...
I have all the boards you asked about:
Flow V2
9'0 - 9'4
Always a caveat when riding these boards... I seem to lose my groove if not in just the right size waves.
I surf them both pretty well in small surf, they have a nice Flow and turn easily and with some snap.
In anything over 3 feet, my videos always revel that I get a stiffer back leg and start to "pivot" turn instead of rolling off the rail.
Both have been in the Cargo trailer for a month
Today I realized that I haven't had them in my van since I got my Quobba twin tabs, that fit Flow FCS plugs.
I will use the 9'4 with Quobba Mixed Thruster Set and see it that solves my personal issue with the Flow.

SP25
8'8 - 8'11 - 9'5
The SP25's work well for me in basically everything... although I haven't had any out in well OH yet.
Fine in head high and feel they would be fine in bigger... but I don't know how big.
Fast and super snappy... and they add a wonderful smoothness to everything.

Last summer, I would have bet the farm that the bigger SP25's would be too wide, tails too thick
That is till I rode the 9'5 x 34 in Mexico last fall... so blown away!
Stupid stable, fast and really easy to snap turns!
I immediately ordered one and it has become my go-to in anything wonky or if it's small

SP24
9'7 -
way too big for bigger waves, but fun in small stuff, oddly enough!
In OH waves, after the bottom turn it is so thick that I was unable to sink the tail and scrub off speed to do any meaningful turns ... I was super stiff and colorless in a Hurricane swell.
I should have gotten a 9'1 or 9'2..... they would be plenty, even in winter gear.

It paddles amazingly well, surfs easily with no trickery to learn
Would actually be a good board for a newbie who needed some volume without a corky feel... and surfs great in average conditions, it turns easily when I don't have to deal with the speed like I do in bigger waves.
It's a great shape.... I would LOVE to get on a smaller one!

Kanga
8'9 - 9'6
and I surfed the 9'3 all week in Mexico

Like Kanga said... he worked with Bert Burger until he got his board right. Simple as that.
He created a board that works in a very small size and still sizes up to comfortably fit just about any person on the planet.
My respect for this board is no secret.... it's a one board quiver or a staple in van full of options.


Flow V2 vs SP25 - would it it be just more of the same? no.
Probably just me, but I don't see any similarities between the SP25 and Flow V2
I simply get better performance out of my SP25's

IMO the SP25 is fast, super snappy and easy on the stability end.
No contest in my view.... I always go with the SP25.
I believe my 8'8 SP25 is more comfortable than my 9'0 Flow V2... even though the numbers easily favor the Flow V2.

I like the way the Flow V2 performs in smaller surf, but for some reason I get a bit more drawn out on anything over 4'
To be honest, I haven't ridden my Flows with the Quobba's yet, so today, I put the Quobba's in my 9'4 and will surf it next session, to see how they change that board.
I picked the 9'4 because I get along with that size better than my 9'0 (I know... I am weird)

I'll make it easy :
For pure rad grom fun.... Get the 8'8 SP25

it won't be too big.... and it will offer quite a difference from the Flow V2 - IMO
and buy a mixed thruster set of Quobba's!!
and oh yeah... a deck pad
(I think I paid $22 USD for the blue pad on the SP24)
















9'7 SP24 in action.... NOT at all corky, but way too much volume to sink and scrub off speed
I did cutbacks like a runaway train going off the end of the tracks

Wow, thanks STC - that's a great response.

That describes exactly what I want: "For pure rad grom fun"!

Something about the square tail on the SP25 concerns me, but I know almost zero about board design, so I should stop worrying! The Kanga looks like such a pure shape - but again, I don't really know the difference.

Thanks again!