Hi all,
looking to downsize to a smaller board. I've had a season on a Whopper junior. I mainly surf smaller softer waves of around 3 foot or so. Occasionally 4 foot and steeper. I'm 64, 78 kgs. 182 cm tall and intermediate surfer. Been supping for 18 months or so. The specs of the 8'6 Hypernut and similar size Skate look about right. I would like a smaller board but one with stability and ease of wave catching. Can't demo so was hoping someone in the group may have had some experience with either board,
thanks in advance
Greg

Hi Greg

I went from a Whopper to 9'6" Starboard widepoint then quickly to an 8'10" Sunova Skate. I am 70 kg and intermediate skill. The Skate was for me a big improvement in performance and similar stability to the Widepoint. The Skate is VERY stable. Still ride it on really choppy days but mostly these days riding an 8'10" Speeed and new 8'7" Creek a lot more. Over 4' waves I have found the Skate a bit of a handful. The Creek has a similar outline to the Skate from the middle to the front of the board but has a noticeable step up in overall performance. For steep drops I much prefer the Speeed however because the wide nose really helps prevent pearling and provides a lot of confidence. I hope this helps . "SuptheCreek" knows these boards inside out and may chime in. The Skate is a good small wave board but you may outgrow it fairly quickly if you are getting out surfing quite a bit.

Cheers

Bob

Thanks Bob,
good advice. I've heard that the Hypernut is a good board also. Are you happy with the Creek? I also have some interest in that board.
Thanks again
Greg

Hi Dave

VERY happy with the Creek. At first was worried that it was a bit of a "quiver killer" and would replace the Skate and Speeed. Having recently been back on the Speeed in some sizeable (shoulder to head high) waves I really appreciate the glide, stability when paddling for a wave and forgiving steep drops. The Creek is just a bit smaller, slightly less stable, carves turns from mid board better (similar to the Skate) and yet when I get my back foot back lights up. This is all from the perspective of an intermediate skilled older guy who can only think about surfing (much to the amusement of family, friends and colleagues.)

Here are a couple of clips from some small waves. The first on the Creek and the second on the Speeed.

Hope me this helps.




Cheers

Bob

Hi Yamba4

FYI....I am a Sunova fanboy, loud and proud.... totally joined at the hip with these wonderful folks.

I know it's a little confusing to unravel all of the information.
I will try to simplify the numbers best fit your questions.

First.... size and stability of board discussed
FRP has progressed down considerably in size and stability, so his boards all come at different times in his progression.
Skate 8'10 x 32" at 141 liters is a VERY stable board at his size.
Speeed 8'10 x 29" at 130 liters is a big drop is size and stability.
Creek 8'7 x 29.5 at 115 liters is a moderate drop in size and stability

Boards you asked about
Hypernut 8'6 x 31.5" at 132 liters - weight to volume ratio is 1.7 ( your weight, times 1.7 = 132 liters)
Skate 8'6 x 30.75" at 124 liters - weight to volume ratio is 1.6

Both fall comfortably in the "intermediate" range for stability... based on volume alone.
Both boards have forgiving and have easy outlines for stability
Given the outlines of both boards, the Hypernut will be more stable than the Skate

You also asked about the Creek... the Creek is a high performance board with some stability tools built in, but not a "stability board", so that would require you to ride a bigger size.
Creek 9'1 x 31.2" at 136 liters - weight to volume ratio is 1.74.
the shape is not as forgiving as either the Skate or Hypernut, but this size should be fine at your size, provided you allow some time to adjust to the drop in size and shape.

Sunova board feedback...
Wave catching :
The Skate has a flatter rocker, so faster and easier paddling into waves.

Conditions that the board is best suited for:
Skate - low power waves with sloping wave face..... low nose kick and flatter rocker doesn't do well in steep drops.
Super fast and playful in the soft waves, very stable in chop and a favorite of mine in proper conditions.
It "Skates" more than carves because of it's wide moon tail.... very fun board
I prefer the Skate over the Creek in soft summer waves.

Creek - all conditions and sizes up to DOH
This is a very high performance board with reasonable stability designed to make performance, accessible to more people.
However, this board may be too big of a jump for you at the moment.
The Skate and Hypernut seem to fit your daily conditions best.

If you haven't seen my Skate videos... I'll post one here for you.
(you can access the others from my channel)

Thanks Bob for the vids and the advice. You are going extremely well to be surfing those low volume boards. I know what you mean about people being somewhat sceptical of our surfing endeavors. Keep doing it while you can I say!

Thanks STC, your knowledge and advice appreciated as always. I think that the Skate would be the go for me at this stage, then hopefully progress to a Speed next season. Just one more board to through in before closing, the Steeze at 8"10' looks a possibilty. What are your thoughts STC, I know you have a 9"6' on order?

thanks heaps again!
Greg

Don't count out a Shroom if you're considering it for small mushy conditions . Someone was riding one near me yesterday in 1ft Bay surf and he was catching waves as easy I could
on my 88 Speeed. I would love to a 7'6 Shroom. At that size getting foot on the back will be much easier

Thanks gboots!