hey guys

met a dude a few days ago who wants to buy another board and has offered me his Sunova Flash.
When I enquired about why it didn't have the normal 'flash' paint job, he said it was a custom and didn't want the look of the normal board.
I asked him what else was custom and he said only other thing was reduction in width from 27 3/4 to 27.5" wide although the board itself says 27".
The finished size seems to be 8x27 x 93.3L which is .3L higher than the normal factory model despite being .75" more narrow.

What's everyone's feedback on this board? Reckon these custom changes will change it much in handling over the normal dimensions?

I've gotta drive 5hrs each way to pick it up so want to be sure before committing to the purchase!

Tried emailing Bert to see if he could tell me anything from the serial numbers but haven't had a response yet .

Cheers guys

Looks good benji ,
wish i could ride boards that small ,i would sink it to my knees ...
you would have to compare it to what you are riding ,
I have a 9 flash and the narrow tail does make it sinky,so maybe the extra volume will work in its favour .
the flash shape does like steeper waves .they do have quite a lot of rocker ,

Hey Benjl,

Shoot me a quick email with serial # to dylan@sunovasurfboards.com and I can provide some more info..

Cheers,

Dylan

Thanks Dylan, just dropped you a message. Any info on that vs the normal board would be awesome! To have higher volume despite being more narrow it must have a bit of added volume on different places than the stock model?

I like the look of that, and the dims.

Makes me wonder more about why the Guy is selling it.

Is 1/4 of an inch width that important? On something like this I recon it's more about volume placement/displacement and the tail section.

Looks great.. shame it isn't over here for sale

Haha well if I don't like it I could look to send it over?

the owner said he's gone to something even smaller but similar volume- a starboard pro 7'7 x27 @90l he said

Personally I prefer that design combo (the colors), and you have to wonder if you would notice such minor design changes. Personally, if you are happy with the Flash design, and the price is right, I would go for it. (I have a bigger flash but personally prefer my Acid.)

Yeah im just curious to know whether the custom has the same rocker and volume placements elsewhere or whether there are other tweaks which could mean quite a different Feeling board.

nearly an inch more narrow over the stock board is quite a bit?

Out of curiosity, how come you prefer the acid?
i haven't tried either but I know another guy in nz who got the factory 8'0 flash and sold it to keep his 8'1 acid

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benjl said..
Out of curiosity, how come you prefer the acid?
i haven't tried either but I know another guy in nz who got the factory 8'0 flash and sold it to keep his 8'1 acid

First, I am not a high performance surfer(but I do love the turns). But I have ridden Acid's for a while. Depending on the conditions (and my weight) I can choose between an 8'7, 8'10, and 9'1. I bought a used 8'8 Flash, rode it just a handful of times, and simply did not experience anything that I thought was superior to the Acid. So I have ridden my Acids ever since.

I like the Acid's ability to turn on a wave, I like the way they slice across the wave when you want some speed, I like the rocker and its ability to take a steep drop, I like how they punch through a breaking wave (on the way back out) - and I am pretty familiar with them now and know just where my feet need to go.

(I am 6'3, 56, and currently 97kg)

Tardy has spent more time on his Flash and Acid. Tardy says the Flash is good at handling a steep drop. Personally, there is a psychological issue to overcome with the Flash. From below it has good rocker. But from above I reckon the deck looks quite flat. I kept feeling like it would pearl, even though I don't think I ever did pearl.

I hope that helps.

That's fascinating stuff, maybe cause my boards are a bit shorter but I've found riding a sup the most confident thing ever with making drops! Especially compared to shortboarding and having to take off on super late nerve racking drops.
i thought the flash had a pretty decent rocker on it?

although saying that I've paddled my flat rocker gulliver box 8'1 in to well overhead hollow waves so anything with rocker over that is a plus haha.

Sunovas are pretty rare over here so unforrunately cant really look or feel them. My normal board is 109l so jumping to 93l might have its own performance pros and cons?
Pretty excited though. Can't wait to hear if anything else was changed on this board over a stock model

Flash vs acid .

James designed this for hard core surfing ,and it gives you that .it will take on any thing .
i found it slower than the acid .because of the extra rocker .

I find for the average bloke the acid .is easier to use ,but still has great performance .
The acid still has tonnes of rocker and will handle a lot steeper drop than say the flow .with
quite a flat rocker .


Lots of people find the acid rocky to paddle .but I only use the 9 ,I find I'm too heavy for anything less .98 kg .

like cantsupenough i prefer the Acid .if you are a top to bottom surfer you will like the flash ..I'm 54 so my Kelly slater days are limited .I use to ride other brands ,but the construction on these boards are unbelievably strong .

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benjl said..
i thought the flash had a pretty decent rocker on it?

It does, but I just found that looking down on the board when making the drop the board looks flat so I expected the worst. As I say, is psychological.

I had a few issues with the Flow, and more issues with the Speeed re pearling. My Hokua was fine. But I am sure technique contributes to pearling too.

I just did not experience anything with the Flash that made me want to ride it instead of the Acid.

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cantSUPenough said..

benjl said..
i thought the flash had a pretty decent rocker on it?

It does, but I just found that looking down on the board when making the drop the board looks flat so I expected the worst. As I say, is psychological.

I had a few issues with the Flow, and more issues with the Speeed re pearling. My Hokua was fine. But I am sure technique contributes to pearling too.

I just did not experience anything with the Flash that made me want to ride it instead of the Acid.

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cantSUPenough said..

benjl said..
i thought the flash had a pretty decent rocker on it?

It does, but I just found that looking down on the board when making the drop the board looks flat so I expected the worst. As I say, is psychological.

I had a few issues with the Flow, and more issues with the Speeed re pearling. My Hokua was fine. But I am sure technique contributes to pearling too.

I just did not experience anything with the Flash that made me want to ride it instead of the Acid.

You must b standing on the nose if you can pearl a speed

cheers tardy and CSE, really interesting stuff. I had always thought the acid was the next performance / tricky board up in the range over the flash but you guys find the opposite?

I've been really getting in to cranking big hack turns off the top and bottom lately so maybe it will suit my style of riding.
I was just looking at the dims of the flow and it's very similar to my 8'4 Lokahi ombak so could be a good quiver of both!

Also a big shout out to Dylan from Sunova! He emailed me back before with all the details and more! Turns out the board is actually a stock 27 3/4 width with the only custom details being fsc2 plugs and not the usual flash paint job.
Just waiting for the seller to fix a ding on it and then go pick it up next week or two

sound like the flash is right up your alley .

I've taken off on some hideous drops and thought i was a goner ,but it just cruised on through it

it likes been ridden on the tail .

What fin combos have you guys ridden it as? I've got some fins off my sic carve 8'6 which have big sides and a smaller centre which were really drivey but lose as wel

I've got the 8'9 flash and love it. I'm also a big unit like the others above at 6'4 and 97Kg's but a bit younger at 39 :)

I started on the 9'0 but sold it and downsized.

I've ridden it in all sorts of waves from thigh high to overhead, and it goes best in the bigger stuff. It works best at carving turns I feel.

I haven't ridden the smaller one as a quad but the big one I did, and I much prefer it as as thruster, and I use quite a small set of fins in it for best effect.

Justin

I also think the paint job is awesome, especially that no 2 are the same.

If i didn't have 4 kids and job and wife and 2 dogs and whatever else taking up my time I'd strip off the deck pad and wax it.

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benjl said..
I had always thought the acid was the next performance / tricky board up in the range over the flash but you guys find the opposite?

Sorry, I am not typing clearly. I think the Acid is the "next level". Personally, the Flash did not excite me; the Acid does. (I think the Acid is faster, you can turn on the rail or turn faster on the tail, you can get up and down the wave when it is steep - full fun!)

As for the Speed, I found the "corners" of nose of the board caught and started to pearl. If I was taking a steep drop and trying to get a fast bottom turn, I had to go to extra lengths to make sure that the nose did not catch. (I was riding an 8'10 and 8'8 speeed at Big Left and in the Maldives when I had these problems.)

As always, these are just my experiences. I am just an old guy pretending in my head to be a good surfer. My comments are based on me trying to deal with my limitations. Results may vary.

Yep. Points on square nose boards not your friend in hollower waves. My first gen Slate, a lovely King's Punisher down the highway for that reason.

My SMIK Short Mac does not have that issue at all.

Also did find the wider nose on the 9 flash did catch ...but I'm talking the bigger 31-5 wide 132 litre size .but can be sorted riding on the tail .

maybe this little 27 wide board will not have these issues .

i use mine as a quad .7 fronts 2 .& 3 rear...FCS. Fins

so you might like it as a thruster yours been a smaller board ,
every board is different .i would say 7 fccs thruster set .

Quite interesting watching the shaping video after reading all of your comments about it being a very top to bottom kind of board. That's exactly what Bert says about it as well!

I can't wait to pick it up and give it a hoon! I have been leaning in to more vertical style turns lately so will be good to see how it stacks up.
Big test will be jumping down to 93l and 27" wide..

Has anyone else watched the shaping vid below?

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benjl said..
hey guys

met a dude a few days ago who wants to buy another board and has offered me his Sunova Flash.
When I enquired about why it didn't have the normal 'flash' paint job, he said it was a custom and didn't want the look of the normal board.
I asked him what else was custom and he said only other thing was reduction in width from 27 3/4 to 27.5" wide although the board itself says 27".
The finished size seems to be 8x27 x 93.3L which is .3L higher than the normal factory model despite being .75" more narrow.

What's everyone's feedback on this board? Reckon these custom changes will change it much in handling over the normal dimensions?

I've gotta drive 5hrs each way to pick it up so want to be sure before committing to the purchase!

Tried emailing Bert to see if he could tell me anything from the serial numbers but haven't had a response yet .

Cheers guys

Hi Benji

I was pleasantly surprised to see FCS2 fin boxes in your(?) custom flash. A few months back I converted a Sunova Skate to a quad setup by adding FCS2 boxes. That led to some interesting comments about changing the flex of the board and included that Bert might have a fit if he saw it. I think that it shows the maturity of this company that for custom boards options on fin boxes are possible. Let us know how the board and the boxes work out for you.

cheers

Bob

Cheers bob, I don't actually have any fcs2 fins (aside from the set coming with it) but I do have an adapter set which I hope I can use to run my old fave sup fins.
Will be a bit of a drop of volume for me bit looking forward to try it!

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benjl said..
I do have an adapter set which I hope I can use to run my old fave sup fins.

No worry, the adapter kit works quite well. I use it on my boards since I use FCS 1 (Quobba) fins in my FCS II boxes.
Note that the kit is just the normal FCS grub screws. You should take care to screw them at the proper angle however the first time. My advice is to put some rod (a wood brochette) in one FCS screw hole to visualize the angle, and serve as a guide for the screw in the other one.

Ohhh, nice pic Tardy.
Its not often you get to see a like4like pic together, but that certainly gives a view as to rocker and nose profiles.

Cheers

Here's a couple more .sunnybouy .showing the difference of the two ..

the flash can do snappier moves with the thinner tail ,but the acid you do more drive turns.

and has a little more lift and speed .in the tail .

the nose of the acid is more pulled in .

these are both 9.0 or 9.1 if you want to get teky .

the flash even though 132 litre feels a lot smaller than it s volume .. And I agree with what Bert says on the vid .

Benji ,you will have a little challenge on your hands with this little flash ,but once mastered you will rip .

i weigh to heavy and big to be riding a small one like that ...hope us breezer s helped you spending your money ..

heres a action shot of me on the 9,0

just to make sure ,i'm not talking rubbish

even the surfer was flabbergasted...and sat there in the way...lol.

Hahah cheers guys! Sheesh those tail profiles are interesting, the flash really is more pinny than the website pics look (much more pin than rounded pin or round like the acid.

personally I like a wider nose and narrow tail for userbility but will be awesome to get them out for a spin!

I think the lowest volume board ive ridden is 8'3 x 28 x 4 x 98l so will be a bit of a drop! At least it was a year since that board so I (should) be better!

Hi Bob

out of curiosity, how did adding two fin plugs change the flex of the board? Quite intrigued about your response below. Or do you mean by making it a quad instead of a thruster it altered the board dynamics?

Cheers
Ben

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FRP said..

benjl said..
hey guys

met a dude a few days ago who wants to buy another board and has offered me his Sunova Flash.
When I enquired about why it didn't have the normal 'flash' paint job, he said it was a custom and didn't want the look of the normal board.
I asked him what else was custom and he said only other thing was reduction in width from 27 3/4 to 27.5" wide although the board itself says 27".
The finished size seems to be 8x27 x 93.3L which is .3L higher than the normal factory model despite being .75" more narrow.

What's everyone's feedback on this board? Reckon these custom changes will change it much in handling over the normal dimensions?

I've gotta drive 5hrs each way to pick it up so want to be sure before committing to the purchase!

Tried emailing Bert to see if he could tell me anything from the serial numbers but haven't had a response yet .

Cheers guys

Hi Benji

I was pleasantly surprised to see FCS2 fin boxes in your(?) custom flash. A few months back I converted a Sunova Skate to a quad setup by adding FCS2 boxes. That led to some interesting comments about changing the flex of the board and included that Bert might have a fit if he saw it. I think that it shows the maturity of this company that for custom boards options on fin boxes are possible. Let us know how the board and the boxes work out for you.

cheers

Bob