looking to progress from my 9.8 starboard element 30w 155L and comparing.
naish hokua 9.5 29.5w 140L
coreban fusion 9.0 30w 148L
PSH hull ripper 9.6 30.5 w 142L
possible others two eg starboard,JP,Fanatic but then who gets a chance to try all the brands.
They all appear to be surf orientated for an intermediate supper around 80kg like my self.
I still want something thats reasonable stable easy to paddle and reasonable manouverable on a wave.
IE enjoyable with out making the task too hard and too high performance pro style.
Any experiences or any one thats used more than one of these boards to compare would be appreciated without shop riders being biased to one brand
Thanks
Dale
I have a 9'10 Hokua & just sold a 9'6" Hull ripper.
Keeping in mind that I'm 100kg as opposed to your 80kg you may have different findings to myself.
The Hokua is a fantastic board! Plenty stable, paddles great & can be surfed high performance or just cruised on.
The Hull Ripper is definitely more aimed at high performance style surfing. It must be surfed from the tail in a short board style. If you come forward on it the board spins out pretty much every time.
The Hull Ripper is also not all that stable due to the hull bottom & chine rails & requires pretty clean conditions to get the best out of it, where as the Hokua is good in pretty much all conditions.
I recently got some advise from somebody that has surfed both the 9'5" & 9'10" Hokuas & they said there really is hardly any difference between the two boards in terms of stability, glide & performance.
I sold the Hull Ripper & got myself a 9'0" Hokua as a challenging type of board & rode it today for the first time. It was very challenging stability wise, but once on a wave it was electric!
Hope that helps in some way. 
I've had the Hokua 9.5 for 12 months it is an great all round board at 95kg ride it as a quad played with fins a bit , first time I've had aboard this long . Had an element before this , that was a slug compared to the Hokua .
The board you are riding is an exceptional sup and very capable in the surf. If you are looking to progress IMO the boards you are looking at are not really progressing. Yes they are more pointy but they are only about 10 litres less in volume and not great boards.
I believe a realistic progression would be to something around 135ish litres and in the low 9ft area.
Very very good boards that would suit would be JP surf 9.2 / Fanatic prowave 9.3 / Jimmy Lewis Stun Gun or Kwad (around 9.2 I think) /Surftech Al Merrick 9.1.
Just some suggestions and of course only my opinion, but I know the board you are riding very well and I know the ones you are considering arent noticably much better.
BB
I agree somewhat with Billboard, however, I also disagree somewhat.
I have been through the whole mentality of 'must go smaller' to improve or progress. & with that I have tried some very small boards. My mind set has changed after some time to a view that you don't necessarily have to reduce length & litres. As long as a board is helping to make you a more well rounded skilled surfer, then you are progressing.
The 9'10" Hokua isn't the smallest board I've owned by a long shot. But i feel it has helped improve my short board style SUPing by the greatest amount.
Sure I've gone & bought a much smaller version of it in the 9'0 as a challenge, but the 9'10" is definitely my favourite board to surf.
Don't get me wrong, all the boards that Billboard mentioned are fantastic boards & will most certainly help to advance your skills. Just try not to get caught up in the less is more way of thinking. 
I tend to agree that the boards you are mentioning are very close to what you already have, i would try and test a few more around the 9' ish, try some of the new JP's which seem on song this year, definitely dont do anything until you try the new carbon fanatic prowave 9'3" IMO as its on a whole new level with design and in particular lightness, my 9'5" hokua is about twice as heavy i reckon! 
thanks for the input the main point ive noticed is that size/ volumne is not directly related to stability vs performance. but generally helps
but i know that a 130l board is a big jump down from a 155l board.
also 2 diff opinions on the element vs hokua 1 saying similar and the other saying element handed like a slug compared to faster hokua.
but good to get different opinions.
could always keep the element and buy another slightly smaller board.
If you can afford it to keep the Element I would go for a Starboard pro8.5 2012 or a Hokua9.0
The Element is an awesom fun minimal style board that you can noseride as well.
The 8.5Pro and Hokua9.0 are true shortboards but very rewarding.
In catching they don,t go that much later as a Element but when on a wave they are a lot more agile. Turns and drops you could never dream of are a piece of cake with these too babies. The 8.5pro is a bit more agile while the Hokua9.0 is a bit more secure in the turns on big(ger) waves. Its really fun to have a couple of boards that work different. I got next to my WP8.10 and Hokua9.0 a Drive10.5 for when i,m in a longboard mood while on other days i love to rip with the smaller boards. :)
If you wanna stay a bit on the longboardfeel: have a look at the Converse9.0...its just like a XS Element.
I had The Coreban Fusion 9'0 for a year and a half or so- great progression wave SUP - haven't ridden the others - stable and handy in the surf - its only limited by your own ability in small - med waves - sold mine a few months back for a 8'9 PSH - at 80kg's it would be a walk in the park (I'm 87) - great fun as a quad - has its limits when it gets a bit bigger and suckier though.
Rounded deck is a bit weird after you've ridden a flat deck board but easy to get used to. Very good option if you like waves and speed
