Editted...Shark video at the bottom

Just got back from a Maldives Boat Trip to the Central Atolls.
We were on Emperor Virgo with 9 good blokes, good tunes and beer that would eventually run out on the 2nd last night.
Swam with sharks, a whale shark and dolphins that wasn't mentioned in the brochure!

I got the new Starboard Pro 7'5" only days before I left and gave it a good work out. In short this board is a rocket...and sticks
like glue no matter how hard you throw it into a turn. A great improvement on my old 7'7" Pro which you will find in the
"Buy & Sell" soon.

Thanks Paul and the guys at The Zu and Starboard for helping me out!
Got some waves on a 5'10" Starboard Amp which was sick.

Great trip!
Nice pixs

Sick mate

Nice Brendon, any video besides the teaser

Fantastic! Great conditions! Nice surfing too.

I have always been told that by the this time of year the conditions are better but the surf turns off - I guess you proved that wrong! And you had a whale shark - lucky you.

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cantSUPenough said..
Fantastic! Great conditions! Nice surfing too.

I have always been told that by the this time of year the conditions are better but the surf turns off - I guess you proved that wrong! And you had a whale shark - lucky you.

That's sorta true but if your guide (in my case Georgio) knows his stuff then you'll find waves. We did a lot of motoring in the early hours of the morning to make sure we scored good waves. We only really had 1 day under 3ft but that was perfection. No wind was where we were really lucky.

And yep the whale shark was not only a highlight of this trip but my life. Absolutely amazing experience!

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micksmith said..
Nice Brendon, any video besides the teaser

Not really anything worth posting. Our drone guy was just learning so only poor footage. Photographer took 6200 photos but again he was shooting from so far away a lot were average.

That swimming with sharks vid!

Looks great Brendan. What was the water temp? I was in Sri Lanka in March and it was a 'frigid' 30C, lol.
I was surfing the Starby 8'0" x 28 Pro, which is also a great performance board, but I reckon the 7'5" would be beyond me. How did you find it, stability-wise?

I suppose I should also add in advance of your answer on stability - I'm no Mason Cox (AFL reference for non-believers), but you are a bit of a short-ass aren't you!
And you do have freakish balance, you bugger!

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micksmith said..
Nice Brendon, any video besides the teaser

This is all I got really. The drone guy enjoyed surfing more than filming so when there was any size he was usually in the water!
This was at Machines on the second day we surfed it. Best waves were the day before and the following day at Micardos.

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Rosscoe said..
Looks great Brendan. What was the water temp? I was in Sri Lanka in March and it was a 'frigid' 30C, lol.
I was surfing the Starby 8'0" x 28 Pro, which is also a great performance board, but I reckon the 7'5" would be beyond me. How did you find it, stability-wise?

I suppose I should also add in advance of your answer on stability - I'm no Mason Cox (AFL reference for non-believers), but you are a bit of a short-ass aren't you!
And you do have freakish balance, you bugger!

Hahahaha....yeah funny!
Firstly water temp was around 29 degrees apparently. Daytime air temp 30 and night 28 so make sense.

Regards to stability...I used to ride the SB 8'0" Pro and found that tippy when I first rode it but was a good step down from my previous JP 8'2" and 7'6". After a while I got used to it. Then I stepped down again to the SB 7'7" Pro which I've rode now for the last 2 seasons. Again tippy at first but now all good. The new 7'5" Pro I would say is equal in stability to the 7'7" and handle similar when paddling and getting onto waves.
Surfing though it felt more controllable and predictable (may be the Balsa instead of carbon?). Its definitely a faster board and smoother through turns which I feel suits my kind of surfing. I love it.
** Note through all this I've maintained a weight between 72kg and 78kg...right now 76kg.

What that...Get off the chocolate and red wine!

No doubt even Casso, Dogman and everyone who rode SUPs in the early days found the 10ft Bonga Perkins tippy. How things have changed! haha

Nothing wrong with red wine. Chocolate....well, maybe.