I just wanted to share my stoke regarding the Merimbula Classic and shout out my thanks for the organizers. It is a really great unique event! This is the second time I have attended and it was even better than last year. Below is the list of all the boards I demo'd.

I went with a mate this year and we had a blast. Some great swell and waves and he tried as many boards as I did and is going to buy one as a result. I've got my eye on one or two even though I didn't ride all the ones I wanted to.
We drove down on Thursday stopping off at Bawley Point for a fantastic wave on the point with only a maximum of four other local guys out! I was completely exhausted by Friday arvo after an early morning surf on my own JP and Jimmy Lewis World Wide and then demo-ing the first six boards on my list. I managed to demo the next three boards in varying shorey conditions then the kites took over the middle of Saturday due to the onshore wind. Then an early morning session at the bar for the final two boards.

Just a few comments on my experiences.

The JL Stun Gun was surprisingly stable for the low literage. I could picture this board really working well on a big wave. I wished I'd had it early Friday morning!

I wanted to ride the 12' Sunova search but it kept on getting borrowed by other people. It was clearly in high demand. The 14' Search was a challenge to turn but it really picked up waves early! The Naish Mad Dog 8'1" was much more tippy and more of a challenge for me to balance on but I managed to get a few waves and it turned really responsively. Once I was on the wave the effort required to concentrate on balancing was more than rewarded by how easily it turned. It made me feel like I was riding a short board again. The same for the F One 8' 3". I had lots of fun on the Hypernut 7'8" on small waves at the bar. It was really maneuverable and comfortably stable for my skill level. The Naish Mad Dog 8'6" was pretty close to my new ideal in terms of width and volume. I enjoyed the Hobie Pro 8'10" although I reckon it would have been much better with a smaller centre fin than the one that it came with.

Merimbula magic! Thanks again!

1 JL Stun gun 8'7" x 29 x 110L
2 Sunova search 14' x 29" 180L
3 Naish mad dog 8' 1" x 29 111L
4 F One Madeira pro 8' 3" x 30" 110L
5 Fanatic Style master 9' x 29" 115L
6 Fanatic Stubby 8'2" x29" 105L
7 Starboard Hyper Nut 7'8" x 30" 115L
8 Naish Mad dog 8' 6" x 29" x 121L
9 ECS noserider 10' x 28" x 125L
10 Hobie pro 8'10" x 30 x125L
11 ECS Turbo 8'3" x 30" x 124L

From your list I have the ECS Nose Rider and love it.
A friend had the Jimmy Lewis 8 7 Stun Gun and is very sorry he sold it and wants another.
How do these 2 boards compare with your experience in the demo?

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Suporator said..
I just wanted to share my stoke regarding the Merimbula Classic and shout out my thanks for the organizers. It is a really great unique event! This is the second time I have attended and it was even better than last year. Below is the list of all the boards I demo'd.

I went with a mate this year and we had a blast. Some great swell and waves and he tried as many boards as I did and is going to buy one as a result. I've got my eye on one or two even though I didn't ride all the ones I wanted to.
We drove down on Thursday stopping off at Bawley Point for a fantastic wave on the point with only a maximum of four other local guys out! I was completely exhausted by Friday arvo after an early morning surf on my own JP and Jimmy Lewis World Wide and then demo-ing the first six boards on my list. I managed to demo the next three boards in varying shorey conditions then the kites took over the middle of Saturday due to the onshore wind. Then an early morning session at the bar for the final two boards.

Just a few comments on my experiences.

The JL Stun Gun was surprisingly stable for the low literage. I could picture this board really working well on a big wave. I wished I'd had it early Friday morning!

I wanted to ride the 12' Sunova search but it kept on getting borrowed by other people. It was clearly in high demand. The 14' Search was a challenge to turn but it really picked up waves early! The Naish Mad Dog 8'1" was much more tippy and more of a challenge for me to balance on but I managed to get a few waves and it turned really responsively. Once I was on the wave the effort required to concentrate on balancing was more than rewarded by how easily it turned. It made me feel like I was riding a short board again. The same for the F One 8' 3". I had lots of fun on the Hypernut 7'8" on small waves at the bar. It was really maneuverable and comfortably stable for my skill level. The Naish Mad Dog 8'6" was pretty close to my new ideal in terms of width and volume. I enjoyed the Hobie Pro 8'10" although I reckon it would have been much better with a smaller centre fin than the one that it came with.

Merimbula magic! Thanks again!

1 JL Stun gun 8'7" x 29 x 110L
2 Sunova search 14' x 29" 180L
3 Naish mad dog 8' 1" x 29 111L
4 F One Madeira pro 8' 3" x 30" 110L
5 Fanatic Style master 9' x 29" 115L
6 Fanatic Stubby 8'2" x29" 105L
7 Starboard Hyper Nut 7'8" x 30" 115L
8 Naish Mad dog 8' 6" x 29" x 121L
9 ECS noserider 10' x 28" x 125L
10 Hobie pro 8'10" x 30 x125L
11 ECS Turbo 8'3" x 30" x 124L

I also wanted to share my experience of demo boards at Merimbula:-
- Naish 7.10 Mad dog (pretty good board easy to surf, paddle and live with)
- Starboard 6.10 & 7.2 Hypernuts (great fun and easy to ride & live with)
- Sunova 7.3 Shroom (excellent fun board - better then the Hypernuts but the surf/waves were not working)
- Sunova 8.10 Flow (too big for me - they did not have a smaller one so was not able to really assess it properly)
- Sunova Speeed 7.11 AAs board (excellent, surfable & fastest compared to all the other boards)
- I also tried the 7.4/5 Starboard pro but was not able to paddle it (too choppy)
I think the Shroom is the best small wave fun board, & a custom Speeed (to suit your skill & weight) is the best all round board :-)

I had a go at the Starboard Hyper Nut 133 litre and my only problem was the 33" width and trying to get back onto the board with my arthritic hips not wanting to spread that far.

How do you find your JL WW. I've been thinking about the 8'5 for a while.

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warwickl said...
From your list I have the ECS Nose Rider and love it.
A friend had the Jimmy Lewis 8 7 Stun Gun and is very sorry he sold it and wants another.
How do these 2 boards compare with your experience in the demo?

I had two challenges in mind:
1. To ride the shortest/narrowest/lowest literage board I could comfortably balance on to try and get as similar a feel as possible to a short/prone experience.
2. To ride a long board style and get the glide feel of a mal with relatively good maneuverability
The stun gun fits more into category 1 (although not really as I think it may be better suited to big waves with longer rail turns) and the Nose rider fits more into category 2.

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mickeyb said...
How do you find your JL WW. I've been thinking about the 8'5 for a while.

I love my Jimmy Lewis World Wide 8'5"! I got the carbon version and even though Jimmy himself apparently doesn't think there is much weight difference with the carbon version, I enjoy impressing people with how light it feels.

It's very stable and can handle hollow waves and steep take-offs nicely. I'm still working on positioning my back foot in the right place for connecting turns. I thoroughly recommend it as everything about it looks and feels intuitively good.