my opinion go to the 135 ltr board if it floats ya all right, and yes to the second question, no doubt, and if you can afford to keep the 10 8

85kgs, if you have been on a sub for a bit i dont think you will have any trouble with the smaller board, good luck with the testing

I went from an 11'2" Starboard to an 8'11" custom. No transition. No worries. Everything was so much better from day one.

I did have a crap session in a lumpy cross chop that would have been less difficult on a bigger board.

I did have a fair amount of experience trying out the various production boards before I got my custom. They were not particularly difficult in decent conditions. The custom is way better than the production boards.

Hmm. I have a similar dilemma. I am currently riding a Naish 9'5" mana which I love and plan to hang onto, but would like something smaller.

Thanking of getting either the new 9' Hokua when it hits our shores, or even the 8'11", but wonder if the latter may be too much of a leap (I'm 6'2" and 85kg).

Perhaps SUP8383 should think about the 9' Mana. It's 140 litres so plenty of volume but small enough for you to feel the difference and challenge you. I'm tempted with that option, but worry it's too close to my 9'5" to warrant keeping both.

Definitely push yourself... I only started a few months back.. gone from a huge board to a 9'9 mano to a 9'3 naish hokua.. And now i am waiting for a custom 8'11.. its cost me $$$$ every time .. I would suggest bypass the 9'6 WR and grab something smaller but still with a bit of width.. 30".. it will only take a few days to get the hang of it.. At 95kgs I had no problem adjusting to the 9'3..

In my opinion you don't really have to go small (in litres) to gain performance. I have recently had a coupla surfs on a 9.5 Mana and it has every bit as much performance in the surf as pretty much any board I have surfed between 9 and 10 ft. Litreage isn't something to be afraid of and you should ignore the numbers and just try the different boards. To give you an idea - I surfed this morning with a mate who was on a sup with 40litres less volume than what I was riding. We swapped over and his board felt much less stable (but still fine) but most certainly didn't perform any better than what I had been riding. Both boards were around 9 1/2 ft and had similar dimensions other than the volume (litres).

SUP8383 said...

am testing a 9'3 WR this weekend and will be testing a 9'6 soon, I hope.

Don't think they do a 9'3 WR, but they do do a 9'2 WR. I was tossing up betweeen the 9'6WR, 9'3 Ripper and the 9'2WR and decided on the 9'3. In the end I felt the narrower shape of the 9'3 would be more progressive than the 9'2WR.