Sorry to hear. I've got a Sunova Soul XXX balsa around 6 years old & used quite often about 2 times per week and still going strong. Although I did cause some damage to it. Side fine knocked off twice against my body damaging around the fin plugs which I fixed with epoxy. Also a ding at the front rail when it landed on my head in offshore wind. My head was also dinged. Haa! But I fixed that.
Now I have noticed the deck where I stand is showing signs of showing the fibreglass weaves of the matting. Much like how it shows through when knocked hard. But it is still sealed and NOT compressed. The deck is still dome shaped as original.
And the deck pad is still pretty good other than my personal damage.
I've also got a Creek about 3 years old also in XXX balsa. But its only been used a few times so far. I took it out of its bag today after using it 3 days previous. I was a bit concerned for osmosis. But all good. It was stored in my garage & its mid Winter.
But when I opened the bag it stunk! Yes the deck was still damp so is now stored out of its bag.
I don't ever remembering my older Sonova smelling as bad.
The smell reminded me of a pair of wet joggers I had years ago. Other joggers never smelt as bad. So I put it to the type of material it was made of.
So wondering if Sunova deck pad materials have changed.
But happy with the feel of their decks. Better than the harder Jimmy Lewis Super Tech deck that I have.

Just thought I'd comment on the use of polwina boards.
I had 4 firewire timbertek prone boards, the first three were great, no problems at all. The 4th, for no apparent reason cracked badly, where I use my knee for duck diving. It had light use and took months to dry out and repair. I guess, polwina, being natural, has small defects that can go undetected that can greatly reduce the strength of the composite? The 1/4 chance of this happening put me off the technology, although I like the eco credentials of it.
This forced me to try another technology, which has impressed me. Torq make a TEC range of boards, which uses simple principles, although expensive to set up. They mould the blank to the exact shape of board, so no sanding or waste and very strong, like the EPS used in cycle helmets. They then vac bag the glass & carbon, which is also a strong form of lamination. Not sure if S glass, as weave looks fine, not much resin either. Anyhow, 2 years down the line extremely light deck compressions, no cracks, not even spider web ones. In short, a light, strong, durable, good value board, based on simple tec that should be able to be repaired easily. I appreciate it would be difficult to transfer to SUP, due to sales volume, but I thought it'd be good to share the experience.

So after years of intensive use my sunova's are holding up just fine. And that's just how it should be, with all the variables in a surfers life, the trusted board should just be there, ready to charge. After breaking 2 major brand names sups in 2 early in my sup journey, I have gone with the highest level of build possible with each new board. That, rspro railsaver and care in the impact zone, plus the luck ingredient and all remains good.

Further to my earlier post, I've taken the plunge and gone for a tr3 tec 8'4" flow 2.
As an aside, does anyone know if it comes with a quad or thruster set up or 5 fins for both options?

Select to expand quote

Daveb27 said..
Further to my earlier post, I've taken the plunge and gone for a tr3 tec 8'4" flow 2.
As an aside, does anyone know if it comes with a quad or thruster set up or 5 fins for both options?

You'll get 5 fins for both options Dave.

Select to expand quote

MangoDingo said..

Daveb27 said..
Further to my earlier post, I've taken the plunge and gone for a tr3 tec 8'4" flow 2.
As an aside, does anyone know if it comes with a quad or thruster set up or 5 fins for both options?

You'll get 5 fins for both options Dave.

That obviously poses the next question, what's the best set up in your opinion for the flow, quad or thruster?
I find with SUP, thruster works well for me on most designs, quad feels a bit over finned. Perhaps it's the width and the way the tail sits deeper in the wave compared to a prone board that quickly makes SUP feel tight with more fin area.

Select to expand quote

Daveb27 said..

MangoDingo said..

Daveb27 said..
Further to my earlier post, I've taken the plunge and gone for a tr3 tec 8'4" flow 2.
As an aside, does anyone know if it comes with a quad or thruster set up or 5 fins for both options?

You'll get 5 fins for both options Dave.

That obviously poses the next question, what's the best set up in your opinion for the flow, quad or thruster?
I find with SUP, thruster works well for me on most designs, quad feels a bit over finned. Perhaps it's the width and the way the tail sits deeper in the wave compared to a prone board that quickly makes SUP feel tight with more fin area.

The universal opinion on finning the flow is Quads, but with small rear fins.

L/XL front sides and S/M rears.

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Hoppo3228 said..

Daveb27 said..

MangoDingo said..

Daveb27 said..
Further to my earlier post, I've taken the plunge and gone for a tr3 tec 8'4" flow 2.
As an aside, does anyone know if it comes with a quad or thruster set up or 5 fins for both options?

You'll get 5 fins for both options Dave.

That obviously poses the next question, what's the best set up in your opinion for the flow, quad or thruster?
I find with SUP, thruster works well for me on most designs, quad feels a bit over finned. Perhaps it's the width and the way the tail sits deeper in the wave compared to a prone board that quickly makes SUP feel tight with more fin area.

The universal opinion on finning the flow is Quads, but with small rear fins.

L/XL front sides and S/M rears.

Thanks. Sounds good to me, as I used to surf my prone boards mostly as quads, Stretch f4, FW dominator & Spitfire, liked the skatey feel. Someboards, like the FW Unibrow, and modern mid lengths, suit thruster better IMO. Don't know why that is?

Perhaps at a guess, as they are funboards - it's more about loose easy turns than being locked in and fast.

Me, i'm still yet to find a SUP set up as a quad that i've enjoyed surfing...

Select to expand quote

Daveb27 said..

MangoDingo said..

Daveb27 said..
Further to my earlier post, I've taken the plunge and gone for a tr3 tec 8'4" flow 2.
As an aside, does anyone know if it comes with a quad or thruster set up or 5 fins for both options?

You'll get 5 fins for both options Dave.

That obviously poses the next question, what's the best set up in your opinion for the flow, quad or thruster?
I find with SUP, thruster works well for me on most designs, quad feels a bit over finned. Perhaps it's the width and the way the tail sits deeper in the wave compared to a prone board that quickly makes SUP feel tight with more fin area.

Hi Daveb

The only fin setup that has excited me on my 9'0 Flow V2 is smallish C-Drive sides and a very small "J-drive" trailer (3.6")
All of a sudden it loosened up and got fun.

STC nice setup! Have you tried the smaller center fin on more pulled in tails like the Acid? I'm curious to try on a Blurr V2, but less size contrast, just the M/L sizes of Quobbas. I should experiment myself but realizing that for me winter is not good time to fiddle cause fewer days on water and wave count lower.

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Kisutch said..
STC nice setup! Have you tried the smaller center fin on more pulled in tails like the Acid? I'm curious to try on a Blurr V2, but less size contrast, just the M/L sizes of Quobbas. I should experiment myself but realizing that for me winter is not good time to fiddle cause fewer days on water and wave count lower.

I was really surprised when I put bigger sides on my Acid and a 4" pivot in the center.
Lost all drive. I filmed the whole session and I was quite amazed how the Acid rejected the small center fin for me.
My turns were weak, my drive out of turns was lost without my standard Thruster setup..... last time I tried THAT!

Select to expand quote

supthecreek said..

Kisutch said..
STC nice setup! Have you tried the smaller center fin on more pulled in tails like the Acid? I'm curious to try on a Blurr V2, but less size contrast, just the M/L sizes of Quobbas. I should experiment myself but realizing that for me winter is not good time to fiddle cause fewer days on water and wave count lower.

I was really surprised when I put bigger sides on my Acid and a 4" pivot in the center.
Lost all drive. I filmed the whole session and I was quite amazed how the Acid rejected the small center fin for me.
My turns were weak, my drive out of turns was lost without my standard Thruster setup..... last time I tried THAT!

Interesting, thanks for feedback!

Firstly, I take my head off for Burger and son and the dedicated team of highly skilled craftsman at Sunova! And thank you Mr.Weirdo who started this thread. It's very easy to become a miserable surfing- or booty deprived muppet and spill the innurnet with sadness And make a bunch of new friends.I owned 5 Starboard SUP's of which 4 from new. Let me just say that I sold them in time, and I hope the new owners haven't sunk them yet. I can no longer afford the cheapness and lack of guarantee. Sunova is a brand second to none. The designs, detailing and workmanship are just fenomenal. I owned a Speeed, Skate, and still have a Shroom, Creek, Placid and an older type-one Flow. What I like, apart from the 'spot one performance', is that I keep looking at these boards and wonder to myself 'how the hell did Bert come up with this idea and how was it put together!' Simply amazing.

In surfing, and especially on surf trips, you learn how to be creative dealing with mishaps. A surfboard is fragile. If you can not handle that, I recommend bowling. But if you're miserable, you'll probably find a forum on bowling and start whinging there. There really is no cure.

I'm a rough-boy, my strokes are so-so coordinated and I trash my gear easily. 'I'll repair it next week' is what I hear myself say after the 4th bit of duct-tape is stickered-on. But from time to time I put in some elbow-grease and knock the rails up, which is really simple.






Cut the hole, mix epoxy with micro balloons. Have a cold one.




Sanding after 48hr



Some more sanding, degrease with acetone.







Cut two strips of cloth per rail, mix resin, pre-soak the carbon, apply on one rail at a time, have a cold one.









48h later, sanding. The odd low spot and the transition bogged with epoxy filler







After sanding, clean with alcohol and slap some acrylic paint on.





I will probably find a way to trash my gear again. And will repair it!!


Cheers, Rob!

Well done.
Rail tape might be a good idea after all that work.