hipster twin longboards at least...

Carles RSPro said..
Which one you recommend for the Med with occasional visits to your area? The Fatal or the Karmen?

I currently use a custom Wasp Setup: www.waspsurf.com/portfolio-view/setup/ 7'8"x28"1/2 and 99 liters.

I would say the Karmen, which is so versatile. The Fatal has a more specific feeling, you have to push hard on it and keep in agressive mode to get the best of it. The karmen can do everything well, and especially can surf with swooping carves even in weak waves.

The retuns from people having bought the Karmen were so impressive that Patrice just decided to replace the Cloud (his longtime favortite) in the Gong line with the Karmen (it already replaces the Curve), as it does everything better.

The Karmen 7'11" 105l should be a good choice, similar in stability to your wasp (perhaps a bit tippier?).

TaoJones said..

Hoppo3228 said..
hipster twin longboards at least...

Hoppo,

I was was hoping you would get on board with an opinion.

From what I have read from you, you are in search of the the perfect board/quiver and have not been afraid to push the boundaries.

I haven't tried a Smik board yet but rode a few of Scott McKercher's designs when he was with Starboard. I hear good things about the Hipster Twin, Spitfire and Style Lord.

Would be nice to hear opinions from Brenno, Helmy, DJ, Mr Weeks hisself and many others on this forum who have a wealth of knowledge to share.

Granted that opinions change as we all learn more, but hey, that's half the fun of it....... isn't it??

Cheers

Hey Tao,

I've put on some kegs over the last 2 months, I've broken 2 ribs and 3 ribs twice in 5 weeks and haven't been able to exercise like usual... (and then subsequently eaten crap). I'm weird, when i'm training hard - i eat properly, when i'm injured - i eat crap. Go figure

Anyway, my ECS Wideboy at 135L (8'9" x 31") is now under 1.2x my dry naked weight. But still dead easy to stand on for me. Although i'm still unsure if I like how it surfs... I definitely prefer it as a 2+1 over any other fin configuration. For me so far it works best as a beach break board. It's probably more the width than anything that i'm not liking (compared to my 28.5" longboard sup).

That being the case, I'm erring towards a shorter (9"-9'6" x 28") / high performing longboard sup next, with enough volume to float me. I'm hoping to get under the 100kg barrier in the new year and then a board around 120L would be fine.

The surf style that I enjoy the most is: driving bottom turns, hitting the lip, then snapping the tail... not really a traditional longboard style, but the waves I surf suit that type of board best. I also like the early catching of waves - which is why I started SUP in the first place.

The plan should then be for me :

1 x bigger longboard - 10'4" x 28.5 x 140L for smaller cruisier days - my Sunova Surf

1 x smaller longboard - 9"2'ish x 28" x 120L for when it starts to juice up - most likely a Smik Hipster Twin Longboard

1 x 'shortboard' - so far...that has been a can of worms for me. I'll get my weight to settle where I want it to be before I commit on another shorty. Alternately, the 'shortboard' will be a prone surfboard...

Scotty is working on Mini Mal Style Lord and Mini Mal Hipster Twin boards.

Nine footers!

Has a great vid called Logging Out on his site.

Mine is in the queue..

Hmm, this is a tough one. I surf two very different waves. Me 51yo , 84kg

Flight Malolo 8'x28.75 105 liter, small wave fish, fun machine. Good up to shoulder/head high.

Flight Rocket 8'2"x28 92 liter, my new favorite performance board. It bested my JP 8'1" Pro by a slight margin, and I'm smitten.

Imagine 8'4" Impact 8'4"x28 102 liter, it's been a good all around performer, but I have a custom Foote on order.

www.sup-internationalmag.com/logging-out/

Logging out vid is choice dreaming of a March swap out of GL 9'0 for Smik mini mal Noserider Hipster Twin
NAH... can't do it ... Nozza is right....I've got the shed n mid height van...
3 is the minimum for a local roadie.

SunnyBouy said..
Awesome variety of boards and brands in here..
Some of your brands we've never seen over here in the U.K. so it's great to do a bit of googling and finding out what you ride.

Don't see many DEEP boards yet.. anyone have a quiver ?

Some really good YouTube vids on Deep boards, featuring Jackson Close and Dogman (Roger Saunders).

These guys are Gold Coast (QLD) fellas and each has a signature board in the Deep range.

Both great surfers who are normal everyday dudes (as opposed to 18 year old pro rippers) and the vids show off the boards really well. Vids are funny too.

Check them out.

Hoppo3228 said..
www.sup-internationalmag.com/logging-out/

Just watched it.............. great video.

Hmmmm............... more food for thought!

jarvisIan said..
Hmm, this is a tough one. I surf two very different waves. Me 51yo , 84kg

Flight Malolo 8'x28.75 105 liter, small wave fish, fun machine. Good up to shoulder/head high.

Flight Rocket 8'2"x28 92 liter, my new favorite performance board. It bested my JP 8'1" Pro by a slight margin, and I'm smitten.

Imagine 8'4" Impact 8'4"x28 102 liter, it's been a good all around performer, but I have a custom Foote on order.

Are those flight boards holding up pretty well? Are you in carbon?

My picks atm

Sunova flow 8'7x30. Clean carvable conditions
Smik style lord 10x29. Longer fatter conditions
Starboard hypernut 8'6x31. Messy beachies/ slop

Bob Pearson laird 11footer Great on smaller days, super stable and great family board with the kids
Infinity new deal 10x27 what I use most of the time, bulletproof, so so light and surfs amazingly
Infinity rnb 8x2 /29/115 litres great for beaches , lightning fast and stable for its size.
198cm tall 100kg too heavy

Yes, my flight boards are the carbon models, and yes they are holding up very well. I've had the Malolo for a year and have put a lot of time in on it. It has light rail tape on it (Not RSP) and it shows no damage at all! The Malolo is the board I use when it's mushy, weak, or below shoulder high, so it gets used a lot. I was told it has a sheet of PVC wrap under the carbon, and that's one of the reasons it's so tough. It's also impressively light at 6.5 KG with pad and rail tape for it's 8'x 28.75" 105 liters.
I bought it on Honolulu Craigslist inexpensively on a lark, and now I'm in the process of switching out my whole quiver. Not that I haven't had good boards prior to this, I've had really good boards, the Flight Rocket just narrowly beat out my JP 8'1" Pro. I've enjoyed team rider status(and prices) with other companies, but I like these boards better....and I'm paying retail! The owner of Flight is a good guy, his name is Keff, and he seems content with the size and volume of his business. He doesn't. even, have all the models listed on his web site. He uses a variety of well known Hawaiian shapers to shape the boards, then he takes those shapes and pops them out in Asia. Below are a couple of shots of the Malolo on a soft wave in Maine, USA.

jarvisIan said..
The owner of Flight is a good guy, his name is Keff, and he seems content with the size and volume of his business.

Very interesting, I never heard of Flight SUPs before. They seem like a no-nonsense line, with the listed weights heavier than the one you apparently measured yourslef, which is a good indicator of the honesty of a brand. Plus his carbon boards are listed as heavier than normal boards, using the carbon more for strength than weight reduction, interesting.

Kyle Bernhardt, the shaper of your Malolo and the Twin seems to have an extensive background: www.blackpearlsurf.com/b-bio

Well then..
While I wait to decide on a Custom Sunny .. I've only gone and filled the void with a Goya Proton and Warp 7'0 for some slalom windsurfing racing

Don't disown me