Time has come for me to replace my worn out Nuevo 92 as my big wave board for small to medium surf (UK sailing). Have to say this is my fav board ever for that and I was wondering if anyone here who has loved this board has moved on to the Nano or the Pyro. If so I'd love to hear thoughts/comparisons please.
(I also have the Mako 84 for the more grunty stuff)

PS. It's the riding element that I'm particularly interested in.

I still have two smaller Nuevos in my collection, so I understand why you like them.

The Nano 2 and the Pyro are both excellent boards and you'll find a lengthy description of their strengths in the gear review section.

In short, they are very different boards in that the Nano follows the parallel rail 'Tommo' surf board idea and it's also a stubby, whereas the Pyro is a more classic curvacious shape while still being quite short.

With the parallel rails of a stubby you need to drive the board through the turns more, as you might a snowboard on snow, whereas the wider mid section of the Pyro means it turns well using rail to rail work.
We can then talk about rocker line, and whereas both boards have a fast rocker, the Nano has more tail kick, making it better for snappier turns, and for back foot hook turns. The Pyro is a speed rocket and floats well about the water to plane very early, but it then turns on a wave in a different way, slashing through turns without losing any speed.

I have the Pyro 83 and it's maybe my favourite board right now, offering the most exciting ride of all my wave boards.. I ordered a 93 version to have a matching pair of Pyros to cover all wind strengths (but it hasn't arrived yet).

I still have the Nano 82, but I haven't used it much recently since it was pushed out of the nest by the newer Pyro. I suspect however that it will still be my better board for control when conditions are ballistic with sail sizes of 4.4 and smaller.

Hope this helps etc.

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Basher said..
I still have two smaller Nuevos in my collection, so I understand why you like them.

The Nano 2 and the Pyro are both excellent boards and you'll find a lengthy description of their strengths in the gear review section.

In short, they are very different boards in that the Nano follows the parallel rail 'Tommo' surf board idea and it's also a stubby, whereas the Pyro is a more classic curvacious shape while still being quite short.

With the parallel rails of a stubby you need to drive the board through the turns more, as you might a snowboard on snow, whereas the wider mid section of the Pyro means it turns well using rail to rail work.
We can then talk about rocker line, and whereas both boards have a fast rocker, the Nano has more tail kick, making it better for snappier turns, and for back foot hook turns. The Pyro is a speed rocket and floats well about the water to plane very early, but it then turns on a wave in a different way, slashing through turns without losing any speed.

I have the Pyro 83 and it's maybe my favourite board right now, offering the most exciting ride of all my wave boards.. I ordered a 93 version to have a matching pair of Pyros to cover all wind strengths (but it hasn't arrived yet).

I still have the Nano 82, but I haven't used it much recently since it was pushed out of the nest by the newer Pyro. I suspect however that it will still be my better board for control when conditions are ballistic with sail sizes of 4.4 and smaller.

Hope this helps etc.

That's great info thanks Basher. So would you say the riding performance (ability to turn) of the Nuevo would fit somewhere in between the Nano and the Pyro? Sounds like the Pyro is the closer relative of the Nuevo I guess?

The Pyro and Nano are designed to keep speed through everything. They do it in different ways from what I can see (and what Basher's so eloquently said!), the Pyro through a flattish bottom shape and a more conventional outline and the Nano with a super efficient rail layout and high tech bottom. The limitations of the Pyro are most likely going to be in bigger waves - its more conventional outline will let it turn like a "normal board" in really crap waves but when it gets bigger the rocker will struggle to fit to the wave like the Nuevo does. The Nano is probably more versatile but being a stubby shape it takes a totally different style to the Nuevo. I'm not 100% sure about the V2 in that respect (I only sailed it in very light winds and it was fast and good at going vertical is all I remember) but the V1 was very much like every other stubby I've used.

the Nuevo was (and still is) one of my all time favourite boards. It was designed entirely with surfing in mind and fits really well in tight pockets and has a really fun, playful nature.

without sailing the Pyro I can't say for sure. Having the Mako definitely makes having a faster small wave machine like the Nano or Pyro more beneficial, but if you really like the feeling of the Nuevo in small waves I wouldn't recommend either of those. Personally the board I've found that feels the most like the Nuevo (that's generally my criteria for selecting wave boards!!) is the Goya Quad but I'm sponsored by them so maybe I'm biased. It is super fast, very drivey and has that lovely surfy feeling of the Nuevo to it. Another contender would be the fanatic quad but that's around the same vintage as your Nuevo so maybe not...

I'd say try and give the Pyro a go if you can. If you're happy with the extra speed and ease of use and a small sacrifice in wave performance, go for it. it doesn't give you the wave performance you want then give the Goya a go.
I'd say don't get the nano. The nano rewards a narrow, upright stance and given you have a Nuevo and mako that's going to feel completely counterintuitive to you.

Sorry if this was a bit of a rambling response!!

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Jal said..

Basher said..
I still have two smaller Nuevos in my collection, so I understand why you like them.

The Nano 2 and the Pyro are both excellent boards and you'll find a lengthy description of their strengths in the gear review section.

In short, they are very different boards in that the Nano follows the parallel rail 'Tommo' surf board idea and it's also a stubby, whereas the Pyro is a more classic curvacious shape while still being quite short.

With the parallel rails of a stubby you need to drive the board through the turns more, as you might a snowboard on snow, whereas the wider mid section of the Pyro means it turns well using rail to rail work.
We can then talk about rocker line, and whereas both boards have a fast rocker, the Nano has more tail kick, making it better for snappier turns, and for back foot hook turns. The Pyro is a speed rocket and floats well about the water to plane very early, but it then turns on a wave in a different way, slashing through turns without losing any speed.

I have the Pyro 83 and it's maybe my favourite board right now, offering the most exciting ride of all my wave boards.. I ordered a 93 version to have a matching pair of Pyros to cover all wind strengths (but it hasn't arrived yet).

I still have the Nano 82, but I haven't used it much recently since it was pushed out of the nest by the newer Pyro. I suspect however that it will still be my better board for control when conditions are ballistic with sail sizes of 4.4 and smaller.

Hope this helps etc.

That's great info thanks Basher. So would you say the riding performance (ability to turn) of the Nuevo would fit somewhere in between the Nano and the Pyro? Sounds like the Pyro is the closer relative of the Nuevo I guess?

I think waveboards are about finding a personal fit, and so these questions are difficult to answer.
We often think we want a board that did what our last one did, but then we try and match board size only to find that it's a different beast altogether.

1cm difference in width makes a lot of difference, and 5mm of rocker difference is also quite a change. The volume distribution over the board length also affects where we stand on it, and how we cruise through lulls or mistakes.

Recent boards have also got much shorter and the older 235cms length board is often more forgiving to sail compared to a stubby at 220cms or 215cms. That's because getting board trim right is less critical.
Traditionally, we got for longer boards when using bigger waves, so this is also about getting a board to match your typical local conditions. .

My great joy in changing boards is in the way my stance has to change to adapt to the new shape. It's that forced change that makes me ride waves better.
The biggest difficulty in buying a new board is in getting the right size, because it's not just about volume.

To answer your question: I don't know. I haven't seen you sail, and I don't know how readily you will adapt to a new board.
I guess in an ideal world you want to borrow or test drive someone's board to see what your initial impressions are.

I'd like to say that I think some boards suit what sails you are using too.

I also think that it depends if you are powered up most of the time, if its float and ride, what weight you are and your now style and experience. Whats your most used size of sail too...? Whats your preferred fin set up...?

Try as many as you can from mates or demo from shops.

I'd say that the two boards ( Nano and Byron ) would suit totally different styles of riding, one is more back footed the other more rail driven.

Thanks guys for all your input, it really helps to have all the different perspectives even though the solution doesn't seem as simple as I had hoped. I have owned Fanatic quads and a Goya Custom quad and have really liked them both as overall waveboards. It's the ease of turning that particularly draws me to the Nuevo 92, it really feels like a surfboard and lets me get as vertical as I want (and keep speed) through most turns on small to medium waves. I'm 80kg and I mostly use this with my Blade 5.3 but have even used it with 4.7 and 4.2 and still behaved incredibly well. The Nuevo does feel smaller that 92 liters, so if I were to replace with a new one I'm thinking the 87 might provide the equivalent float (?) I'm keen to try the mentioned boards but have only managed to get my hands on a demo Nano 102 and this obviously felt too big, so not easy to compare. It did surprise me how easy it was to do late and snappy top turns with it though, even in this size. I didn't however give me the same "surfing" feeling as I get on the Nuevo, but this might well have to do with the extra volume. Another factor is that I've briefly sailed the Fanatic Stubby and didn't immediately love the feeling I got from it. If it wasn't for the emergence of the Pyro I would have gone with the Nano and adapted my style to it, but this new addition has put a question mark on this and I had hoped that perhaps the Pyro might behave more like the Nuevo, but I'm not hearing this so far...

It looks like you're facing the dilemma that faces everyone after using the Nuevo... what on earth is going to match that feeling?!

The surfy nature of the Nuevo is totally unique. There are other boards designed with surfing in mind, but they all do it in an entirely different way. Back in early 2019 I tried pretty much every production wave board available in TWS over in El Medano and compared it with my 80l Nuevo. The board that felt the closest to it was the Goya Quad.
the Simmer Flywave might be worth a go. Marc Pare had a hand in designing it and he's very into finding a fast surfy feel to a board. I haven't tried one yet but from what he told me about it it's worth a go.

Just wondering why no one has suggested a Mako 91? Seems closer to the Nuevo in the brief, though I haven't tried one...

For me the Mako 91 is THE board when it comes to riding serious waves in light winds. Ben kindly lent me one for a recent September trip to Gnaraloo and this board was amazing for that. I have the Mako 84 which I use as my high wind board here. High winds where I sail often comes with bigger waves and this board gives me the grip and stability I want for those conditions. It's also the board I take to Gnaraloo where it just about does the float and ride for my weight, but the 91 is even better for me there. In lesser conditions however, I don't find it to be as fun as the Nuevo, where this boars really excels.
Looks like I'll be able to soon demo one of the bigger Pyros, but not sure yet on whether it'll be with the twin set up, which I feel might be what I'd be looking for to get as close a feel to the Nuevo as possible (with Severne)...

Has anyone out there gone from a Nuevo 92 to the Nano? I use the Nuevo 92 as my light wind wave board and it feels to me like a small 92. At 80 kg I was wondering whether anyone of similar weight had moved on to the Nano 87 or the 92 to as their big board and could advise?