This is a snippit of one of my reviews of the Lairds Boards, if you want to read more you can see it here: http://windsurfjournal.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51:laird-hamilton-sup-review&catid=39&Itemid=68

Today I had the change of testing out two of the Laird Hamilton Soft top Boards, the 11 footer and the 12'1, the conditions for where almost perfect for a beginning SUPer, with sets of waves coming through ranging in all sizes from chest height to even the odd head high, and a gentle side shore breeze.

The first thing I noticed about the 11footer was that it was super narrow, at only 27" wide it was a bit of a challenge keeping the board nice and stable, but still nice and manageable.

The rocker of the board doesn't look like it's their when looking at it on the beach, but once you're in the water, it glides over the chop, and slices through the waves. As for Turning, well it's not as easy as it looks when you see guys like laird in the water, but after a bit of experimenting I found that with the super thin tail, it was easy to sink the rear and pivot around, (well I could tell it would get easy after practice). I only managed to get around 5 or 6 waves on the 11footer, but as I kept getting more waves, and perfecting my style I started to see that the board was nice and loose on the wave, but you had to have your feet in the right off set position and have more of your weight on you back foot than your front.

for a complete beginner like my self it wasn't ideal with its narrow width but I still managed to get a few nice rides on the waves, and even managed a nice tight turn to change tack and go the other direction on the same wave and get a brilliant run when i truly felt the potential of the wave.

The Pros:

I was at dutchies,

Its not my board, but me and alberto have a deal of i take it when ever i want untill i have enough money ( well thats how i like to view it)

eric is in charge of the shop at the moment, so if you give him a call a day or two before, there should be no problems with taking one of them out for a spin, and he has both the 11' and 12' for demo at windshack. just take your own paddle if you have one because the ones that they are demo'd with are too short for most ppl.

if your intrested in the boards, you defenatly have to try it, i have also tried the mistral pacifico wich is awsome too. and the naish 11'6, but this one stands out for me.

KeepSailing
KeepPaddling
Jordan