Thanks to Auswind or Airborne Kitesurfing not sure which but same place for the demo on the 9 8.
I have had a Naish 11 6 for about 8 mths just sold it so I could get a board that is better in the waves. I tried the Starboard 11 2 but it felt very similar to the 11 6 when on a wave; with drawn out long board style turns only.
At a dainty 110kg I was a bit worried about the volume in the 9 8 fish design. It was a challenge in the choppy onshore conditions but not too dissimilar to the 11 2 in stability, very impressive. A little more sensitive but with more time on the board you would adapt easily.
A surprise for me was the ease at which I could catch waves, the board turns and accelerates really well when paddling.
On the wave it was exceptional when compared to the 11 2 and 11 6, the board turns like a much smaller board and generates speed easily. Bottom turns really feel solid and the speed generated allows you to turn straight back up the wave at a sharper angle than the other boards I have ridden. I could imagine in better surf really being at a different level of wave riding on this board rather than cruising.
Well worth a look if you are in the market for a wave orientated SUP.
JL 10 8 next on the list to demo.

Cheers Andrew

cheers hilly, just what i wanted to hear

Yeah, cheers, I really needed to hear that. I now HAVE to demo one sometime soon!

Greenmoon,
What about the 9.0? Why not go the hole hog?

My first ever SUP experience was on a 9'8" starboard.

I am about 85kg (maybe more) and have been wavesailing for 20 years, but have no surfing background as such. I found the 9'8" very stable and pretty easy to paddle around on for a first timer. I paddled it on flat water and in surf conditions, took a while to get my legs in the surf but all in all I was pretty happy with the run on it.

I expect to spend most of my time on he board in the surf with some flat water when I can't make the 1hr trip to the wave and there is no wind. Don't really care too much about covering distance on flat water, more interested in the workout, but still undecided if I should go something slightly longer...pretty much down to this or the Naish 10'6"...I want something I can put a sail on as well.

any advice would be appreciated.

One thing I forgot to mention was I could get the 9 8 inside my landcruiser which is bonus.
Greenroom try the 9 probably better for a skinny bloke like you.
Sorry guys hard to get a JL 10 8 over here will have to see Marty down south (no demos in Perth) so review may be a little while coming.

hilly said...

Greenroom try the 9 probably better for a skinny bloke like you.

For me getting into SUP was to fill the gap with my shortboard surfing.
If I was to go any smaller than a 10, Im guessing I could brobably be out there surfing?
Theres a line Id like to draw between my surfing and SUP addiction.
I love my shortboarding in sucky waves, late drops, speed across the face hitting lips and throwing in some tight turns.
Sure the SUP boards are getting smaller and more surfy.
My 11'2 has that super smooth longboard soul. Im just getting the hang of nose riding and the feel is groovy.
But according to the reviews Im hearing that the 9'8 and 9' are just as stable once you get the hang of it.
But my concern would be the wave count ability. Would I be getting less waves with the shorter SUP? Would it be harder to paddle onto waves?
So many questions so little coin

Hey JB, anything like this happening in Adelaide in the near future?

Ive been clocking up some hrs now the Starboard 9 8" and loven it.

For waves around chest high and smaller its perfect.

I tried it once out at Moffat wich is a right hander (my back hand) point break in a solid 5-6 foot and found it a little hard to bottom turn without running to far out on the flats and staying on a nice tight line.The board picks up so much speed on the bigger day's when your droping down from a nice peak! and because it is so wide you feel every bump and the deck grip seems to loose all its stick when you fanging down the face! The 9 8" seemed to be more at home in the slightly smaller waves Wich suits me fine as so am I.

The 9 8" is so easy to manouver around the line up.if you see a wave that you want to catch and your faceing the complete wrong direction its too easy to spin the board around and line it up.

I also found on the steeper more sucky waves,it tends to be not fast enough through the bottom turn and wont stick to a nice line to help you make that section that your so desperatly trying to out run.
But that is only on those steep fast sucky waves that I find that.And this is out on the Caloundra bar wich can be a bone cruncher sometimes! I proberly should be on a short board on those sucky days trying to get barreled,but I can not get off the SUP especially the 9 8".

I reckon for most people wanting a shorter more manouvable SUP the Starboard 9 8" is the go.

The stability of this pocket rocket is Amazzing! 30" wide dose seem to be the majic number. it makes it so much more fun compared to some of the less wider boards I have tried.

Also had some complete newbies on this board who have found it dead easy to get the basic down with.

Over all the best board I have tried.

Cheers

Luke

No worries, cheers JB.

Greenroom said...

hilly said...

Greenroom try the 9 probably better for a skinny bloke like you.

For me getting into SUP was to fill the gap with my shortboard surfing.
If I was to go any smaller than a 10, Im guessing I could brobably be out there surfing?
Theres a line Id like to draw between my surfing and SUP addiction.
I love my shortboarding in sucky waves, late drops, speed across the face hitting lips and throwing in some tight turns.
Sure the SUP boards are getting smaller and more surfy.
My 11'2 has that super smooth longboard soul. Im just getting the hang of nose riding and the feel is groovy.
But according to the reviews Im hearing that the 9'8 and 9' are just as stable once you get the hang of it.
But my concern would be the wave count ability. Would I be getting less waves with the shorter SUP? Would it be harder to paddle onto waves?
So many questions so little coin

Thinking along the same lines as you greeny, will be out on my shortboard pulling in when its going off. Its great having the sup instead of a mal though for the small days