champcrow said...

Being a newb to surfing i was just wondering would there be much difference between the two boards?

At $999 it could be a great option and i think it will be very popular at that price.

I'll be doing a comparo of the two boards tomorrow so I'll let cha know.

DJ

I saw the soft deck this afternoon, i'm not sure what the rails are made out of but they look incredible. The best I've seen on a softboard.

Makaha said...

Save your time DJ, the soft top will be a great entry level board and perfect for kids.
No way in the world will it out surf the real deal.

Sorry to rain on your party

True Makaha! We just got some Soft Tops in store.

Same mold, two different boards.

The weight difference (+2kg at a guess) and the soft fins alone make them totally different.

The extra weight of the Soft top will help with glide on flat water.

The Soft top at $999 is an AWESOME entry level family/kids/boat board!
Naish have a winner on their hands/ Perfect board to grow the sport.

If you want one don't think too hard. There are only a handful in the country!

I had a good look at the rails on the Mana softy today. In the pictures they look as if they could be made with some sort of weave like carbon or something. However thats not the case.

On closer inspection what it actually is is a sort of netting. i think it may be a nylon or something. The netting looks likes its layered or immersed in a type of foamy gel or maybe a plastic resin. To my untrained eye the combination looks like it will have the soft attributes of the plasticcy rails that are safe and easy on the boat but the netting will provide internal strength and prevent chips or gashs in the rails.

The rails feel quite hard to touch but if you jam your thumbnail in you can feel the foam give a bit. You have to press quite firmly though.

I took it for a quick spin around the marina. I'm 95kg and I had the rails underwater a lot of the time. Nevertheless it felt extremely stable.

You should be ok with the 10' Mana.. Can you demo one?

DJ