Decided I have has enough solo sessions, so I jumped into a crowded peak for Hurricane Humberto waves
I was the only SUP surfer, but there were 3 Foils working the crowd as well

Had a great time, got on well.... maybe because I'm 77

drivethebus said..
Hi Rick, another inspirational video showing us the way in riding SUP's in larger surf.

Looks like the new "Slim" Ghost would have been idea in those waves. I paddled into a few bombs last week myself last week and for the first time found the upper size limit of my much loved Casey Revo 10x30.

So I am very happy to see released alongside the new Ghost the SUNOVA Shorty.

I can see a 9'2x30 @ 130 lt in my future, the shape and dimensions look perfect to me.

Cheers mate, keep the stoke coming...

Steve.

Good on you DTB... and thanks for the kind words.
I was hanging on to a runaway Ghost on most of those waves.
ha ha... I was over the comfort level on the Ghost.The flat tail with sharp rails are perfect in low power waves, but had way too much release for some of those drops.
I was wishing I had the Ghost Up for all these Hurricane Humberto days, it would have made all the difference!

Today I took out my big 9'4 Creek for a Cape Cod session.....

Super conditions, big and clean woooww

backbeach said..
Funky sort of wave Rick, plenty of backwash and different power zones, let alone ya millions of mates, but it looks like the 8'10" handled it with ease. Interested that you chose large quobba thruster set (I think), I probs would've gone quads. Having said that I'd not have tackled that crowd-kudos.
So what's the ghost like with quads?

Oddly enough, I have never tried quads on the Ghost. I have use mostly a 3.6" center fin with large Quobba sides. or I love it as a Twin in small waves.

Glad to see you scored Rick! We also got great waves in NJ.
I have to say my Sunova SP25 with the Quabba thruster (smaller trailer) is absolutely magic. The SP25 is an incredible board and it feels like I'm riding my prone shortboard... I have people telling me I look like I'm on a shortboard.


I only use thrusters on my SUPs. I love that pivot feel when surfing backside and doing bottom turns, top to bottom surfing.

I know I sound like a broken record, but the Quabba fins blow my mind every time I use them... There is nothing like them. Im always surprised more people don't use them.

backbeach said..
I'll be the quad crash test dummy on my ghost when the Thai slow boat finally gets here Rick!

ha ha.... I have to do the same!

I am loving the custom quad set I am running on my 8'10" Ghost. I like to do a lot of fin experimentation and tested the Ghost with many thruster and quad options. My favorite thruster option was upright 4.35" fronts and a 3.75" center, but I was not getting as much drive as I wanted. Most of the stock quad sets I tried had great drive, but stiffened the board up too much. What I am loving is using NVS 4.35" Peregrine fronts which are a very vertical fin with very little rake, paired with NVS Album Fascination rears that also have very little rake. (NVS is great about letting you mix and match sets.) The rears came as 3.95" with a 10.75" area. I hand-sanded them to drop the height by about an eighth of an inch, and more importantly, I took about three sixteenths off the trailing edge to shorten the chord from top to bottom. I did this in stages, and it was fascinating to feel how much the board loosened up each time I shortened the chord of the trailers. I am careful to sand the foil to blend it into the shorter chord. Sanding the trailing edge of the trailers not only makes them smaller, but it also shortens the overall length of the fin cluster, which I find to be key. The board now feels like it has the drive and hold of a quad with at least as much looseness as a thruster set with a small trailer because the length of the fin cluster is shorter than where the center box is located. I have used this setup in up to 8' surf and felt the board had plenty of control, much more than with a thruster setup, because a wide-tailed board on a big steep wall gets very little grip from a center fin which may not even engage the water high up on a steep wall. With quads, I know I will always have two fins gripping the wall, no matter how big and steep the wall or how wide the tail.
Having said all that, who knows what my curiosity will have me riding a few months from now.