Today we had a great day at Sandringham beach demoing the new Naish SUP's.

I got there soon after 10am and there were Naish boards everywhere and people checking them out.

Before I could get my camera out someone had grabbed the new 11'4" to test it out..Note missing board second left.



I took a few pics before we hit the water.









This was a nice looking Naish 9'4" Mal..It would be a great SUP for a light kid or a good surfboard for a longboarder.



My mate Andrew was there with his little ones.



This is another mate Peter (in the red) checking out the new 11'4" and seeing how different it in to his big Naish 11'6".



Here's JB standing on the 11'6" giving some SUP instructions.



JB swapped with others that wanted to try the new Naish boards and here he is paddling Johns Kalama facing backwards.



Here's John on the new 11'4".





Here's John doing a freestyle trick.. ..It's called reach for the leggie..



Here's JB on Olivers Uli while Oliver checks if the new 9'6" will float him...It did.



Here's JB trying to break the Uli in half.. ..It didn't break but he certainly got it wobbling..



Here's GregW on the small 9'6".





The girls on the 10'6" boards.



Back on shore and a few more pics.



That new 9'6" sure was a beautiful looking board.





I could get used to looking down at that no-nose.



The tail wasn't bad either..



The Naish range spread out..The 9'6", 10'6", 11'4" and 11'6".



Tail and fins of each board..



I like the new graphics even if it does look like Robby Naish ran over the board with his truck..





That's about it..Probably way too many pics..but IMO you can never have too many..

DJ

No worries Greenroom..

I don't give much thought to what I say. I just type away off the top of my head and often think afterwards...What a dick..

I'm no expert about all this..and I hope others don't think that I think I am..

I'm just stoked on SUP..

DJ

Is it just me or is that guys paddle way to short for him?

Was it a demo paddle?

Here's GregW on the small 9'6".

Ben dover said...

Is it just me or is that guys paddle way to short for him?

....

My paddle was fine for flat water but it felt awkward in the surf so I cut 2" off it. At first it felt way too short but it is fine once I got used to it. It's still 10" longer than me. It's a great length for swapping sides and sprints.

I had a go of DJ's Kialoa and it is way longer but felt great slogging into wind. Very comfortable to the touch with the polished elliptical shaft and handle and the flex makes it feel really lively. Nice paddle.

Oli's Uli was great fun. Nice and fast and tracks really well. Loads of fun to bounce up and down on. It was not pumped up very hard but it still rode very nicely.

I was trying a big Naish fin in my Starboard. I could not feel any improvement in tracking but I was in choppy conditions at the time. I'll have a few more goes and see how it pans out. I suspect that parallel rails have a greater effect on tracking than fins. The C4 and the Uli track really straight, the Starboard 11'2" is very turny and the Naish are in the middle.

The 9'6" Naish is surprisingly easy to paddle. It went nicely into wind. It feels very tippy but it signals it's intentions really early and you can recover from any overbalancing. It tracks quite well and it just takes a flick of the wrist to correct the steering.

Thanks to JB and the others for the use of the toys.

DavidJohn said...

No worries Greenroom..

I don't give much thought to what I say. I just type away off the top of my head and often think afterwards...What a dick..

I'm no expert about all this..and I hope others don't think that I think I am..

I'm just stoked on SUP..

DJ

That makes two of us DJ... the stoked part, not the dick part

Yes is was different..Different to look at..Different to touch and different to paddle.

First, not being so high in the water it almost makes it feel more stable than the bigger 11'6"..which is sorta like wearing platform shoes. (not that I'd know)..

It didn't yaw and paddled nice and straight like the 11'6" and didn't feel tippy at all.

Although the nose and tail are much thiner it's only the tail that is noticeable because you do get a little more water coming over the rail in the tail area.

I hate using the word 'allrounder'..but IMO that's just what it is..If I only had one board this would be it for sure..No doubt about it.

It feels lighter to carry and looks a bit more piny in the tail..It's also got the nice ramped rails on the mid section like the 10'6" has..That's a great design IMO.

I'm sure it's going to surf better because you should be able to hold a rail bottom turning with out that corky feel that the 11'6" has.

That's about the best that I can explain it..Allthough it's only 2" shorted it feels like a very different board..I can't wait to get mine.

You are more than welcome to try mine when we meet up for a mid SA/VIC paddle.

Here's a pic of me on the 11'4" and JB on my 11'6"...Do I look happy..

Ther's some more pics on the SHQ site http://www.shq.com.au/shq3/newsandevents/asp_newsAndEvents_main.asp

DJ

What was the 11'4 like to paddle, is there much difference to the 11'6?

I found it was noticeably different, not quite as floaty as the 11'6" because it was thinner and felt a little less stable to me - probably due to the reduced thickness. I'd say it would be a slightly better board for surfing and arguably not as fast as the 11'6 in flat water.

However, to me the board felt more similar, and had more in common, with the feel of the 11'6" than it was to the quad 9'6" and the 10'6". Which felt radically different to what I'm used to paddling.