I don't own one but a mate of mine does and leaves it at my place because of his storage issues. We regularly paddle flat water together-he on the 12' PSH gun and me on another of his boards (I have a 903 PSH Ripper-so challenging keeping up on long paddles) or me solo on his 12 footer when he can't make it-it's a GREAT board on the flat stuff-particularly as a compromise board as one that you can do the flat fitness paddle and take out in 1-10+ waves-pretty much an all-rounder as a flat water PLUS surfing SUB.

Just an opinion.

It is good fun on downwinders but will not keep up with dedicated downwind boards. As above great all rounder.

I've tried one on the Bay in Melbourne and thought it was pretty good as a down-winder. Keep in mind, the bay has steep short swell so it suits a shorter board well, also I'm very light 66kg.

Don't worry about the flatness, it's actually a plus if you are doing down-winders on something this short, you just have to get tuned into stepping back as soon as you get on the wave. And once you are on the wave the beauty of something like the 12' Gun is how well it surfs. So I think it works well but you are going to have to get your technique sorted and put in to get it onto the swell in down-wind mode.

As far as flat water paddling, it's fine and pretty fast because of the flatter rocker and the narrow width (28"?).

If you are really committed to the one board quiver it is a great option - but stretching to a short surfing board 9'ish and a flat water/downwind board is really the way to go IMO. Short light boards in surf are so much fun and I think, heaps safer too. My ideal two board quiver is sub 9 wave board and 14' plus flat water.

DavidJohn said...

My friend Mick has done some down-winders with us on his 12' PSH and it does ok.

I think you wouldn't want to be over about 70-80 kgs or it will be hard work.. They are a bit flat for down-winders.. IMO

Kristi is on one in this vid (blue and white board).. but then Kristi is only a fly weight..

Don't agree on the weight issue-my mate is 90+kg and LOVES the board and has no issue with flatwater/downwinders or waves.

105kg no probs. It is 170+ liters.

Bit of weight helps throw it around in the surf. It does surf exceptionally well for a board this size.

The gun is a beauty. It surfs well, for a big board, it's pretty fast in flat water and goes downwind nicely. It steers well on runners and recovers pretty well after pearling.
If you can only have one board it's a good choice.
There was one in the for sale section last time I looked.

Cheers
Mick

I think we all forget to consider height when rating board stability. A short heavy guy is twice as stable as a tall heavy guy.

For SUP, I wish I was shorter. Those little rippers would be way easy to surf.

I had a ball on mine at the Mambo downwinder - big lumps of chop with a contrary swell. Only fell once and got lots sweet rides on the runners (because it surfs so well).

I do lots of flatwater fitness runs and a few surf races on it - great.

It loves the surf whether it's one foot or eight.

Oh and my wife has now claimed it as her 'learn to surf board' - great glide to get onto waves easily and good nose lift to help avoid nose dives.