Have had one session in very choppy crosswind situation & found it handled the conditions well. Was impressed with its stability.....didn't have to be a kneelo

Thanks for your experience with the Hero. Has any one given it a bash in head high plus. I have given the Starboard 9ft 8inch (Element) and loved it but thought its ride may be a little to close to my Starie 10ft5inch.

Im lost as to why every one here goes for Starboards other the the fact that they are easy to come by...

Dont get me wrong Starboards are definatly good boards and i have a 10.5 drive and i love it for a long board style SUP but in my opinion if you want something purely for surf you should be looking at something that is a short board style SUP..

I have the Drive for longboard style SUPing and a 9.4 Jimmy lewis Mano for when its a bit bigger and heavyer

Again its only my thoughts but if i was you id go the JL 9.9 Mano or similar (a short board style SUP).. You will lose a tiny bit of stabilty but you will get used to it very quickly and once your on a wave its a lot more like surfing a short board then a long board..Both are fun but keeping in mind you already have a Drive i would be going something completely different..

Hope that helps Belly

Thanks for your thoughts on the JL & Mano of which I have yet to try due to the lack of demo days by dealers. I did attend one demo day but believe it or not the dealer only had 2 boards to demo.

GizzieNZ said...

hilly said...

I am with you Belly but I would getting in to my flame suit now if I were you.

New psh specs look interesting for wider ripper style boards. Getting my suit on now lol ;-)

OK...no one selling PSH boards round these parts but the Jimmy Lewis rep is gonna bring some boards to gizzee for demo....I promise to try out his Manos if he gets here

OOPS.....forgot to ask about Hilly's own feedback about his Hero tryout lol

Oh well Hilly at least there is 2 of us that are gonna cop it now, but ill back you 100 percent in bigger more solid waves and shore breaks thats for sure..

Belly

GizzieNZ said...

hilly said...

I am with you Belly but I would getting in to my flame suit now if I were you.

New psh specs look interesting for wider ripper style boards. Getting my suit on now lol ;-)

OK...no one selling PSH boards round these parts but the Jimmy Lewis rep is gonna bring some boards to gizzee for demo....I promise to try out his Manos if he gets here

Yeah there's two Jimmy Lewis reps in Auckland now. Those Manos look really good wave boards. BTW The c4 sub vectors particularly the 9'6" and 10' are designed for the same thing, the 10' is a great board (from personal experience). . I can't believe there still isn't a PSH rep over here?.....Isn't this great, we haven't discussed makes, shapes and models since BP used to rile everyone up with his vast experience heh heh.

I only paddle my 8'5" Pocket Rocket in beach break......um don't actually think there is a problem, it is fantastic. Is a more rounded nose board supposed to pearl or something? I've survived stupid late take offs plenty of times, you just think it's going to pearl but it doesn't.

I think a lot of the feeling that the pointy ripper style board is essential in these conditions is actually just a feeling. Try a well designed rounded nose short board. The reduced length created by "cutting" off the pointy bit cuts down on swing weight, the thing just cranks around when you get back - pity I'm not a good enough surfer to get the most out of it

Greenroom said...

I got a question...
What makes people think that a Starboard cant take off on a solid wave or beach break?
Just curious on peoples thoughts?

Not saying they can't greeny you rip on one.

People like different things I find the short fat designs tend to catch on chop and steep drops causing a loss of speed. I do not get that with boards with a bit more nose rocker and less volume up front. I also find you have to run from front to back a lot where I prefer a more planted surfing position - shortboard feel compared to mal feel. Less volume up front allows a more vertical approach. Less swing weight up front feels better in turns. Width is critical in allowing a board to go from rail to rail at speed under 30 to me feels way better.
This is my opinion only, based on surfing quite a few different boards and watching others surf them. I wish I was your size greeny I would get an 8 8 by 27 like Keahi's now that looked nice.

Thanks guys and thanks Hilly, if I ever catch up with you locally around Perth I will definitely take you up on your offer to demo your boards