Sunova Surfboards - Shortboards Review - Speedster by Tony Blackwell

Sunova Speedster Review – Tony Blackwell

In a nutshell – this is my all time favourite board: (how many years surfing, how many boards purchased)

Surfer’s profile: 

  • Tony Blackwell
  • 53 years old
  • 1.78m
  • 75kg

 

Board tested:

  • Model: 6’8” Speedster with epoxy/corecell deck
  • Ref number: SS68 #3859
  • With FCS PC-5 fins

 

Waves:

  • Three Bears - Baby Bears 4-6 foot, off-shore, SW swell (nice drop with a decent workable face and at least one long, fast section on the left hander), Baby Bears 3-4 foot, off-shore, more Westerly swell (vertical drop with a steep face on the right hander). Plus numerous variations on the theme.

 

Board:

  • Buoyancy: good flotation/weight ratio without being boaty like the surftech boards I’ve owned. Means you can still get down the face with ease without hovering or being lifted off the back of the wave in strong off-shore conditions.

 

  • Paddling: perfect width for me and the relatively flat profile/rocker makes it easy to paddle. I’ve experimented with longer, thicker and wider boards under the same conditions, mainly in an effort to compete against mals during crowded summer conditions, but I’m not convinced that any of those options are the way to go. They all involve compromise in performance.
  • At the take off: great control especially on big drops. This board is manoeuvrable enough to make a last minute decision to swing it round and take the drop on a sneaker, whilst still being long enough to get up some momentum if a longer paddle in is needed. The two things I really like are: the amount of grip on the rail, ie just right; and the flex in the board when you do a big bottom turn. For a board with only moderate rocker it hooks out of big bottom turns like a dream.

 

  • Speed: this is definitely a Speedster. Baby Bears has a tendency to close out through the mid section if the swell is anything but south-westerly. I sit pretty deep so this makes for heaps of drop-ins as plenty of guys don’t make the section. But with this board I’ve had a higher success rate than on any other board. As a consequence guys expect you to make it and this has meant far fewer drop ins.
  • Responsiveness: good balance for this size wave - it’s not the sort of wave you want a really flighty board on and as such this board suits my style (I’ve done my left medial three times, my right twice, plus had most of my left meniscus cut out). Still on the steeper right handers it’ll turn on a dime. I like my boards to be pretty loose – hence I’ve got this one set up with PC5’s.  These provide a good balance between drive and responsiveness whilst still keeping the board loose.
  • Transition rail to rail: nicely predictable.

 

  • Top to bottom: for a fast board it still carves a nice line top to bottom, just a matter of shifting your weight back and into the wave. Being a natural footer I’m usually surfing my back hand and this board feels really comfortable.
  • Control: this board felt good right from my first wave. Keeping the speed down is probably the only issue as I tend to outrun most barrels, but I seem to be getting that under control now with practice.

 

  • Carves: once I learnt how to slow this board down after getting through the sections, even with the PC5’s it’s a classic for big round-house cut-backs - largely due to that perfect level of grip on the rail and the flex in the board.
  • Top turns/re-entries: The length and width combination of this board seem to suit Baby Bears at 4’+ perfectly. I’ve found anything longer or wider to be too unresponsive, even in some juice, especially with top-turns, snaps, hitting the lip. At the same time in this size surf you need some stability and predictability. This board has it all.

 

  • Tubes & barrels: well as I said above I’m still working on this. Truth be told barrels have taken a reasonable toll on me over the years and I’m probably a bit barrel shy these days with the state of my knees. A pin-tail like the Extractor would probably be better for this manoeuvre. But maybe I just need to hone my stalling technique a bit more other than brushing it off on the shoulder.

Overall comment:

This board felt great right from the start and it is most definitely my all time favourite. As an all rounder in bigger waves it suits me perfectly.