| Stand Sure 8'2" // Review 08 October 2010 By: Andrew Cassidy Location: Box Head Eight-two. Ahhhh. That's a scary number for a bloke who weighs 84 kg - but what the hell, you only live once. I'd been riding an 8'6" for about six months and had been saying all along that there is no way that I'll ever go shorter than that or, in fact, that I'll even need a new board at all for quite some time. Then I saw a picture of the prototype Stand Sure Fiber Flex by Simon Anderson and Hayden Cox (inventor of the Fiber Flex technology) - ooooh, I liked the look of that. I got to chatting to the Walk on Water guys and one thing led to another and before I knew it I was on the phone to Simon Anderson himself, discussing the design of my new, custom, black railed beauty. One word: Ping The board is 8'2" x 28.5" x 3.9" 
It was only a bit over a week after my discussion with Simon that the board was trucked down from the Dolphin factory on the Gold Coast (Simon and Hayden were up there that week setting things up for a new glassing partnership with Dolphin). It arrived at the SUP Shop in Mona Vale the night before the shop's grand opening. Perfect.
I didn't get a chance to ride it that day and only just managed to squeeze in a very late night grip application session before heading off on a boat trip to an isolated river mouth at 5am the next morning.
I threw the 8'2" over the side of the boat and attached the legrope to the aft bollard while I suited up. The little fella looked so tiny floating there next to the boat - how was I ever going to paddle that thing? What had I done? I had counteracted the reduced length with a wider nose but it wasn't looking hopeful. I finished getting ready, pulled the board up to the transom and jumped on while the rest of the crew watched in anticipation. Ahhhh. Ohhhh. Yessss! I could stand on it! I was so happy. I paddled to the take-off zone, 500 metres away, my feet were underwater but it was surprisingly stable and I didn't fall in once.
The overhead left handers were pumping that day. The board performed unreal. So fast in the sucky sections and it maintained that speed beautifully through the fat sections. I could really feel the carbon rails loading up energy through the bottom turns and in the drivey, on rail cutbacks - then PING, the energy would be released as I completed the turn and straightened the rail. It was like getting whipped out of a tow surfing turn - just so much speed coming out of a turn. That was something I had never experienced surfing a standard stringerless EPS SUP.
I was running large Jerry Lopez Futures thrusters that day. They worked a treat on the overhead, backhand, freight trains. I didn't spin out once and could turn the little black beauty on a dime when I wanted to or draw out a big backhand cutty when needed. The rounded pin is good for this versatility - stomp on the tail to pivot quickly or stay a little forward and use the rail to drive through a turn.
Four hours later I returned to the boat. My legs were starting to cramp up with the constant balancing - my face was starting to cramp up with the constant smiling. A very good day - a very good board.
Highs:
- Super fast.
- Easy to throw around.
- Super strong construction.
- Gloss coat makes it look classy.
- Very stable for its length.
- Paddles well for its length.
Lows:
- Handle slightly in wrong spot when gripped and finned.
- Black rails show cosmetic shatters.
- Relatively expensive. | |
