Rider: Gary Funnell (advanced rider) (rides roughly 60 hours a month, or 700 hours a year, so long as conditions allow)

Weight: 102kg

Conditions: tested at 3x different surf spots, from slow, cross-onshore waves 2-4ft, to fast high speed waves 3-4ft with fast drop, to large chunky storm surf 5-6ft. (never got to test in perfect glassy conditions yet)

Fin format: tri-fin (set in mid position in the box)

Quad: I would not recommend quad in the 2011 board over tri fin configuration, I have not tested the 2012 in quad so can’t comment.

2012 KOKUA: The new Hokua 2012 is so different to the previous board that my suggestion to anyone testing it is to discard any preconceived thoughts of it being similar, there is no synergy. The new board is well built, the color  scheme is attractive, it comes with a well made board bag, which actually fits the board perfectly this year around. The board at 1^st glance looks & feels bigger to the eye, but is only 5 liter more. The tail is wider (but NOT necessarily more stable in the water!) , the nose is fractionally more narrow, the midpoint is EXACTLY the same width as the previous model. The new board comes with a tri-fin or quad set-up, but ships with the fins for “tri”. The fins quality is good, the finish of the board overall is good, the underneath has a slightly “matt” finish, not sure what the motivation is but looks good, I know this is popular with modern windsurfers, so maybe there is a reason on the SUP. The carrying handle is well designed and better than the year before, it is very good. The main fin is bigger than the previous model, however when you consider that the tail is wider, you can understand why. The textured deck quality is great & even better than previous models!

By & large this is a VERY attractive board and  bound to be noticed at the beach!!

NEGATIVES: Some of the things I found a little irritating at 1^st was….., when you carry the board with the fins in, it feels a little “weighted” towards the tail, not much, but enough to be a minor irritation, considering how advanced Naish is with product, you would expect that from a lesser brand. Also the board feels like it is slightly heavier to carry in hand than the 2011 9.6, although to be absolutely fair, the 2011 9.6 is exceptionally light, from experience, additional weight can be a good thing, it is always the ‘context” to this weight. I don’t believe the tiny additional weight is of any negative relevance to the average rider who buys this board. The board felt a little more sluggish to paddle than the previous model (the previous model paddles extremely well, but partially because it is so narrow on the tail) in the rough bumpy conditions I tested the new board, I can say it was also NOT anymore stable to stand on and sometimes it felt like it was trying to throw me off, even though it has a wider tail. As an advance rider this does not bother me at all, but to a beginner or intermediate rider, they might consider the Manna to be a much better choice.

(The Manna is a wonderful board if you ONLY have 1x board in your quiver, or one board on the roof of your car! Don’t believe those who think of it as a beginner board, I have personally ridden the Manna in some of the toughest conditions, from 1ft surf to rough, storm 8ft conditions, and the boards handle admirably, I love the Manna. I am not here to test the Manna, but would personally recommend the Manna 9.5 to any heavier rider, and the 9 to any rider under +-85kg, although I have owned both and I am 102kg) We are here testing the Hokua, which is a dedicated “short-board” wave style performance board,  I honestly expected the tail to give more stability, but in the conditions I tested, this was not the case. I would not recommend buying this board if your motivation is that you love the previous model but are looking for the wider tail, because of “stability”, this would be a bad decision. Don’t buy this board for stability. Buy it for its performance.

Buy this board because it is a serious “short-board style” wave surfing SUP, with great technical qualities which allow you to get in touch with your inner Kelly Slater!

2012 HOKUA: At 1^st I didn’t like the board, and much preferred the previous model. But after throwing away my prejudice, I gave the board a chance and realized it pros and its cons. I eventually became quite addicted to its pros, but took a little while to discover them, so don’t expect to discover them on your first hour in the water. This is a board that “you get to know”. When paddling out to sea, the new board pushes through white water, as well as steep wave faces with much more certainty than the old, and allows you a better chance of still remaining on the board, once you are on the other side. On one or two steep 6-7ft close outs, I was able to paddle “over” the late breaking face, and still remain standing!! The nose of the board literally pierced the face and because of the slightly wider tail, the recovery was also more efficient. The board paddles into the face a little slower than the previous model and I found I had to either take off fractionally later, or paddle just that little bit harder to drop down the face.

Once I was on the face, that’s where this board comes into its own!! You can stay within the critical section of the wave almost all the time, and literally pull off any technical move, and execute with extreme precision. The board allows you so much more control on the face than the previous model, and you can literally slow the board down, speed the board up, stall the board, do floaters, re-entries, tight bottom turns, very late off-the-lip re-entries, and you know the board will do exactly what you ask of it, and do so with massive precision! Even if the face are steep, it will have a greater chance of NOT nose diving on these technical moves than the previous model. You can also generate speed by wriggling the board, just as you would if you were surfing your normal short surfboard and the board will literally play to your tune as you “suddenly” throw it into a maneuver at the same time. The new board is the one you want when entering a wave performance contest, whilst the previous model is closer to free-ride and is the most awesome adrenaline tool, especially on a medium to big wave, or any size fast wave faces, and free-ride style surfing. Whilst, as I said, the new 2012 board is all about wave control and technical precision.

2011 HOKUA: The old board is one of the fastest boards I have ridden, it can outrun almost any big wave face, it is so light weighing in at only 7kg. Although my experience shows me that it is definitely strong enough. Besides we all will break boards at some time, and this board is such a thrill to ride, it is worth the risk! When Naish developed it, they termed it a “hybrid” and were completely on the mark. The board paddles well, turns well, and with a lightweight body, and narrow swallow tail, you can literally drop down any size wave and know the board is going to be there for you! The tail holds the face with certainty and there is no slide out. The problem comes when you want to do tight maneuvers close to the white water, it is not so easy as the board is fast and tends to accelerate way past the critical section forcing you to do magnificent large, high speed round-houses, which is an absolute thrill, but sometimes that is NOT what you want to do, but you going to do them nevertheless! Metaphorically speaking the closest synergy to riding this board, is comparable to aeroplanes, if this was an aeroplane, it would be one of those sleek fighter planes with the short tiny wings, which only fly when there is terminal velocity, but then boy do they fly. (It is worth noting that this boards narrow swallow tail can “catch the leash”, and perhaps this could damage the tail if the leash is not fitted correctly, or the moving metal parts of the leash are well away from the tail) I would rate the old board a perfect “10” as a free-ride, wave performance board, it got everything you want for the “thrill of surfing”, although it is not as pretty as the new, as looks slightly retro when you look at the tail, it is a superb machine, …..and it works!!. BUT IT IS NOT FOR EVERYONE!

NUTSHELL: In a nutshell, BOTH the above boards are not for beginners, they are both advanced boards, each with great technical qualities. I would recommend them to any intermediate, or advanced rider, (but NOT beginner!) wishing to get more out of his wave performance, and willing to sacrifice stability. They need to be ridden, in the same manner you would approach riding your motor-cross bike! Ride them as performance machines and they will make you happy! I would recommend the 2011 9.6 to anyone who enjoys a free-ride style surfing (ie they passionate about what they do on waves but are not bound by the rules of competition, where you score points in a structured manner). I would recommend the new 2012 board to anyone who wants to ride in wave competitions, or just wants to get in touch with their inner Kelly Slater! I would also recommend the 2012 board as the most attractive board to “pose” with at the beach (tee hee), looks fast even when you not riding it. I am referring  mainly to people roughly above 80kg, but not exceeding 110kg. A rider roughly 85kg or under might also be looking at the Hokua 9 as the preferred board choice.

 It goes without saying that BOTH board would still be great for an absolute beginner of 60kgs or less, as although they would not be purchasing the board for its technical qualities, they would enjoy good paddling abilities, and easy to carry  lightweight, especially the 2011 model which is a brilliant paddler and oh, so light weight to carry to the car. In fact Peter Petersen of Naish Africa, says that he sells a lot of the Hokua 2011 to the female riders under 60kgs, where it is a great beginner/intermediate board for completely the qualities as mentioned, and NOTHING to do with its technical ability at all! I am here however to measure its performance.

OTHER OPTIONS: As I said early, if you are NOT one of above people, BUT still looking for an ALL ROUND performance wave board with excellent stability in choppy sea, where you only take one board to the beach, and you can ride in anything from 1ft to 8ft waves with absolute confidence, and you can progress as a rider whether beginner, intermediate, or advanced,….then the Manna 9. And the Manna 9.5 is the recommended choice, by a long shot! Not excluding the Manna 10 as a good “starting” progression board (if you are heavier and/or just beginning) I have tested the 10 in similar conditions as the 9 and the 9.5. and although a bigger board, will cope in all of the same conditions as noted above, with absolute confidence. My training partner, who is an extreme sportsman, is still riding a Manna 9 as his board of choice, even in the biggest conditions, and swears by it!! (he previously rode the Hokua 9.3 and traded it on the Manna 9) It is also useful to note that Naish has a reasonably good re-sale value than most other brands in our market, and as such this is useful when considering a brand and when it comes to purchasing your next board.

These are my views, and as such I encourage all persons to go out there and experience for themselves.

Not all riders have the same experience, and not all riders ride in the same conditions, hopefully I have given you some ‘guidance” on how to get the best out of the equipment, and what to look for when purchasing.

Gary Funnell