Reviewer: Anton Nel

Boards: Starboard Hero 9’0 x 33” and the Starboard Wide point 8’11” x 32”

Place: Buffels bay, Knysna

Over the December holidays i had a good chance to try out my board, the Hero, against the Wide point and confuse myself even more over which is better!

Bit of background. My old school mate now lives in Brisbane Australia and has a wide point there. He bought the same one in SA to leave at his folks place in George for when he comes over on holiday. His reasoning is that he is so happy with what the board does for him in Aus that why change a good thing if it works! I first tried SuPing last December in Cape Town during a no wind spell while kiting. I used a whopper 10’0 x 34” in small surf at the Strand. I got comfortable on the whopper pretty quickly and soon felt that I wanted something more manoeuvrable on a wave but stuck with it as it was the holidays and it was all fun anyway.

Next trip to the coast was in May so I bought a ‘baby’ Whopper, the Hero with the options of putting a kiddies windsurfing rig on, stable enough for friends and family to try out, small enough to be loose on a wave. Balito out of season, glassy waves, no one in sight, sunrise, dolphins, stable board to soak it all up, priceless!

Now comes the problem, your mate has the other first time option wave board which he raves about! We swop boards to compare and what first strikes me about the board is the speed it carriers in a turn. On the Hero I need to be as far back as possible and standing heavily on the back foot to crank the turn, almost feels like stalling the board. On the wide point I can be more balanced and can feel the drive in the turn as opposed to the stalling affect on the Hero. On both I can still do a late takeoff and a cutback into the wave with a smile, they just do it differently! One point for the Wide point.

On the takeoffs both paddle-in a similar way but on the bigger sets, wave barrelling over the top of an outstretched paddle, the Hero tends to bounce down the wave at speed and you tend to be fighting to stay in control and out run the wave. On the wide point on a large wave in the set i felt a lot more comfortable and in control at speed and more willing to get tucked in as the board had more drive as opposed to the bouncing effect of the Hero. Two points for the Wide point.

Anton puting the board to the test

The scene: Two old mates, un-crowded backline, early morning, wives and kids on the beach getting ready for a family beach day, talking shop and catching up on news and events. Waiting for the pick of the sets I often found myself alone as Chris kept falling off his board when he wasn’t concentrating. Now if the water was cold it would be a problem seeing as we were only in boardies. The stability of the Hero is a big plus if like us, you don’t get into the surf everyday. One point for the Hero

Paddling out again both boards are similar in speed and glide (minimal). Paddling into a foamy they both pop over with the right technique and just cresting the lip of an oncoming they both punch over quite well, but it’s the effect of dropping over the back of a wave or foamy that is different. On a Hero you will keep on paddling 90% of the time, on the wide point you have a 50/50 chance of staying upright! If anything this is where a Hero excels and for Joe average this is the best reason for buying a Hero because at least you can paddle out to catch a wave, which is the goal of buying a SUP! Two points for the Hero.

Score: Tie

Conclusion:

If I’m selfish I would get the 8’10” x 32” Wide point for the way it handles on a wave. But because family and mates also want to have fun and ease of use, the added stability of the 9’0 x 33”Hero is a great choice.

On a personal note, my mate Chris and I both weighed in at about 82kg’s with a bit of the local brew ( Mitchell’s) and Christmas pud. Chris and I have surfed for years although being land locked in Jhb and him working for years in Saudi Arabia and Wales. We both enjoy the challenge of trying something new like Supping in decent waves and both agreed that if the waves were really firing we would rather wax up the surfboards and get stoked than try a smaller Sup that wants to be a surfboard or maybe it’s just our age!