Charissa and Todd,

I’ve had enough opportunities to ride the new 9’6 HPLB where I feel I can write a decent review.

First off, the craftsmanship of the board is really top notch.

EPS boards often come out with smudgy paint and dodgy glassing and this board is a far cry from that — the glassing is solid and the airspray looks super clean.

In the water, the weight and flex dynamics

of the board are very predictable and fluid.

It’s not a super stiff Surftech type feel, it’s not a damper poly-type feel, it’s somewhere in between.

Lightweight, high performance, solid, predictable.

The board turns very well from the back 2/3 of the board.  This is enhanced by the generous rocker and probably the bottom contours as well.  I think the board is stable enough on the nose to enjoy some nice tip time as well.  I haven’t had it out yet on a decent beach-break noseride day where I could really spend a ton of time on the tip, but I can tell there are some solid dynamics in the bottom contours that will enable some fun in the future!

Overall, this is a great ‘everyday’ high perf board

and I expect to get a lot of use out of it.

I may bring it to Hawaii in the next few weeks to try it out in some decent juice.

FYI I thought the 7″ Cutaway fin and SB1’s were really over-finned for the board in the conditions I am surfing it in.  I swapped out the SB1’s for SB3’s (375’s vs 325’s) and I intend to put in a 6.5″ Cutaway as soon as I can get my hands on one.  A lot of this has to do with the mediocre conditions that are available to me, where I want as much looseness as possible.  The board is not overly volumed — if anything, it’s pretty thinned out in the rails, so it enjoys the looseness a lot.  I want to try it as a single soon — too many fins, too little time!

Thanks again, will be in touch soon.

Best,

Eric B, Manhattan Beach, CA
Custom Proxy Epoxy Performance Longboard
9’6″ x 22 5/8″ x 3 1/4″ roundpin