One of the coolest things about attending SUP surf contests on Oahu these days is that in addition to watching some incredible surfing, they also provide a wonderful opportunity to test many of the stand up paddle boards available on the market. Committed to unite surfers with the right board is Surftech; they understand the absolute need to demo these boards in order to make an informed decision on what size and model best suits our needs. They often have a full lineup of boards available to demo for free at Surftech sponsored events. 

   At a recent China Uemura contest I had the perfect opportunity to demo some stand up paddle boards I had never tried before. The event itself was held at Queens in Waikiki with a killer 3-5 foot (Hawaiian scale) south swell. There were so many boards to chose from I had a hard time deciding. However, I heard good things about the Laird 10’ and opted for that one. This is my review. 

10' Laird SUP Surfboard by surftech.

0-2 poor
3-4 below average
5-6 average
7-8 very good
8-10 excellent

SURFER’S STATISTICS

Age 50
Height 5’8”
Weight 215
Year’s surfing-40 years

OCEAN & SURF CONDITIONS

Swell-solid and consistent 3-4 feet (5-7 faces) from the south.
Wind-light 10-15 knot from the E-NE making for very smooth and clean offshore conditions.


FLAT WATER ATTRIBUTES

Stability 6/10………as a heavier guy I found this board to be quite manageable. There was some initial side to side “tippyness”, which not uncommon when trying any new SUB for the first time. After 20 minutes of paddling I was able to find a comfort level and had no problems. Obviously this will not be an issue for lighter surfers.

Paddling speed 9/10….without question the board excelled in paddling speed. I found it to paddle as fast as many 10’6 to 12’ boards in have tested. It cut through the water easily and paddling back to the line up was a breeze.

Turning 8/10………this was another very good area for this board. As solid 4 foot (6-7 foot faces) sets approached the line I had no trouble turning quickly to catch whichever wave I wanted.


SURFING ATTRIBUTES

Wave entry 7/10……… the narrowness of the board combined with my own body size made the board a tad shaky when paddling for the wave and on take offs. (Smaller surfers will likely not have this problem). However, once I caught the wave and got some speed gong the board stabilized with no problems

MANEUVERBILITY- 7/10…....this board was not designed to go vertical, however, it performed well with big sweeping cutbacks. If you are looking for high performace “longboard” SUB this is an excellent choice.

NOSE RIDING 6/10.........walking to the nose was no problem, but staying there with stability and comfort took more effort than I felt with other boards.

SPEED 9/10…….exceptional! This board absolutely FLEW down the line and I had no trouble making every section I wanted and even made a few I thought were impossible. I was tempted to rate a 10 of 10

SUMMARY-with it straighter rails and narrower outline this board falls in the category of a “high performance longboard” stand up paddle board. It would be excellent for short down wind runs, cruising and most certainly for surfers who want to ride waves with speed and long drawn out turns.

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