FEEDBACK: SURF GONFLABLE SHORTBOARD 7’3!

Thank you to Pierre who took the time to share a long feedback on our forum following the purchase of our 7’3 inflatable Shortboard.

 

 

“Hello everyone,

I just received my GONG 7’3 “Inflatable Shortboard. A discussion last week when I got out of the water with someone who had one (maybe he will recognize himself, it was in Bisca) ), convinced me. I ordered this board for use on beach breaks and reef waves in Polynesia in January. Of course I don’t expect similar performance to a rigid board, but since I already have a very diverse quiver (from 6’10 “quad to 12’2″ glider) I remain very open-minded. I’m just looking to have somoe fun in the waves on my trip. The 7’3” has just been delivered this Tuesday morning (for an order placed on Saturday, well done at GONG!) And here is my first feedback. Nice surprise when unpacking, the board seems well finished and the transport bag is of good quality. A disappointment, on the website the photos show fins marked FCS II Carver, and those that were delivered to me are probably generic fins because they are gray / green and without any inscription. But hey, they clip very good and do not seem to be of poor quality. And then when you see all that we have for 179 € (for comparison, my SUP bought from the competition had cost me around 1300 €) ! The first requirement was to be able to accommodate a SUP and a surfboard in the same transport bag. Good news, I manage without difficulty and without forcing to add my SUP 9’6 in the bag of the 7’3 as well as its removable paddle, fins etc. Everything fits: the two boards, the inflator, the paddle, the accessories … Speaking of the pump, it’s a pleasant surprise. First it is compatible with my inflatable SUP. My pump is more powerful (triple action) so I thought I would take this one. But in the end, the GONG pump has other advantages, it takes up much less space and weight in the bag! Another advantage in favor of the GONG pump, you can reverse the flow and use it to properly empty the last cm3 of air during deflation. Only downside, the pipe which keeps coming off the pump side above 17psi. Knowing that for the SUP I have to go up to 21psi, it’s a bit painful because you have to pump while holding the hose to prevent it from unscrewing …

First tests on the water last Saturday in a small 1.2m, fairly clean.

It’s a surprising experience but after a little adaptation, in the end it is surfing very well. Inflated to 19psi, the board is quite rigid and that’s a very good surprise. Obviously, given the volume, it paddles well, takes off easily on the waves, even if the thick nose sometimes tends to splash me in offshore wind to the point of not seeing too much in front of me during the take off. Then, the difficulty is that with such thick and bulky rails you cannot engage the rail along its length in a bottom turn as you would in surfing. It just doesn’t work because it doesn’t sink. The board is put on the edge but the rail does not sink and therefore we do not turn, we fall. On the other hand, if we are already in the middle of the wave, it works very well. I followed some beautiful hollow sections and I even got myself a mini tube in the shore break. The advantage of the inflatable board is that you do not hesitate to try the tube in very little water because you know that you will not break your board… or your teeth. Getting back to the turns, you mainly have to use the fins and the rear third and it works. As there is a lot of volume, you can put a lot of downforce on the tail without sinking it and therefore not braking you, but for the moment I favored light and progressive foot work, always to avoid engaging the rails. You shouldn’t expect to make radical and very steep turns either, but it works. You just have to keep in mind that it is different, and that it cannot be controlled like a surf or a longboard. It’s like with a foil or an alaia board, it works very well but you should not try to surf it like a surfboard, so you should not trust its shortboard look but just have in mind that it is a different machine and therefore to be tamed differently. I can’t wait to test it in more solid conditions, like 2m, because I think it should be very fun when there is some size…. and when I would have found a pump because I lost a piece of the hose, a joint at the connector on the board side and so I can no longer inflate it. This is the HP2-B model pump and I have the impression that on this pipe nothing is standard, neither the end piece on the board side, nor the screw thread on the pump side. Luckily GONG’s after-sales service is on hand, so this should resolve itself quickly. In any case, if you had any doubts about the surfability of the 7’3″ for a use other than beginner, I can confirm that it works and that there is plenty of fun to have with it! I hesitated a lot before taking the plunge, because like many I was very skeptical and if the price had not been attractive I would not have taken the risk. There is not a lot of feedback on the web and we don’t often see it in the line-ups. And then, you had to choose between thick rails to have the guarantee of a certain rigidity or thin rails from another brand, at the risk of having something very soft. I think I made the right choice and I hope that this feedback will help others.”