8’4 GONG SUP Painy Review

Written by matt on Saturday 10 Mar 2012

Here is a review of the 8’4 ‘Painy’ written by UK GONGSUP team rider Titou Minster….

The 8’4 is a gorgeous bamboo topped board ideal for experienced riders who want a shred machine in punchy waves of 2-4ft, maybe more! It needs some adaptation for the non surfers as it rides purely on the rails, not from the tail. The rails are very thin at either end so the board is quite tippy for the 80kg+ riders. Weighing in at 87kg i definitely struggled in the first two sessions, but once you figure out how the board works and catch a couple good waves, you will fall in love! It turns hard, despite the small g5 fins its thin rails allow you to push it very hard in the bottom turns followed by big carves or snaps in the top of the wave. It has a fair amount of nose rocker but is surprisingly performant in noserides, and has the potential of being a helicopter machine, as well as a 360 tail slasher, but that goes without saying. As soon as you pick up speed the board ‘locks’ into the wave and is very stable. Gong has yet again delivered a high performance board with unique character and personality that works in our european conditions with a similar construction to the high end top brands but for a very affordable price.

Coming in at 115l and 29.5″ wide i would not recommend this board for the faint hearted or those who want an all round board. This is definitely a board that will fit in a quiver with a longboard style SUP and maybe a ShortSUP for the days you are feeling on form and when there is some white wash to wrestle!

If you feel like you have what it takes to be a UK GONG ambassador with discount on boards please get in touch.