This is a new design built on our earlier concepts for a modern gun that has been tested and perfected with the Stiletto and Pulsar designs! It also carries forward our earlier Hanalei Spear designs that were all balsa.

For years guns have always been, well, "gunny." That is, they have been narrow and very speedy looking, with the wide point very far forward, in some cases as much as 7" ahead of the center. But we are convinced that there is more that a gun could do if it were not narrow and did not have a wide point so far forward. Much of this has been proven by the success many surfers are experiencing riding SUP guns in huge waves, and these boards are much wider than your typical gun!

So we set out to shake up the definition of a gun by following a trend we have been working on with our guns for the past few years. Firstly, we slowly moved the wide point further back until we ended up with the wide point 6” back of center. This is the most extreme distance we have gone to date. Secondly, to perform more in a gun, we wanted more curves in the outline, so we steadily bumped the width up so that we ended up with a strong curve through the tail area. For this design, we did not go as far back with the wide point, it is only 1" back, but the area of the board has been kept in the back half of the board.

Looking at the template for this board, it is hard to believe that it is 24" wide, plus it still looks like it has a very narrow tail. This is not the case as it has a 13 1/4” wide tail, yet due to the overall width of the board it still looks pulled in!

By moving the wide point back, we are effectively making a smaller cockpit in the back end of the board. This makes it easier to turn and has the added benefit that instead of following the board around (a familiar feeling when the wide point is far forward), you are right on top of the board, giving you much better control. A wide point back tends to help you get into waves as well because there is more area in the backend, so when a wave swells up behind the board, it has more of a tendency to push the board into the wave. Finally, with the wide point back, you are forced to get up further back on the board, putting you in a much more controlled position while making the drop down the face of the wave.

We kept the more drawn-out nose of the typical gun so that it would be less affected by wind and to make it better for punching through waves. The board has a lot of volume at 3 3/4" thick, but due to the rail channels, the thickness is well disguised.

The bottom design is our standard for this type of board, vee in the nose, through the nose rocker area, single concave through the center of the board, flowing into a deep bowled double barrel concave through the fin area, and finally into a vee out through the tail. This bottom shape balances power and user-friendliness, making the board much easier to surf. The bowled concave makes rail-to-rail transitions simple and smooth, requiring little effort and adding a lot of squirt, meaning speed! This bottom has been optimized to work with our quad fin layout as well, the goal being to better direct the water flow to the fins!

The rocker is very similar to most modern guns, but there is a little more tail rocker to make the board easier to turn and handle. Usually, a board like this is ridden in enough power that a little extra rocker is not a problem.

The build on this board is also different than our typical boards, as this one is an EPS blank with epoxy laminations. The goal was to keep the board a little lighter but not so light to be a detriment to performance. It has a 2 x 6-oz bottom with a 3 x 6-oz deck, so still nice and strong. This layup and the deck channels make the board nice and strong.

This design is set up as a quad for its versatility, speed, and holding power. The GEARBOX fin system is used as it is light and strong and is installed under the glass. It also has a regular center box, so it could be ridden as a single fin or a 2+1 if needed.

This board was made for Felipé Pomar, and we know he will put it into some serious waves here in Hanalei!