FYI - http://www.supheaven.com/Naish-SUP-quality.html

Do you really know what your board is made of ????

Very interesting...................

funny how both links are gone from that guy's fairly pro-naish blog. but it is no shocker that boards have EPS inside.

I am a little surprised at the lack of customer support as well......

SUP's are the cash cow that finances the losses of windsurfing board production......less work or expensive additions and components, cost the same or more money and everyone and their dog thinks this sport is for them
yes, the construction is very poor but u want light, right? who wants to haul a 40lb SUP around.....gives the inflatable ones a leg up,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMK8LQ9CuDQ

at least patching those is pretty easy and for 98% of users the lower performance is a non-issue anyway.

I have two SUPs. Starboard 9' 8". Full camo deck pad. Heavier board but seems to take a good pounding. Starboard advertises this construction to be the most durable and I believe it. If you fall in a 6 foot wave with this on a leash it feels like a freight train is pulling on you. Add in a windsurfing rig and it doesn't surprise me that a board would break, especially in lighter construction and even longer. The 9' 3" Naish Hokua is super light, great on the wave, and not surprisingly more fragile(no mastrack). Seemingly more so than a windsurf board. So, my take would be if you are a newbie surfer/SUPer wanting to wave sail/surf go for the heavier construction. You can't really plane those big boards and once on the wave the extra weight is not going to make much difference. You will get thrashed anyway but how else will you get better. At least you probably will not snap your $1500 board in two in your first session. Plus go out in smaller waves, under 3 feet the first couple of times.