This review was posted on Mike Campanaro’s site, www.mikecampanaro.com.
“The Supershinn is a very impressive new board created by Mark Shinn. If you’ve heard nothing about this board yet then you need to pick up the latest Kiteworld magazine and read the five page article about the design of this board. I believe there will also be a few tests in national publications such as Kiteboarding Magazine and SBC Kiteboard Magazine so keep your eyes open. At this point I feel like I’ve had enough time on the water with this board to give my opinion and review this particular model.
I’ve tested this board in all conditions with straps and with boots. I’ve been in choppy water, flat water and waves with this board. I prefer to ride in flat water but the conditions at my Tybee Island riding spot often vary. It is an extremely versatile board with high performance features and an aggressive freestyle outline.
I am very impressed with the “Hydro-Flo” design feature in this board. When looking at this feature the first time I thought that it was going to be a very small added component to the board and that I probably wouldn’t really notice much of a difference in feeling from it. I was completely wrong. This was the first thing that I notice about the board when I hit the water the first time with it. When gripping up wind the Hydro-Flo actually feels like it is engaged and actively working. With only a slight bit of effort I can feel the water pushing harder against the fins and it actually feels as though the Hydro-Flo is helping me. I am also impressed that I get this feeling with the ,43mm, smaller fins that this board comes with. In fact, I’ve even put 35mm fins on this board and the edging is still very powerful.
The pop is another highlight to this model. The Supershinn has the smoothness of the monk with the aggressive pop found in other models like the Player. I think that is slightly easier to pin point your pop on the Supershinn in comparison to a board like the player. For example, the player seem much more precise when you are distributing your weight towards your back foot to pop off the water. I feel like the Supershinn actually allows some room for “error”. The pop seems consistent in the Supershinn even when I may not load the same way every time. I consider this a bonus when I am trying to focus more on executing the trick rather than the way I am leaving the water. Basically, my point is that there seems to be a more consistent pop in the Supershinn.
I am also very impressed with the exceptional performance that this board has while riding with boots. The design characteristics seem to be enhanced and not lost by the addition of boots. The upwind performance is not lost because of the rocker or the addition of boots. I think that because of the addition of the Hydro-Flo the board doesn’t compromise any performance characteristics when riding with boots. Even while riding in chop with boots, this board is comfortable and controllable.
It is really hard to come up with some constructive criticism to say about this model because, in my opinion, there really aren’t any flaws in the Supershinn. It is by far my favorite board in the entire Shinn line. However, I would consider this board slightly more technical then the other boards. Maybe not as technical as the Player but it will definitely be more appreciated by riders who ride aggressively or have a good amount of riding experience under their belt. I’m more impressed with this board each time I ride it!”
