Thanks to the good folks at U.S paddleboard company, Goosehill SUP, we were sent their brand new weapon, the Goosehill Flash 12’6” to review.

While I recovered from a particularly nasty Kitesurfing injury, the board sat there in its bag, taunting me. But, nearing recovery ( not quite though admittedly, sorry Mum!) the stunning weather forecast here in Perthshire was too much to resist.

A trip to a local Paddling gem, Clunie Loch on a sunny with showers day was the location to review the board. Wind wise, it was a calm day, with 3 knots of wind, occasionally gusting 10 knots, so, very, very calm.

The Goosehill Flash is touted as their inflatable race board, and is available in several sizes, 14’ x 26”, 14’ x 28”, 12’6” x 26” and 12’6” x 28”.  I paddled the 12’6” x 28” x 6”. I am 5’11” tall and weigh approximately 83 kilograms.

The Goosehill Flash package comes with a bag, coiled leash, fin (U.S Fin box), electric pump and three piece carbon fiber paddle. It retails for £1214.

A strong sturdy bag is supplied with big wheels to move gear around with, plenty of extra storage capacity inside too, as you would expect in this premium price point. The Paddle is a high quality premium paddle, lightweight and strong, the blade size ideal for quick strokes, easy entry and exit.

Uniquely, the board package comes with an electric pump as standard ( and not with a standard hand pump). It has the capacity to pump boards up to 22psi and has inflate and deflate options. After the pump inflated the board up to the recommended 18 psi, attaching the 10” centre fin into the U.S Fin box, it was time to get on the water.

The first thing you notice on the water is that, for a 28” board it is incredibly stable. Popping up there is no wobble which you may have expected with this board width. One reason for this I feel is that, despite being 6” thick, the paddling position as the board sits in the water is fairly low, giving you a stable low centre of gravity.

The board tracks very well indeed, stop paddling and the board carries on its trajectory easily. Speed wise it sits very well indeed as a fast touring board, the excellent paddle transfers your physical effort into forward glide for the board. 

The board only has a slight bit of rocker at its nose so this would I feel translate into an inflatable tourer which can deal with wind and chop pretty well. Conditions this testing day were too calm to be able to put this to the test.

I thoroughly enjoyed the speed and efficiency the board produced, genuinely surprised at how stable the board was despite the relatively small width. Paddle wise, its a quick and efficient power conduit. 

Looking ahead to future models, I feel that supplying a standard SUP pump as well would be (however the fact it uses a universal U.S fin box means that you can change this yourself).

Overall, a fantastic board which I feel will be well received, user wise, an intermediate paddler would really enjoy this board, using it as a tourer and to clock plenty of miles exploring the water, or someone wanting a fast board to work up as sweat on.