okay preliminary report.Davros wrote:Got to hear the ride report
Once i got down to the beach i watched short boarders tearing up lips and getting barrels; it freaked me out. i was wishing for the CV2! But i knew, while the conditions weren’t ones i’d ride a hull in ordinarily, it was a new board and i wanted to get a feel.
Conditions: West wind, south swell, 3ft - low tide, barreling, but lining up and some, holding up.
Board: 6’7, 22, 2 7/8, flextail. S deck - all the meat is under the chest in the top third of the board. The rails are pinched - the deck is round, the hull is pronounced - the edges, foiled. 20 in the nose, 18 in the tail - it is wide! Flat rocker. some nose flip, but the tail is straight.
The paddle: was okay - but worse than i expected. my 6’6 (semi-hull) is much thinner and paddles better. It has heaps more rocker, but still paddles better, go figure…?) Still got most waves i paddled for. But i can’t quite figure out why it didn’t paddle super great. The nose spent a great deal of time under the water whilst paddling. Apparently that’s the sign of a good hull (according to lovelace).
The ride: it has a real ‘wow’ factor. It’s really distinct. The other semi-hull has a feeling of glide, but it is slow and quite measured. This is like being frictionless! First thing i noticed is how easy it is to turn compared to other bigger boards i’ve ridden. Maybe this has to do with the bladey rails or the fin being spot on (13inches - right in the middle), i’ve yet to work it out. But you pop up, lean your body and it bends into the wave before accelerating. Because the waves were barreling and fast, i paddled in really hard and popped up crouched, grabbed the rail and turned the board for many of the waves. Then, i either squatted and just flew down the line. On a few, i stood tall, moved further forward and really felt the speed. From the middle on one, i bucked up to the top of the wave, dropped down and then jammed a full rail turn to come back up again. I don’t know how it would have looked from shore, but from where i was - it felt amazing. Fast, free, and when you use you feet on the rail, it flicks into turns.
No barrels, but i think i will get the hang of it soon enough. The right hand was even stranger. It felt like i was skimming and going to slide out, but never did.
I can already tell, the experiment has paid off. While i realise the board will need to go through the rigorous ‘batman’ test of everything from ankle high slop to overhead glass - ultimately, i think you can tell when a board will work and it does. For a board this length and thickness, it feels quite nimble on the wave - it has the mlv thing going but a totally different ride.
I think it will absolutely excel in small waves when all you want is to get up and trim. Super glad the fin feels right, but i’ll likely try another eventually.
Not sure how the sidelights contribute - hold, turn etc?
But i felt the flex tail on all the bottom turns - it just pushes you out - quite a unique feeling. And when you duck dive, you can slot your knee in the gap where the volan and foam meet.
Keen for some Green Island action...
