Bourton Silver/Fat Bullet vs Firewire Dominator/Spirtfire

[waveripper]

Hey Guys,
Im basically considering between getting two boards I am looking at for waves between waist high mush to 5 foot (head and a half) solid waves here in Victoria. Pretty much an all rounder for 85% of the waves we surf.

Im 81kg and been struggeling to ride the thin narrow boards I used to ride and am looking at high volume boards now that paddle real good but will still ride top to bottom and facilitate getting on rail and hitting the lip vertically or semi vertically.

The two boards I am looking at are the Bourton Silver/Fat Bullet vs Firewire Dominator/Spirtfire. Im looking at getting a 6'2 x 20 3/4 x 2 5/8 in the firewire or a 6'3 x 21 x 2 3/4 in the silver bullet. Both are about 38 litres which is alot of volume but Murray Bourton says his boards, with the Vee and extra tail rocker at that volume the boards will still facilitate vertical top to botton surfing even at my mid weight. Not sure if the dominator/spitfire would be a bit of a dog at that volume in the 6'2 for my weight though? If youve ridden both, Id love to hear from you and your thoughts about what board you think comes on top in regards to having the best of both worlds in performance and paddle power.
cheers

[damo666]

I've got a 6'2" Dominator and love it.

The fact that I live 2hrs inland means I only get to surf once a fortnight, and as such I'm not a strong paddler. The Dom paddles REALLY well. Whilst I'm not a massively vertical ripper by any means, I'm also able to turn the Dominator harder than any other board I have owned, it certainly feels like a smaller board than the volume would suggest & they seem to have hidden it well (I reckon part of that is in the lighter weight compared to a PU of the same size). It does have a really wide tail though - I'm using controllers in mine, which are a pretty big fin, I reckon this goes some way to taming the big fat tail on it!

I cant comment on the Burton as I've not ridden one, but I have owned a few other high volume shortboards (ie, a miller waterskate and a v-skate). Whilst those were certainly not bad boards by any means and as much as a nice guy Grant is, I'd place the Dominator above them.

I know Firewires get a pretty bad wrap from lots of people, but for my particular circumstances I find it great. I'd not hesitate for a second in getting another Dominator if something happened to this one.

[swvic]

W'ripper, went looking for some stuff I'd posted on rs. It's from 2 different posts. There's more, but farked if I can find it. Hope it helps a bit



Only ever had 1 quad and never had that centre-line issue so many seem to talk about. Might have been the vee through the tail. I did have issues in the release off the top. Took me awhile to sort it (almost completely) by tinkering with fins. I recently snapped the board and doubt I'll be getting another quad anytime soon. Certainly have some advantages, but generally I'm pretty happy on the humble thruster.

Just snapped a quad and will be replacing it with a thruster. Quad: Bourton Silver Bullet 6'2 20'1/4" 27/16". Need: Pushing 50, shit shoulder so wanted extra volume and something that would surf seemingly without that extra volume.

Yeah, I know bumfluff "jimmy1501 wrote:
Or you could not be a kook and get paddle fit. That's what it's all about sister. If you surf enough you don't need a mong board that paddles like a mal and surfs like a Parko.

Check in again in a few years, mate.

Was pretty happy with the quad after getting fin setup right which took a couple of months. Murray reckoned it'd go up to 6 foot but it got a bit too loose off the bottom in waves that size, particularly on the backhand. Wierd thing is, it never span out, I just couldn't rely on aiming for the top because I had to control it at the bottom first. This could be either: me; the possibility that what I call a 6 foot wave is bigger than what Murray calls a 6 ft wave; or Vic waves have more juice per foot compared to Qld. Whatever the reason, now that it needs replacing, it will be 3 fins. The day I broke the quad was recently in Samoa. Immediately surfed a 6'6" thruster and it felt great, even if it was a bit long for the waves. Sure, I could get a tweaked quad, but the thought of going through the fin setup again puts me off a bit. So it's a slightly beefed up thruster that I know will handle 6 ft no worries.

[buzzy]

I have a 6'4" Dom @ 91kg. I love it and use it as my main "go to" board for head high and below. At 81kg the 6'2" will be amply proportioned for you and maybe you could consider the 6'0"? I've never surfed a Bourton.

[Davros]

Ive only heard good things about Dominators and seen guys ride them well but the turning looks a little protracted...it may have just been the waves....dont discount a JS Kingpin 38 litres the 6'4 fast,loose, 5 fin set up the nose a little thiner than the 2 boards you mention, at 81k you could prob go the 6'0.

[bobjs]

I

[swvic]

Started with PC 5 fronts and GX rears. Was too little fin when the waves got over 4 ft (Iggy scale) - especially backhand. Never span out but just felt sketchy off the bottom. Because I also wanted more release off the top I followed advice of many others and got K2.1s for the front and Q 1000s for the rear. It added up to more area but because the fronts are less raked than the PC5s it also gave more release off the top. Much better all round in all kinds of waves

Need to remember the fin setup in context of the board (6'2" silver bullet) that had a pretty wide tail (14 5/8") and was pretty wide overall (20 1/4"). I found it still too loose in solid waves on the backhand. The drive (especially forehand) was pretty bloody good though