Surfing Waves

Hello All,

I have been reading this and other forums for sometime to give the right decision on my new board. However I dont regularly surf ocean waves therefore it is hard for me to find a similar case in the forums.

I am 165-170 lb - 5'7, 33 years old. Beg/Int. surfer that surfs for few years only.

In my local spots the waves are generally wind waves and the periods are very low (6-7 secs) and rides are short, slow but still not very weak waves. In 1 hour flight distance there is another place that I go during winter time. There we receive some quality waves with an open face, a bit slow but not weak. I attached pictures of those waves. In addition to that throughout the year I fly to Portugal, France, CA to surf for few weeks. There you get some decent waves.

I have a minimal which I like very much and a Soul-Bulldog (6'2, 33.4 lt.) that I use in bigger, steeper conditions.
I like my minimal but its not an everyday board and it is hard to travel with
. I like my other board also but paddling is hard sometimes and catching waves can be difficult to me. Therefore I'm looking for a board in between my 2 boards, an easy paddling board, an everyday board that is versatile maybe. I am surfing generally 2-5 ft waves.

I have been looking FireWire boards which I had the chance to try a couple of different models before.
I'm looking for a FW Potatonator 6'0 - 40.3 lt. and I read many great posts about this board. I tried FW Sweet Potato once in Dubai that board has a lot of foam which is good for catching waves but also a bit hard to interact with. My other option is to have a 6'4 Firewire Spitfire which is 41.5 lt. I am not sure which one would be the right choice for me. For me its not possible to demo any of those boards and even getting the board is not easy since there is no sales point in my region. I have to order it online then go to a business trip somewhere and get the board and fly back home! So I just dont want to waste my money and time on something that I wont ride.

I'm open to any advice and ready answer your questions if you need to know before you comment.

Thanks a lot in advance, HB.

There are a world of surfboards out there and personal choice comes into play after getting past certain generalities. WKK made the analogy to brand preference in other areas......I like Adidas but a lot of other people like Nike - which one is better?

I'm 90kg and have a 6'8" firewire dominator that I use like a mini mal in similar conditions since it has 50L of float....much more manuverable and fun though....I think that 6'4" spitfire would work well on the wave you posted....the potatonator is more of a small wave specialty board which means it handles like #$%#&^ in waves like you show - will feel like you're getting rear ended by a car and when you get up will be like stepping on a bar of soap.....

I just got a Unibrow which I like over the dominator for better waves....they are light combined with the epoxy construction give a little more float so maybe a 6'4" or 6'6" in a unibrow is your ticket. I found that in good waves at least shoulder high it is easier/has a broader range than a lot of other boards I've tried to catch waves (you can be out of position and still get in, both early or late) is stable in bigger waves and choppier conditions than I would have thought for a board so light; it's my new favourite for better waves. Figure out what criteria you value and shop for that.....but as far as firewire goes, for an older, middle aged surfer they seem to have it dialled.

I got a board just last week; didn't need it but the price was ridicidliously low and the board in great shape so I pulled the trigger; honestly like this board a lot though I only have one sesh on it.....user friendly board that worked straight away from the first wave I went for, which is not always the case. Really good lines, paddles well, and was easy to use; it's a keeper as well.

It's a Mark Phipps -Aussie but the guy I got it from said it was made in France.....maybe available around where you are....worth looking into.

Mark Phipps Plonka is the model.

Hey big h how do you find that unibrow? I was pretty set on getting one for awhile as it apparently took most of the goods of
The dominator but added a better higher end. Then wasn't convinced the tail would be good enough for some of our waves and went with my custom

Thanks a lot for the reply Big H.
My Soul-Bulldog is Hell Fire like, so I afraid they overlap a lot.
And I'm looking for a good paddler. I have ridden my friends FW Sub-Moon lately, 6'6'' so 35.1 lts and it felt OK but didnt feel like its a fantastic paddler. I always thought its due to volume distribution or maybe because of its rocker.

I'm looking for a everyday board but dont want to go too long since I travel a lot with it. It's hard to find a board to tick all the boxes.

So I will be on the market to find a board which is in between 6'-6'4'' range. Looking for a volume of 38-42 lt. And looking for an easy paddler.

bursalio wrote: And looking for an easy paddler.

I haven't found a shaper who shapes or a board maker brand that "makes" a hard to paddle surfboard.

waikikikichan wrote:

bursalio wrote: And looking for an easy paddler.

I haven't found a shaper who shapes or a board maker brand that "makes" a hard to paddle surfboard.

There are some facts which makes a board to paddle easier and there are some other facts make them more maneuverable etc., dont you agree ?

Yes but every board maker says it's an easy paddler

You seem to be after a hybrid or 'fish' type of board eg FireWire addvance/Dom/unibrow, one of the 7S models, McCoy nugget maybe, stuff like that

bursalio wrote:There are some facts which makes a board to paddle easier and there are some other facts make them more maneuverable etc., dont you agree ?

Do you think a Shaper designs a board to not paddle well ? I am sure they wouldn't sell much if a board can't catch waves or turn. I am sure they try their best to make a board do all aspects of wave riding ( paddling, catching, turning, etc. ). Where have you seen advertising that says " this model doesn't paddle well at all, but it turns easily" ? Or the opposite sell "This board is really difficult to turn, but man can it paddle insane !" Most problems paddling ( and turning ) is "User Error". ( eg, newbie's buying a shortboard ) Just like blaming the Arrow not the Indian. A super computer or baseball bat has no potential of it's own without the user. Please understand that I am not putting you or anyone down, just that learning proper technique and learning the waves will pay much more dividends they investing in the board.

bursalio wrote:Thanks a lot for the reply Big H.
My Soul-Bulldog is Hell Fire like, so I afraid they overlap a lot.
And I'm looking for a good paddler. I have ridden my friends FW Sub-Moon lately, 6'6'' so 35.1 lts and it felt OK but didnt feel like its a fantastic paddler. I always thought its due to volume distribution or maybe because of its rocker.

I'm looking for a everyday board but dont want to go too long since I travel a lot with it. It's hard to find a board to tick all the boxes.

So I will be on the market to find a board which is in between 6'-6'4'' range. Looking for a volume of 38-42 lt. And looking for an easy paddler.

Hell Fire and Unibrow are pretty similar....you should like the spitfire; dominator is super popular and spitfire being a little more foiled will mute some of the issues I have with the dominator.

The more boards I try the more I believe in the "bad waterline" theory from an article I read.....anyway, I just try boards and if I like them and they work better than what I had I keep them, no real science behind that......


Here's that link to the link...
viewtopic.php?t=26100

benjl wrote:Hey big h how do you find that unibrow? I was pretty set on getting one for awhile as it apparently took most of the goods of
The dominator but added a better higher end. Then wasn't convinced the tail would be good enough for some of our waves and went with my custom

I like it but you need a decent wave to make it go....tried it in some mushy onshore stuff the other day and it bogged pretty quick....went to the car and pulled out the dominator and had fun.....kinda apples and oranges since the dom is 50L; I got it specifically for the wet season and mushy fat onshore days and its working out. The one issue I really had with the lower volumed dominators I tried was that the tail being so wide made takeoffs in jacking waves harder than they needed to be....unibrow is still wide but narrower than the dominator; I get a good push but not a jolt like with the dominator so I like it.

If you like the Firewire boards then also check out the Hashtag, it's close to the Unibrow but a bit more high performance. They paddle relatively good because they pack a lot of foam in the middle under the chest but foil out nicely to the rails.
I'm 6'@165lbs (lower end intermediate level) and use a 6'2", I got mine for steeper/hollow takeoffs but it keeps going on weaker waves too.
If you know how to position yourself for the wave it's entry rocker helps you take off without fear of pearling, that was key for me in bigger and steeper waves.
Before the Hashtag I used a Dominator and an Addvance both 6'6", great boards for fat/weaker waves but hard to handle in better waves.

Meant to add that the big volumed dominator gets around the jacking waves issue I had with the lower volumed ones I'd tried somewhat since I can catch and get in earlier. Had a McCoy nugget that the dominator replaced; similar in the butt though the nugget had a bit more rocker....firewire is a lot lighter though and gets going easier and being shorter and lighter than the nugget is more lively.

Big H wrote:Meant to add that the big volumed dominator gets around the jacking waves issue I had with the lower volumed ones I'd tried somewhat since I can catch and get in earlier. Had a McCoy nugget that the dominator replaced; similar in the butt though the nugget had a bit more rocker....firewire is a lot lighter though and gets going easier and being shorter and lighter than the nugget is more lively.

That might be the answer to my following question. IBecause I was going to ask if 6'2 or 6'4 Spitfire would be a better option for me. I like to have the volume but also it seems adding 2 inches brings also too much volume. 3.5 lts difference is quite something.

Quiver,

7'3 Minimal (maybe to be replaced by a second had Averege Joe or Baked Potato),
6'2 Spitfire or 6'4 Spitfire ??
6'2 Hell Fire

??

My advice would be to err on the bigger side rather than the smaller since that's the reason you're looking at the board in the first place (more float, easier to paddle).

Thanks everybody for replying and especially to you, Big H, very much appreciated!

Let us know how it works out for you.

Big H wrote:Let us know how it works out for you.

It will take me sometime to get to board, I definetely will.