Allround Longboard - Firewire Flexflight vs TJ Everyday

[Tudeo]

I just listened the last episode of the Surfsimply podcast, at about 20 min they go into a lot of detail about nose and tail wide, thickness and the effects it has. Very interesting.
https://surfsimply.com/podcast/51-profi ... -and-foil/

[Oldie]

Good podcast once you get past guys exchanging their recent trips.... I heard this this morning in my car on a very rainy November day on my way to our Brussels office, so i got quite envious.

So my conclusion is the volume and surface in tail is less important for catching small waves, but for speed once you are up and riding.

[Tudeo]

So my conclusion is the volume and surface in tail is less important for catching small waves, but for speed once you are up and riding.

Well.. That indeed seems to be Harry Knight's (the guy in the podcast) conclusion, but I'm not so sure about that. I had a Firewire Dominator 6'6, a board with a relatively wide and thick tail for (as I understood later..) easy wave catching and speed in weaker waves.
I sold it because it had too much overlap with my Addvance 6'6 and because the Dom was too hard to control in the powerful Bali waves. The takeoff in waves from shoulder high and up was often like being catapulted still prone into the flats and (once up) too hard to set the rail, especially on the backfoot.
The big tail on the Dominator was catching waves almost as easy as the wide and thick nose of the Addvance, but the latter was due to it's narrower tail easier to control, the Dom basically sat too high on the water surface in these waves.
In weak sections the tail of the Addvance almost sinks were the Dom keeps the plane going, but on the Add you can then step forward and use the surface of the wide nose to keep going.

So I agree with the podcast that a wide and thick tail helps in keeping speed in weak sections of the wave, but I'm not so sure about Harry's claim that it doesn't play a significant role in easy wave catching.
But I love to hear all these theories about the effects of shapes.

[dtc]

Keep in mind that the tail is not very relevant to paddling, which isnt the same as wave catching (although clearly there is an overlap).

So a fat tail can compensate for poor paddling when going for a wave (by better harnessing the power of the wave), or a rounded/high volume nose area can also compensate for poor paddling (by giving you better results for your paddling efforts). Put them both together, like a wavestorm, and you get both benefits.

And both downsides - big tails like you say, while a big nose is heavier and harder to swing around (and potentially gets caught up in the wave face) and is harder to duck dive.

Whether a big nose or a big tail gives more 'bang for the buck' - well: I'll come straight out and say it: the answer is 'it depends' .

On your weaknesses, strengths, skills, waves etc etc. So a fat tail grovellor allows you to catch small waves on a small highly maneuverable board, but terrible paddling and quite unstable. etc

[Oldie]

I made a decison now. My shop/CI offered an extremely good trade in for my old waterhog when i order a new one, so I will get a new one a bit beefed up and lenghtend to 8.6 with stronger glassing as my travel board when I fly. The waterhog is an ok but not super paddler as it has quite some rocker so will still not be perfect in weak conditions. I am considering a very good offer I received for the custom summer longboard (No flight needed in summer, North of Spain, France and North Sea we do by car), which would mean for both boards together i would pay just 100€ more than one Firewire board. And as we also take my daughters boyfriend in summer to France, it does not harm to have a third board in the family (including my daughters minimal).

Thanks all for your help!

I also would like to remark that Firewire did not reply to inquiries, while CI is very helpful and responsive in their chat. That helped the decision a bit. And repairs will be easier than with Timbertek.

[Oldie]

Update to my update. I changed my mind. Given ongoing shoulder issues, I decided to go for only an allrounder longboard made of a markofoam fused EPS Blank. It is already produced, tailored for me and I will receive it hopefully next week. Quite excited! Thanks again for your feedback and opinions!

[jaffa1949]

Nicest board in Düsseldorf, I will be happy to get to Portugal or Spain and see you ride it. :

[Oldie]

Nicest board in Düsseldorf, I will be happy to get to Portugal or Spain and see you ride it. :

7 weeks to go. But off to Tyrol for the carnival weekend first, maximizing sking days this winter

[dtc]

looks good. Should be able to be used for virtually all conditions. Barreling shore break aside, perhaps

[oldmansurfer]

It has good tail rocker so for barreling shorebreak takeoff at the peak, lineup outside of the peak and paddle hard get in early, angle the board and popup quick, set the rail at the top and you can most likely handle barreling shorebreak as well

[dtc]

yeah, I guess; I just hate shore break!

[RinkyDink]

Update to my update. I changed my mind. Given ongoing shoulder issues, I decided to go for only an allrounder longboard made of a markofoam fused EPS Blank. It is already produced, tailored for me and I will receive it hopefully next week. Quite excited! Thanks again for your feedback and opinions!

That's a sweet looking board. I have no doubt you'll have a blast on it.