Back to back, to back testing

[benjl]

I've had a bit of a luxury recently of a lot of surfing and a lot of different boards to play around with. Often I've tried them on successive days but never on the same day, in the same conditions back to back.

I finally did this a few days ago in head height swell and it was such a good chance to really feel the differences in boards!
I took out my new 5'6 dominator and also my 6'1 short board and ran them both as thrusters. They are very similar volumes 28.3l vs 29.1l but the 5'6 is a bit smaller and lighter so the buoyancy is pretty similar.

The dominator in 5'6 sizing was so fast, drivey and manouverable but a little skittish and hard to get on rail under steep or hollow sections around head height.
Compared to the 6'1, I noticed that despite the higher volume the board seemed to sit lower in the water and I could feel how my weight was dispersed over a longer surface area. It paddled maybe a tad better over constant strokes but also slower when you paddled at your max. The shorter, fatter dominator had max paddle acceleration.
Getting on to waves, the 6'1 was noticeably later due to a more refined and pointy nose. But saying that, it also held the later drops so well that it was no issue dropping in late. It was better and holding an edge at speed due to the vee concave but also lost speed easy. I couldn't make as many sections and really had to think about how I was going to make the turn to ensure the board didn't bog. Whereas the dominator just flew over things with warp speed.

The following day I decided to try my 6'1 again in more slabby / reefy break waves at a different break but as a quad this time.
Wow- sooo different again! I almost spun out trying to make the first top turn as there wasn't that pivot to jam your foot in to. Instead, it made the board want to go faster and slide. After a couple of waves I was starting to get the timing down but it was such a different feeling to a thruster and I've never noticed such a big different in swapping from quads to thrusters before.
It did have a bit more speed and so much more loseness! I will try it again with a knub to control it a little whole still keeping the speed.

My point? If u have multiple boards or fin set up options, give them a try on the same day and in the same
Conditions to see how
Much they change the board and have a play around. It really opened my eyes compared with just swapping the set ups on different days so it's never really comparable as the conditions change.

[oldmansurfer]

Yeah most likely I don't notice any difference because I never ride the board more than 30 minutes a day and only 2 days a week.