6.4 Dominator for 95 kgs / 210 lbs? intermediate

[Ben]

Hi,

I am surfing normally fast beach breaks in the southern part of Brazil, Parana and Santa Catarina states, I have surfed for 5 yrs now, coming from a pro windsurfing background, hence not that windy where I live in Brazil, so I changed to surfing... ' The King sport' :-) anyway, I have moved from a 9 foot long board down to a 6,6 performance 2 yr ago, 6.6 19.9 2 5/8, custom board from a local shaper (PU) was not a big success, as I needed more volume/stability, I then surfed on a 7.0 fun for some time and since April I have been surfing a JS Blackbox in 6.2, 20 1/2, 2 5/8 34.7 liters vol. However I still feel that I need a bit more volume, I am 184 cm and 95 kg and going towards 90kg, 35 yrs surf every weekend and all holidays. I feel that I am kind of stuck with the 6.2, my paddling is strong, however I feel that I am kind of dragging the board along, I can drop into waves even the fast beach breaks, however I am often late on the timing....some of my ' 75 kg' surf friends, says that it will help if I got a longer board and more volume to allow me paddling into the waves earlier, and suggested that I got a ~6.6 , but as they also said the issue is that the waves are quite fast...so I dont want to go too long either....the surf is around 2-5 feet, occasionally tubes.

Now then I came across Firewire and the dominator and it seems to be my salvation :-D, my questions to the forum is, will a 6.4 be the right choice for advancing my surfing? according to the volume calculator, I should be between 35.5 and 46.2 for an intermediate, which match the 6.4 41.5 liters. maybe a silly questions, however do you think I will be able to 'feel' the additional volume of the Dom going from the 6.2 Blackbox 34.7 to 6.4 Dom 41.5? Sure its a completely different outline...or should I go even bigger? or would another board from Firewire be a better solution? I am just into flowing turns, nothing fancy, just started to get the feel of it....

I appreciate any inputs, thanks a lot.

Cheers.

[Chris]

yeah i think the 604 would be fine!

look at the hellfire and alternator as well 604/606 as well...

[Ben]

Hi Chris,

Ok, thanks. Meanwhile I called the guys at Outbanks Boarding Co. as I am traveling to Raleigh, NC on beginning of Feb next year and will then pick up two FW boards on this occasion.

a FST Dom likely in 602, the great thing is that they have the Dominator's in test in both 602 and 604, and likely also the Alternator but in RF, anyway volume wise it comes down to the same....looking at the dimensions of the Dom in 602, its actually a bit wider and has ~10 % more volume then the blackbox I ride now, so that should be plenty improvement for the mushy days...

Regarding the FST Alternator, I might get away with 604 according to what you write as it comes close to what I ride now in terms of volume, and as its basically for the better days, the paddling efficiency is not that critical, only when the conditions are mushy and small, which happens a little too often around here.

Happy New Year,

[iggy]

Yeah for fast beach breaks I would consider the spitfire or even the Hellfire if you want to bring your surfing a step forward.
The issue with the dominator on fast beach breaks is the tail, You might want to have something with bit more grip. The Hellfire is a high performance hybrid that provides you with the stability and paddle power of a hybrid but yet perform as a High Performance short board. The extra rocker for those hollowing waves will be a plus as well
Happy new year buddy

[Chris]

Cheers Ben!

Well said Iggy.

[buzzy]

Based on my experience the 6'4" would be better at your weight as a small wave board, but if the 6'2" works at that weight then all the better. My preferences, moulded by learning to surf in the late 70's and eighties of higher volumed boards than is the norm now, is for more foam (!) so bear that in mind. At 90kg though the 6'2" would be absolutely fine. I use the 6'4" at that weight but as I say I like a bit more volume.

My "other" small wave board got an enormous ding in it this morning when a (I'd guess) 105kg man mountain dropped in on me, headed left on a right and then, as he fell, unintentionally speared his 60 x 6 oz man board at the base of mine. Ouch. Glad I surfed that board today rather than the treasured Dom. Still, if ever it needed clarity that board (when repaired) will clearly be my small wave tug boat for crowded small waves, and the Dom for when I'm not worried about the nut bag summer flotsam and jetsam.

[Ben]

Hi Buzzy,

Thanks alot for the comments, I also read some of your previous posts about the Alternator on the old forum, I think I am in kind of in the same boat as you when it comes to weight at some point, hence I am moving towards the sub 90ties... just more novice to surfing :-) .... one of my concerns about the volume is also regarding duck diving and getting out through the surf when the waves becomes overhead (again beach breaks, a lot of closeout, current, ad few open waves), how does the setup of the Dom 604 and Alt 608 work for you for this part? (my only ref today is the 34.7 Liters blackbox and a custom 6.6 with fewer liters).

The point being that most of my surf friends <75 kg loves these small skate boards <6'0 and below, so I am kind of moving towards the smaller sizes, however according to what you recommend 'foam is your friend' I might get more fun out of the dom in 604 if I get the Alt 608 for the bigger days, especially at the point I am with my surfing.

I like the outline of the dom with the round tail and also the alternator due to its more 'traditional' design, when compared to the Hellfire and the Spitfire. I will take a look on the HF and SF when visiting outerbanks, maybe I just have to get used to the alternative tail shape and the more modern designs. Why did you choose the dom and the alt? and not the spit or hellfire as combo, at that time?

A petty to hear about the collision, hope that the impact did not crack the board open. Kind of risky when its crowed and experienced and new comers surf at the same break, thats why I rarely surf at some of the very crowed point breaks down here, not to mention about localism.

I was out surfing yesterday, classic conditions, one of the biggest day I have surfed for the last 2 yrs, waves were 2-2.5 meters on the backside, clean, open to both left and right, but still beach break, unfortunately I cracked the deck open next to the wood stringer with the 'right' knee on a pop-up that did not get as planned...., so now its repair day today. How is your experience with the durability of the FST deck, I presume you have the Alt in FST tech?

Cheers

[buzzy]

Sounds like you've got some nice waves going there! It's waist high today in Sydney but had some fun this morning on the Dom until the crowds arrived.

Sadly my other board has a huge ding. I'll be organising repairs the next few days.

So far as duck diving is concerned I have no real issues. It probably takes a bit more effort than a chip board, but I get both the Dom and the Alt under waves with little drama. The only "issue" on that front is when I'm forced to repeatedly duck dive on bigger days at beach breaks - the days where you are pushing under 8 or 10 or more waves in a row - I can lose some strength after a while. The same would happen on a thinner board too, but I'd maybe get under a few more waves before losing strength. It doesn't bother me in the slightest.

[buzzy]

Just to add by the way I chose the Alt originally because it's shape and dimensions were similar to other semi- HP short boards I had ridden, and the owner of the shop who knew my surfing (he'd shaped me boards in the past) suggested it. I chose the Dom because I wanted a smaller wave board, I'm a back foot surfer, I liked it's clean lines and, again, a (different) shop owner recommended it. This other owner is a long term friend since grom days, knows my surfing and surfs a Dom himself. I definitely vacillated from time to time but Im really happy with my choice. I think it's a super versatile two board quiver.

[Ben]

Yeah - am kind of in doubts about to go for the Dom 602 and the Alt 606 setup or the Dom 604 and Alt 608, the latter I think it will be after reading your experience with the boards and weight (you started out at 95 kgs) ...I will test them in Feb at the Banks, and see how especially the Dom 602 compares to my current 602 blackbox, I am sure that even the 602 will feel larger and paddle better due to the extra volume +3.3 liters more and a 1/4 inch wider. I mean my surfing is nothing radical, I like to flow down the line, when the waves allow it, hence the extra volume of the 604 will likely allow me to catch those extra waves on the smaller days, which we have plenty of.

I was in Sidney during Easter 2011 for work and took a couple of days of..., visited Bondi beach and went up to Brisbane where I actually bought the blackbox at Kirra surf at the gold coast, and had a couple of good days, very crowded, (tourists).... Anyway, you got so many options for surfing down-under. At the same week there was the ASP Rip Curl Pro at Bells, amazing place, took a flight out to Melbourne and drove out to Bells, and flew back the same night, would not allow that opportunity to pass, amazing to see the pros in action.

[buzzy]

Good work! I could easily switch between the 6'2" and 6'4" for average days, but I reckon I'd suffer on the smaller days on the smaller board. I think you'd be fine on either. Good luck!

Just FYI I am thinking of getting an Alt at 6'6" for hollow days in bigger (but not huge) surf...just reducing volume a touch to add more control. Having said that I've never felt out of control on the Alt.

[buzzy]

Should add I'd still keep the 6'8" Alt.

[Chris]

Stoked buzzy!

[Ben]

Hi Buzz, I am now the happy owner of an Alternator in 608 and a Spitfire 604, tried out the 602 Dom using a 3/2 mm suit and it felt very similar to my current 602 blackbox in terms of volume, so I decided to go for the 604 to differentiate and have something for the smaller days, and then a Spitfire as the Dom was not on stock, anyway will be surfing both this weekend, Ill post an update after the weekends session:-)

[surferireland]

HAPPY SURFING - GOING TO be slightly overhead and off shore in the morning - cant wait

[buzzy]

Good stuff Ben.

[Chris]

surfer need pics!!!

[surferireland]

Didnt bring camera, but it was awesome and empty, brother and I had it all to ourselves for and hour and half then about 15 people arrived at once. Double overhead on the take off at a left hand reef break, steep takeoff will solid walls which flatten out after 200yrds - the Dom was amazing, Id been surfing my semi gun in bigger surf recently then the spud when it small. i had forgotten how good the Dom was. Take off, hard drawn bottom turn and a big vertical off the top re-entry - just felt so good. Also on another one steep take off, bottom turn drove it up the face vertically and 'almost' got my first big 360 just fluffed it in the soup. Great day - one where you leave the surf exhausted but pumped.

[surferireland]

Contest's start here in March, Ill have the camera for some shots of us winning on the FW boards - maybe

[iggy]

:):)

[Chris]

now we're talking!

[Ben]

Have now surfed the spitfire 6'4 FST in a week or so. Basically only with SA4 fins in quad setup as the waves have been missing only 1-3 feet, small sized beach break, the upside being clean faces with no wind at all.....anyway it took a couple of rides to get used to the wider noise and flatter rocker compared to my Blackbox 6'2.

After adjusting myself to the board and getting a little more pressure on the tail on take off, as I had the experience that the wider nose can dig into the waves if pushed too much, the spitfire is extremely good at catching waves early. I am amazed with my 210 lbs and 184 cm, I manage to catch waves as good as guys on funboards, yes it takes an extra effort, but its just amazing how good this board paddles. I felt that I have so much more time on the take off then before, and get on my feet so fast in this small surf to get onto the face to generate speed. The spitfire in the quad fin mode just speeds down the line, amazing board. Despite the 6'4 being wide and a good a mount of volume it still feels very nimble, Im really curious to experience how it will behave on bigger and steeper faces.

Cant wait to take the board out to some proper sized surf, this board just has so much potential. I am really glad that I got the spitfire as I initially was hooked on the Dominator, I guess the two boards are quite similar, however I am really looking forward to test the spitfires capabilities in bigger surf like the fast hollow beach break we have around here, where I think it would be a better choice then the dominator.

I must say that if I have to choose a new board right now for the bigger surf, I would without hesitation pick the hellfire, even people around here says there is an overlap with the spitfire, I am so sure that the 6.4 hellfire would be a amazing board to supplement the spitfire on the bigger days. Yes I got the Alternator in 6'8 FST as well, however have not taken it out for a surf yet, due to the missing waves, however the feel of the spitfire is just great, a slimmed down spitfire with a tad more rocker must really rock in bigger surf, I guess that would be the Hellfire :-)

The board has a good flotation, though its still manageable to duck dive, though in bigger surf a sloppy duck dive will be punished fore sure, when sitting in the water, the board floats me so my upper body is above the water from about 9-10 cm above my bellybutton. (Bermudas only, its Brazilian summer time :-))

I am amazed about the FST durability, initially I was a little hesitant to how good these boards are, hey its my first Firewire and epoxy ;-) but even a couple of times having my knee on the deck, there is almost no dings, the construction just feels super solid and the response/spring of the board is just so crisp when worked harder

Cheers from a happy trooper :-)

[buzzy]

Glad to hear you're stoked with the purchase Ben. I'm looking at a HF myself and tossing up between the 6'4" and 6'6". I need to hold them in store properly. I remember when I first say the HF in store I thought it wasn't much different to the Alt, but a very brief fondle the other week had me feeling it was more beefed up than the Dom! It makes me wonder whether I was looking at a Spit and imagining it was a HF.

Anyway, I'm stoked you're stoked!

[Ben]

Hi Buzz, yeah - I'm stoked about the boards fore sure, and thanks for the recommendations on the sizes, I totally agree with you a bit more foam is better then too little :-). Actually I laid up the 3 boards next to each other in the shop, Alt 6'8, HF 6'6, and SF 6'4, and when you look at them all together there is something about the HF, it just looks right, the shape/outline just so harmonic and the deep double concave, but in the end I chose the Alt because it gives me a board for the bigger days, no limits...., I mean just look at the Alt and you know its a performer, so refined and balanced. I have a trip coming up to Peru, where I expect to use Alt alot, overhead mile long surf :-).

In two weeks I will head down to Santa Catarina, Florianopolis where there are several options for good overhead surf, then I intend to test the Alt to get a feeling for how it compares to the Spitfire.

Cheers

[Chris]

thanks for the great words Ben!!

Keep ripping!

[Muz74]

Gday Ben, if you haven't already made your mind up, i'm usually between 95 and 100 kg and bought a 6'4 Dominator just to use for small waves. I bought it 4 months ago and have not ridden any of my other boards since. Its magic, I catch so many more waves than any of my other boards and it is really fast and manouverable. I have just been changing the fin configurations for different types of waves and its like having 3 boards in 1.