Addvance to Dominator sizing?

[Fouquette]

I first posted in the addvance thread a couple of months ago, but now I truly feel after the last couple of months of surfing that I am ready to step down. Originally I stepped down from a 9'1 Bear Beau Young to a 7'2 addvance and I am looking for some advice for my next board. I am 36, 5'9 and 160 pounds, plus a 4/3 or 5/4 suit. I ride all year here on Vancouver Island which has a mixture of breaks. I love the ride of the addvance, but I am looking for something with more performance, but still versatile. I am wondering what size of Dominator would you recommend? I would consider myself beginner/intermediate surfer and feel comfortable from 1 to 6 foot waves.

[prjwebb]

ID say 510 or 600.
Go any bigger and you'd lose the responsiveness of that board. You could go 508 but its a big jump.

[lukos]

I am almost the same size as you and i just bought a 5'8" dominator and i love it. Only difference however is that i transitioned from a 6'0" shortboard not a funboard shape so a 5'10" would probably be good choice for you. So far i have only rode it in knee high waves and it was awesome. It paddles like a fish or funboard and rides more like a shortboard.

[Fouquette]

Great to hear. Is there much difference between the 5'10'' and the 6'?

[lukos]

I have not had any firsthand experience but ive heard that theres not much difference in the volume of the board just rail refinements.

[iggy]

5'10" spitfire!

[STC67]

Hi Fouquette, I am going to respectly disagree with the others here. A drop from a 7'2 ADDvance to a 6'0 Dom/Spit is about a 40% drop in volume if my calculations are correct. That is a big drop for a beginner to intermediate surfer. Your not a heavy weight and I'm not saying you couldn't do it, but I think you might need to be persistent with it to get the hang of it. If you can hang onto the ADDvance it would be a good back up for when you just want to catch waves while your getting the hang of a smaller board.

Maybe see if you can demo one before you commit.

Cheers

[Fouquette]

That's exactly what I am doing. I am keeping the Addvance, I don't think I could let it go, and expanding my quiver. I have already had the 510 dominator out this weekend. Definitely was a drop, but doable. I did miss the paddling ease of the Addvance. Next weekend when I head out, both boards are coming with me:)

[STC67]

That's exactly what I am doing. I am keeping the Addvance, I don't think I could let it go, and expanding my quiver. I have already had the 510 dominator out this weekend. Definitely was a drop, but doable. I did miss the paddling ease of the Addvance. Next weekend when I head out, both boards are coming with me:)

Go for it !!!!!