610 or 702 due to unique circumstances

[owchimata]

Greetings,

Im looking to purchase my first board after many years of renting in various locations. Im 5'9", 175, 40yrs old and I'd say an advanced novice in terms of hours spent in the water. Over the years I've ridden boards from 806 longboards and the way down to 508 fishes and am most comfortable in the 702 to 706 range. I don't surf that much - 1 or 2 trips a year for 1-2 weeks at a time. I don't ride shortboards and don't think I ever will as I have injuries that make it very difficult to build paddle strength. In particular, my left arm, shoulder and chest have about 70% strength compared to my right side though the strength is slowly building back up(has taken years). Duck diving is not easy at all, as most boards will twist underneath me so a board that allows me to duck dive isn't so important.

I read every post about the Addvance in the old forum regarding sizing(and fins) but due to my unique situation, couldn't cobble them all together to make a choice.

What I want in a board is:

1. Ease of paddling
2. Volume for catching waves
3. [relative]Stability
4. Room to grow on

A good friend of mine suggested a 510 Dominator (he rides an Alternator and loves it) but I figure the Addvance has what I want and the shape will help my consistency and growth. So is a 610 Addvance roughly equivalent in volume to a 702-706 generic funboard or should I stay in the 7+ range with a 702? Eventually, Im looking at daily surfing in a year (major lifestyle change coming) but my goals aren't to be flashy or very dynamic regardless.

thanks!

[buzzy]

I'm not sure precisely on how the volumes would compare, but I agree with you that an Addvance would be a much better pick at this stage, in that 6'6" to 6'10" range most likely. Given the boards you are coming off I reckon 6'10" would be great. You may find in 6-12 months that you want a higher performing board but Firewires retain their value well.

I wouldn't head down the Dom route yet.

[iggy]

Yeah Addvance is what the doctor would recommend !!. The Addvance 6'10"has 56.9lts according to the charts.
As far as compare the boards volume wise is kind of difficult since not many companies give this vital piece of info.
Is for sure that the bigger you go the easier will be to paddle and catch waves but also you might be limiting what you can do on the board.
If the ultimate purpose for you is just to cruise around, I think that you could go as big as you want but I believe the 6'10" is a good compromise considering your case.

The Addvance will give you that so needed wave count keeping it performing and, as like buzzy said, in a few months you'll want to pass to something more in the range of the Spitfire/Activator or even the baked potato

[prjwebb]

Yeah I think the 6'10 is going to be PLENTY of board for you. You'll have a lot of fun on that one.

[owchimata]

Great - thanks for all your responses. Now to find one here (NYC area).

Cheers!

[iggy]

This might help:
http://www.firewiresurfboards.com/dealers_dev_region.php?country_id=5&region_id=6

[owchimata]

Thanks, Iggy,

Just finished placing my order at surfride.com for the 610. Tom from their online department was very helpful and cool. I went with a darker laminate, a set of simon futures(5 fin to run as thruster or quad) and a Dakine traction pad. Everything should be delivered by mid-February. totally stoked for my March trip!

cheers!

[iggy]

Jeez!!! you got the whole package!!!. Stoked for you buddy. Let us know how it goes and throw some pics when you have a chance

[prjwebb]

You're stoked!

[owchimata]

Thanks! Long overdue. I got used to rentals because I'd swap out depending on conditions (waves and my own) but realized that the time to dial in different boards is better spent surfing on a familiar one. Plus, a major lifestyle change is in the works where I'll be able to surf everyday.

[iggy]

Thanks! Long overdue. I got used to rentals because I'd swap out depending on conditions (waves and my own) but realized that the time to dial in different boards is better spent surfing on a familiar one. Plus, a major lifestyle change is in the works where I'll be able to surf everyday.
Bingo!!!

[Chris]

great stuff everyone!!!

Good feedback!

[owchimata]

Received my Addvance from surfride.com today. Beautiful packed - several layers of bubble wrap, both small and large scale bubbles. Foam on the widest part of the rails and then covered with corrugated cardboard. The nose and tail had extra layers of bubble wrap and then folded cardboard taped over the wrap. Accessories were shipped separately and arrived yesterday.

Board is in perfect shape - can't wait for my trip now!

[iggy]

All right!!! now give it some quality time!!! and throw some pics

[Chris]

congrats on the new board owchimata!!! Hope you enjoy it!

Keep us posted.

Cheers for the advice all

[owchimata]

I took my 610 Addvance o the Dominican Republic to surf Encuentro for about 2 weeks in March.

Conditions when I was there were not the best. Most days, heavy cross shore winds started at 6-8am instead of the usual 1-2pm. The water choppy at best. Out of the 10 days I surfed, 3 were pretty good and 1 very good.

The board is perfect for me at this stage. Paddling is fantastic - once I got my timing, I could get into most waves with a minimum amount of strokes. I estimate I caught 90% of the waves I chose from the little stuff inside to some (maybe) 7ft. It’s stable and forgiving especially on pop-ups where I use modified technique(right hand on rail, left hand planted closer to the center). I rode it as a quad the entire time - I decided to keep one configuration to get comfortable.

Once I spent some time on it - about 6 hours - I found myself playing with my position - from back foot all the way on the tail to moving as far forward as possible to see what I could get away with (a lot) and throwing a lot more turns than I have in the past.

It’s just what I was looking for in a board. It's easy, forgiving and feels like it has a lot to offer.

Thanks for the advice here, everyone!

524

[STC67]

Stocked for you Owchimata. i love my ADDvance, in all conditions. I reckon it is the most versatile and fun board in the FW range for me. Now you can start playing around with fins. In the bigger stuff I like a big thruster set up. I want to try MR,s in the front with a trailer to see how that goes in some smaller waves.

Thanks for the update.

[owchimata]

I agree, it's a great board for me. Im older and physically limited and there's a ceiling to what I can surf realistically, safely and enjoyably. Maybe in the future I'll pick something else up but I'm not worrying about that now.

In terms of fins, I picked up a Pancho Sullivan set cheap and I'd like to get a set of Solus as well, though I am partial to quads.

[Chris]

thanks for all the help everyone!