Michel board

[dawnbuster]

Hi there,has anyone in Australia been able to get there hands on the Michel bourez model yet and if so have you taken it through it's paces and how did it ride ,paddle etc.I would appreciate any feedback.Thanks.

[core personal training]

i'll have it in a day or so...

[core personal training]

602 thicker version

[prjwebb]

You keep saying that Dave....

[core personal training]

yeah i know..!!..should of been at sprayers at start of week, so should of already been in the water...!!..everyone is onto it now..!!...woulda been good today...solid 4ft+ groundswell..sapphire blue and pure glass...wedge with jacked left to corner and long smash-able rights followed by a run around...hellfire did some AMAZING stuff though..!!..while lighter and in boardies i'm really able to play with it...today on rights i was dropping in with both feet way forward, from behind the peak and doing loooong bottom turns and projections...no pumps..ah-la 70's singles...then stepping back and hacking fast and tight or roundy's...even with my back pretty kinked out it was so much fun...!!...kooked a lot of take offs with the dodgy back though...eg...kneeboarded a drop and bottom turn under pressure, stood up as i went up the face, did the splits as i hit the lip and went back over the falls..!!..in front of the crew...cant say i dont entertain the troops..!!

[Sarge]

Hi Core. I am really wondering why you have gone with the 6'2" and not the 6'0" given your (and my) inclination to ride boards at the lowest possible volume. What up with that? I am not having that much fun on the 6'0 hellfire and my gut says "too big" so really not that sure about going to the 6'2" MB. Still very happy with my old 6'2" alt at 28.7 litres. ( I hated the new 6'2" update last year and sold it after 3 surfs. Perhaps I should have dropped to the 6'0. Anyway I am thinking along same lines for new MB in as much as the slight shorter length at a slightly smaller volume with end up with the same paddling flotation cheers

[core personal training]

yeah, i'm replacing a 6'2 and didnt want to wait for the thinner version...and dont want the shorter 6'0 rail line....it could be too much foam to bite at speed...soon see...main problem is i've lost 5kg with a bug so i'm too light for it now...gotta eat maccas every meal to beef up quickly..!!....i really should of waited for the thinner version...but i'm a frothing grommet...for reference, for full performance in good waves...(when my body's up to it.!), at 90ish kg's i like around 28vol..or a little under when clean on reefs etc..

[Wandi]

Does anyone know when the thinner version of the 6'0 will be released
Or is it at the same time as the 6'0 thicker version
I'm starting to think 29.9 is too much volume for a HP board considering I'm 80 kg

[core personal training]

as i understood it, it was a few months down the track..which is why i didn't wait...30vol is not too much in itself...depends where the foam is and how you ride...

[Fazza]

I spoke to someone at Firewire Oz on Friday and was told that the thinner models will be available at the end of April as long as you get your order in now.

[core personal training]

i better get one of each....

[Sarge]

Thanks for the input Core,
I have been reading this forum for about a year and your opinions on board selection seem to be pretty consistent with mine. I should get to pick up a demo 6'2" MB tomorrow morning and hopefully have some 3 footers to give it a whirl in. Hope the wind stays light and offshore.
If I like it I hope there is a fresh one sitting on the racks, but I imagine that is probably pushing luck even more than the light offshore dream.
I'm also hoping there might be a 5'10 Hellfire in store as well. There wasn't one around when I bought the 6'0" HF and I am really thinking that the 6'0" HF must go. It just feels a bit boaty for me. Not a big boat, more like a little runabout, but a boat none the less, and I would rather surf not steer. Things are looking expensive for me in the near future.
Thanks again and I guess I shall see tomorrow.

[core personal training]

you will LOVE the 510 hf...but get off the front foot..!!..as my weight creeps back up i'm having to mix back to the back foot again..it was fun doing front foot drives though...
my MB has been held up getting sprayed so you will be on one before me..ya mongrel..!!..(unless it turns up on the doorstep tomorrow)...will be waiting to see how you go with the thickness as i'll still be under 90kg at first...(5 buck pizza nite tomorrow..that'll help..!!)

[prjwebb]

Hey Dave, bit off topic here but would I be stupid to try surfing today? Back is still a little stiff and sore but I've got most of my movement back and the waves are still offshore and the sun is still out. Don't want to keep missing out until it goes onshore again...

[core personal training]

i would say yes your stoopid, but i went out today when i shouldn't of...!!..jagged my back a bit as it was solid messy stuff and takeoffs were lips and foam and knocked me around on the 510....if you have smooth well behaved conditions with easy lip and foam free takeoffs and you can move freely through all the motions you will do while out there, then you might chance it...but carefully...and dont stay out untill your backs had enough...come in earlier...get a couple, be happy with that and bugger off home...!!..again, i would say DON'T go, but i'd be stoopid enough to do it with a new board... :P...

make sure you can twist, squat, bend all directions at "surfing speed" before you try it...no guarantees though...usual caveats apply...user discretion advised...blah blah..

[core personal training]

oh, don't do strength or stretching work just before going out...you will fatigue the area before you even use it...have all that done in advance and just do some range of motion warm up stuff before going out to make sure you still have no problems..

[prjwebb]

cheers for the tips. i'm going to go mid afternoon so i'll do some light stretching this morning and does up on some ibeprofen haha. if i don't feel comfortable twisting, squatting and doing a few push ups before i go then i'll give it a miss.
hopefully it'll be ok, we're probably going to a spot at the bottom of a cliff so it'll be an air ambulance job if my back goes...

[core personal training]

i've had to crawl along dragging my board before...but i dont know about vertically up a cliff..!!..

for casual readers, phill is a mate and i have given him some casual "off the cuff" advice...if you have a back problem, or any other, DO NOT use the information in this thread to self diagnose or treat same....see your doctor

[prjwebb]

ha i think you're covered! i'll take the dog out of a good walk in a bit and if i'm sore when i get back i'll take that as a hint. gagging to get in the water though, and i'm starting to run out of paint.

537

[core personal training]

you paint when you have cabin fever...i rewax every board i can get hold of...anybody's..!!

[prjwebb]

ha yeah i'm a sucker for cleaning old wax off boards too. i hate dirty wax on a nice bright board.

[norberg]

Hey guys.

Picture of the MB6'2" and how its volume is distributed would be much appreciated when you guys receive your boards:-)

[core personal training]

first thing i will do noberg......oh pleeeeeease arrive today...pleeeeeease...

[norberg]

Cheers, I still need to wait another month before they hit Europe and I am going nuts here. Ha ha. Looking forward to checking out the pics:-)

[core personal training]

bummer...board accidently left at HO..only getting to spray dude today..assume eta friday earliest...bet i find Nev's grubby prints all over it from fondling it all week..!!!

[Goanna]

bummer...board accidently left at HO..only getting to spray dude today..assume eta friday earliest...bet i find Nev's grubby prints all over it from fondling it all week..!!!

ooooh that's gotta sting! I ordered my Futura from HO in the morning and it was in Sydney by 3.30pm that day......I was one happy camper! (not rubbing it in!)

[core personal training]

ha..mine usually get here within 24 hours of getting sprayed...no dramas...no one in the surf industry is as professional as Nev's crew..this couldn't be helped...

could do with a lay day now anyway...forced myself to surf today with dodgy back...crawled to my feet every wave and off balance almost every wave...one 10pt reo, the rest was a gumby session...while nursing my back i managed on three separate waves to 1) tweak left shoulder...2) minor tears of right pec minor attatchments to ribs...and 3) i have ice on my knee as i type (crossing fingers this is not ligaments)......should of stayed in bed...!!!

[Sarge]

Day didn't start as planned. I get to shop and the 6'2" turns out to be an Alternator. Luckily there is a 6'0" MB instead. Unfortunately the 3 foot offshore waves are not offshore. They are 2 foot with the odd solid 4 footer, and very onshore. Still, this is the 2nd best wave in Torquay and only 2 guys out. (There were 5 when I turned up (I have surfed it with 30) so I guess its getting worse) The erratic size doesn't help with positioning in a relatively unfamiliar spot - I'm usually here for 2 months a year but this is my first day in a year.
So - Looking at the board, it is both more refined and more solid than the numbers suggest. The rails are more boxy than other boards in the firewire range. And nice and hard too right up to just in front of the front fins. There is a lot of thickness held into the back half of the board, and not as much as I had thought there may have been up front. First couple of wave was thinking I had extended myself with regard to the paddling and performance of the board. Certainly hasn't helped me riding my flat wide fish style boards then jumping straight to this.
Nervously take off (late) on a good, just overhead, wave and things change very quickly. This Board is quick. Drops quickly into place and jumps back to the lip very nicely.
Next wave is a beautiful (choppy) wall, but again makes the late sucky drop easily. I hit the top and board slides half way through the turn, then bites and immediately accelerates again. Very nice. Have a little more confidence on the next one and the board is really biting and wrapping tight right through turns, maintaining speed the whole time.
This board likes to be pushed. It likes to push back. I like it when it pushes back. The push is right between my feet where all that thickness is hiding. Its nice and stable and controllable under my quads.
I know right now that those quads could not push the 6'2" as much as would be required.
I go back to shop and order the 6'0". It will be under my feet in 1 week.
Got to love it when stuff is so clear.
Paddling issues to be solved by the dropping of weight, following finding out last week that the pain I've had in my hips for the past 2 years is Osteo Arthritis and one of the best things to do is lose weight and I reckon I've got a minimum 8 kilos to lose just by drinking less beer. And 2 more by not eating all of the risotto I cook in one sitting.
However I don't imagine the weight will have dropped much, if at all, by the time the board arrives.

Also got to pick up a 5'10" HF. My 6'0" HF is now for sale.

[prjwebb]

Sounds like it responds very similarly to my CBD Taj. Fucking great board!

[daven]

prj,

what kind of fins are those?

[prjwebb]

Soar Powerbase. Can't recommend them enough... possibly even too much haha.

[core personal training]

on ya sarge....hope i can push the 6'2...!!...i'll take the kilos you shed..!!..i'm still down at 87kg...

[Slowman]

...

Also got to pick up a 5'10" HF. My 6'0" HF is now for sale.
Sarge, where are you located?

[Sarge]

Sarge, where are you located?

I live in Bondi, but am in Melbourne with work for 9 weeks until almost the end of May.

[Slowman]

I live in Bondi, but am in Melbourne with work for 9 weeks until almost the end of May.
OK, not far from me, I'm sort of interested and not in any rush, hit me up with a message when you get back and what you want for it and we'll take it from there. Not much use negotiating anything right now.

[Danga]

Slowman do you think your 6'2 HF is to big? Is that why you are interested in a 6'? How much do you weigh at the moment if you don't mind me asking?

[Slowman]

Slowman do you think your 6'2 HF is to big? Is that why you are interested in a 6'? How much do you weigh at the moment if you don't mind me asking?
Danga, no the 6'2 feels good but I'm curious and I'm also hunting for another HF to leave at my in-laws. I'm 90kg at the moment.

[Sarge]

on ya sarge....hope i can push the 6'2...!!...i'll take the kilos you shed..!!..i'm still down at 87kg...

I am sure it will not be a problem for you. In truth, my fitness and strength have diminished gradually over the last two years (I have not done a single exercise in two years apart from surf, with the exception of walking to the surf or car) so I am sure that you will be able to both deal with the extra strength required and enjoy the extra paddle power.
At the same time I am quite happy to post shed kilos to whomever might want them. I would however prefer a discrete pick-up, so that I might not be able to track them down once they have gone.
I am looking forward to surfing a 6'0 high performance board, as I am over riding HP boards that are 6 inches bigger than me. I trust more in my reflexes than my strength.

[core personal training]

I would however prefer a discrete pick-up, so that I might not be able to track them down once they have gone.

yeah the mongrels always come home to roost..!!

[Slowman]

...
At the same time I am quite happy to post shed kilos to whomever might want them. I would however prefer a discrete pick-up, so that I might not be able to track them down once they have gone.
...

yeah the mongrels always come home to roost..!!
It's really a budgeting problem, too much surplus, you need to get into insurmounatble debt and the weight should slip away!

[norberg]

Hey core

Have you gotten your MB 6'2" yet? How's the board working for you?

Any chance of some pics soon? On my way to ordering one from overseas and just want to be 100% confident in my decision:-)

Cheers

[prjwebb]

http://www.firewiresurfboards.com/f/attachment.php?attachmentid=607&d=1334443976

http://www.firewiresurfboards.com/f/attachment.php?attachmentid=604&d=1334443937

http://www.firewiresurfboards.com/f/attachment.php?attachmentid=605&d=1334443948

http://www.firewiresurfboards.com/f/attachment.php?attachmentid=606&d=1334443966

[norberg]

Sweet, it looks like an absolute stunner.

I definitely thought the rails would have way more volume it them. I just decided on the thicker 6'2 as an allrouder.

Thanks heaps, Phil

[Bergie]

Hey prjwebb what's the dims of the Bpourez's pics? Thin or thick?

[prjwebb]

It's Dave(corepersonaltraining)'s 6'2" thicker version.

[core personal training]

noberg, it does have a lot of volume in the rails through to the tail...i'll try and get better pics...the shape in 602 is beautiful..(nev's magic again)...and runs through combo's well...a lot of board here though..it is for big guys...i'm hoping to get on the thinner version to compare...will be able to advise better if i do....the shape will make full taj style surfing available to the average guy..will be much more forgiving....i'll hopefully report back with comparison...

[norberg]

Hey core.
Yeah, it was a bit har to see how much volume was put into the rails, but still looks really good. My options are either the one you have or the 6'4". Pictures of the overall volumes would be much appreciated:-)

Its a tough one picking boards without actually see them live so really good getting your input here.

For reference, I am 90KG and 192 so not a small dude:-) I am used to boards with 31-32L so the extra volume in the 6'2 will be good as I do not get to surf that much as I used to. My padling strength is not what it used to be. Ha ha

[Chris]

yeah norberg it sounds like you will really like that 602!! I agree with the advice core and others have given!!

yeewwww

[prjwebb]

Chris, do you have the 6'0" thinner MB now? Have you ridden it much? Any pics of the rails and outline on that one, really intrigued to compare it to my CBD!
Cheers

[Chris]

i do have a few here. I'll see if I can find a 600 thick to compare, i might have missed my window.

[prjwebb]

thanks!

[Bergie]

Hey Chris how is ur MB? You're riding the thin right? How is it compare to your alternator. have you tried the hellfire? How are they compare?

[Ben]

Anyone has tried out the MB in 604 or 606 in the thicker versions? I was thinking of getting a Alt 606 and thought the MB could be a interesting alternative. I want a performance board for the better days, the flexfire/taj models are toothpicks for me, I like something around 35-36 liters volume....a board with less volume then my current Alt608.

[Chris]

think high performance and progressive rocker. It will like the pocket and truly shine in better surf...

[Bergie]

Hi Sarge which 6'0 you got thin or thick?

[Sarge]

Hi Sarge which 6'0 you got thin or thick?

Mine is the 6'0" thick. Still loving it.

[core personal training]

Pictures of the overall volumes would be much appreciated:-)

Its a tough one picking boards without actually see them live so really good getting your input here.


just realized i didn't get better foil shots for you before the thicker board went...really sorry mate...any other 602thick owners out there?? post some thickness pics for norberg..........

[core personal training]

to anyone waiting for a full 602 thick and thin report....layed up with flu....perfect test conditions too...agggggghhhhhhhh...stay tuned.............

[norberg]

Hey core

Don't worry about it:-)

It's already on its way and should be under my feet in a couple of days. Crossing my fingers that I don't find to bulky:-)
Still have my eyes on the thinner 6'4 in case the 6'2 doesn't work out for me.

Cheers and hope the flu is taking a hike soon...

[Fazza]

Thought I better give a bit of a review of my 602 Thinner MB surfboard for those who are interested.

I bought the 602 MB to replace my Taj Pro. I actually really struggled with this board for the first 4 surfs and was getting really frustrated with it. I found that I had no real control over the board, gumbying and kooking take offs, could not get the board going and found no speed out of turns......... just horrible surfs. I was contemplating getting rid of it.

When I first surfed my Taj and my 601 Hellrazor I just clicked with them straight away. A friend of mine also purchased a 604 MB thicker version and he also experience the same issues as me. I tried all of the smaller medium fins that I had WCT, YU, CM2's with any joy.

I put the board away for a few weeks and went back to my 601 Hellrazor which have really been loving. Last Friday I decided to give the MB one more shot and put in a set of AM2 Techflex fins and hit some nice clean 2-4ft surf....I kooked the first couple of waves and then caught I really nice right hander and leaned as hard as I could on my bottom turn and the board just came off the bottom so fast and hard up the face and I was able to hit the top of the wave as hard as I could and the board snapped around in the pocket back under my feet ready for a another bottom turn.....got another 2 of those on that wave. I can't repeat what I said to myself but that was the best turns I have done on a board. Managed to repeat that on my back hand as well and also stuff up a few more waves.....hmmmm me thinks this board is going to rock.

Went for another session yesterday and surf the MB for nearly 5 hrs and had some really nice waves on this board. I am starting to see how much fun this board is going to be and I think a few more sessions I will have it almost wired.

My thoughts on this board:
Likes a bit of juice in the wave but seems to grovel ok
Really fast down the line and in turns found no loss of speed
You can really lean into every turn and the board just responds - never felt tentative in a turn
Very responsive - small movements can generate speed
Loves being in the pocket
Easy to paddle into waves and even at my weight I don't notice that it is a 6'2

Bigger fins in this board seemed to make all the difference for me.

Can't wait to take this board out again and it is definitely a keeper now :)

[prjwebb]

Glad it clicked Fazza