Dominator compared to Nugget

[terry]

Hi. Just wondering if anyone can tell me how a Dom compares to a Nugget, especially the Surftech variety.

Thanks

Terry.

[Piha Local]

My limited experience is that Nuggets roll sluggishly in and out of turns and tend to maintain a constant speed whereas Doms have a nice crisp turn and pump up to speed very quickly as well as accelerating instantaneously to match variations in the waves speed and steepness. In short, a much more responsive and rewarding board.

[buzzy]

Geez, a bit harsh on the nuggets there Piha! ;)

As a stocky guy I was pushed in the direction of the nuggets in the mid to late 90's as there wasn't really any other alternative except longboards, mini-mals and of course the wafer thin banana short boards. I've owned three since, and currently have a single fin McCoy nugget in the quiver (6'6" x 20" x 2.75"). I also have a 6'4" Dom. I did surf McCoys in the late 70's and early 80's as well.

Piha is right that nuggets are sluggish in slow waves. They have a rolled bottom that seems to "stick" to waves when they have no power. But when the wave is hollow the boards come alive. Frankly, I think a McCoy is looser in the pocket than a Dom when the wave has some power, but I do ride the Dom with large fins, and its a marginal difference. The nuggets are infinitely heavier than a Dom, and offer much less drive out of turns. With a Dom you are much more capable of generating drive for yourself when the wave offers little of itself. Having said that, I'd expect an El Fuego, for instance, would be even better at generating its own drive in small waves because of its slightly flatter rocker and more nose width. The nugget will get you into the wave slightly earlier and probably take late drops a tad better because of its greater nose rocker. However, once in the wave the Dom will get you about with much more verve and enthusiasm.

I demoed a Surftech Nugget once quite a few years ago. I didn't think the tech suited the Nuggets. They sat too high in the water and the rolly polly'ness mentioned by Piha was accentuated for me in that tech.

What would I ride between the two? I love my McCoy but it is sitting under the roof and I have't surfed it since October of last year. I keep it more for sentimental reasons that anything. I surf the Dom at least 2-3 days a week on average. It's my "go to" board. I think it offers the main benefits of the Nugget but adds the benefits of lightness, the firewire construction technology and modern bottom contours (albeit fairly subtle). The Dom will fit one or two extra manouvres in per wave, mainly because of the extra drive out of turns, and the lightness of the board.

[terry]

Thank you so much for your informative and in- depth response. I fell I have a much greater understanding of the qualities and differences of these two boards.

[iggy]

Yeah Buzzy good stuff

[tallkook]

Hi Terry, I, like buzzy, have also ridden McCoy Nuggets before getting on the Firewires. I have a 6'6 All Round and a 6'4 Potbelly, both fibreglass boards. I agree with everything buzzy has to say, especially on the surftech nuggets. The weight of a poly Nugget is what makes them in my opinion. They definitely gather a bit of momentum which helps propel you into your next turn, manouver etc. I think you would find the lighter tufflite construction doesn't lend itself to that sort of feel as much. I really love the volume and ease of paddling the nuggets offer, and your wave count definitely goes up. Having said all that, I'm loving riding my Fireiwres now (6'8 Dom and a 6'5 El Fuego). Both these boards are a size larger than recommended from the volume calculator, but I'm not having any trouble riding them. I think the Dominator is a sporty nugget that is more than capable in a bit of size so you can't go too far wrong with one.

I've ridden tufflite boards before and IMO Firewire have progressed beyond that construction. Tufflites tend to skip around and be tough to get the rail in the water in my experience whereas Firewires have the same lightness about them, but surf a little heavier (similar to traditional surfboards) if that makes sense. Anyway, I'm rambling but the Dominator is a great shape and I would highly recommend.

[terry]

Thanks Tallkook.
I have written this in the Addvance section, but basically I am 55 years old,75 kilos and ride mosty HP longboards,logs and a 6'10" Surftech hybrid fish (Soulfish ) that is coming to the end of its life. It has had a good one going to Bali a fair bit. I surf most days and am looking to replace the fish. I am thinking a 6'10" Addvance seems like the go, but a Dom or that new Activator also look good. Thanks again for your well thought out and expressed answer.
Terry

[Chris]

Hey Terry,
are you looking to keep the volume of your board way up? At your weight you could certainly afford to go smaller. Keep in mind, the dominator has a different rocker profile in comparison to what I believe the soul fish is. The result will be a board that feels a little long. I think but the time you reach a 604 or 606, the added length and volume of the Dom will begin to really work against you.

More ideal, would be considering the maybe the 604....

If length and volume are your primary objectives, then perhaps the addvance might be good? you would get tons of float and performance out of both the 606 and 610.

Cheers!

[terry]

Thanks Chris
Yes I think the Addvance is the board for me. It is a great design. Perfect I think for the ageing gent. I could go smaller with a Dom,but I think I would be fooling myself.
Thanks again.

[Piha Local]

Hi Terry, my comments on the Nugget were based on a couple of waves in small, weak but clean surf. I swapped boards out in the surf with a visiting Aussie surfer one day because I was intrigued with the McCoy design philosophy. It was PU/PE construction and I obviously had it in the wrong conditions. However, most of us , most of the time, only get to surf in various iterations of "wrong conditions"! Its part of what makes epic days so EPIC and keeps us in the hunt. I went [on Nevs advice] from a 6/10 JC surftech @ 39ltrs to a 6/2 Dom @ 38ltrs. I found that the Dom paddled just as well but once I had adjusted to the 8 in reduction in length, the Dom was a vastly superior performer, in fact the most fun board I had ever owned. Bear in mind I am a geriatric surfer [61yrs in June, and weigh 82 Kgs] but still competent [2nd in the NZ Nationals this year, over 60s division] Don't go too big with the Dom, it is a great paddler and quite stable on takeoff and on a wave, but then comes alive when you get your back foot back and crank it up on the rail. I have persuaded 9 surfers onto Dom's so far and they all love them and use them as their everyday drivers.

[terry]

Thanks Piha. Your comments are very welcome and inspirational indeed. It would be a huge leap of faith to go from a 6'10" @ about 45 litres down to a much smaller board, but your post has certainly given me food for thought.
Thank you

[Fritzkat]

terry
I was riding 6-7's and 6-9's PU boards, My 6-4 Dom cleared them out of the quiver, for head high waves. The 6-4 Hellfire took out the 6-10 and the 7-0 for x1.5 overhead.. I dont chase waves any larger any more, shoulders are bad I cannot handle duckdiving / ragdolling anything larger.

[terry]

Thanks Fritzkat. I hear what you are saying. Anything bigger than that is way too hard for this little black duck.

[Piha Local]

Hey Terry, leave the "leaps of faith to me, I'm a Pastor!" But b4 you commit to any thing else, do yourself a favour and demo a Dom, even if it's 6/4 or 6/6. Dan Mann has produced an exceptional board that maximizes gains and minimizes the losses in a remarkable way for a user friendly, versatile design.

[JaM71]

Hi terry, just to put it out there have a look at the potatonator (plenty of info on the forum). They have the genes of a dom and pack plenty of volume. Off hand I think that you would get a higher perfoming package than the addvance......have a chat to cuttlefish he has ridden both and is a big unit. They also pack more volume than a dom.

[terry]

Haha Piha. Sorry about stepping on yout turf with the leap of faith. Thanks again for your advice. I will definitely try some Doms........If you can't trust the advice of a Pastor, then who can you trust.

[terry]

Thanks JaM71. That is a board I had not even considered. I can see I will have to do some serious trialling.What size would you consider for a geriatric like me?

[tallkook]

Hey Terry, if you haven't already looked, Natural Necessity have demos of the 600 and 608 Dominator and also the 605 El Fuego. Unfortunately , no Addvance models. Although the 600 maybe too small and the 608 too big, it would be worth having a chat to them and maybe trying a couple to suss out volumes before you pull the trigger. Good luck mate.

[terry]

Hi tallkook. Great advice indeed. I shall pay a visit and see what Kent and the boys have to say. I am sure testing is the only way I can sort out this choice without blowing my hard eaned. There are so many pros and cons for each on paper. I am prepared after some divine intervention to try a smaller board. It's all fun. Thanks again.

[JaM71]

Hi terry, sizing is very personal as you can demo a couple of options take advantage. Work out the volume ythat you are comfortable with. I am 74kg (41 years young) and am happy with 34 to 36 litres volume but I am not a fan of the dominator....this is my personal taste. I love my sweet potato tho! I am going to demo a 5.8 potatonator this weekend. My friend cuttlefish has a 6.2 potatonator which he reviewed on this forum pnator small wave assinator thread.....he s a little bit crusty..49 I think and 90 plus kg. sorry ti twist your melon just something for you to consider

[terry]

Hi tallkook. I see you went through this Dom v Addvance thing. What was your conclusion?

[tallkook]

Terry, I've never surfed an Addvance, although I would like to. My take is that the 6'6 Addvance would surf pretty similar to my 6'6 Nugget, maybe even a bit more versatile. I really only think this because of the volume (Nuggets are chubby). Everyone who has owned an Addvance on here seems to love them so if you are looking for a cruiser that can step up a notch when you want it then you can't go too far wrong with one IMO. If I had the bucks, I would definitely like one in my quiver. I went with an oversized 6'8 Dominator cause I could get it cheap and I don't regret it. It's a board that does all my limited talent ask of it. I then got a 6'5 El Fuego (cheap as well) as a second board and it too has been a great board so far. I'm taking them both to the Maldives this year where they will be put through their paces in good waves so we'll see.

I can't really say more than that on the Addvance, but from reading through this post, I think it may be what you're after. Track down Nev's Youtube clip on the Addvance for some more info. Good luck with your decision, with so many good models in the lineup it aint an easy one.

[terry]

Thanks tallkook. Much food for thought here. I think the Addvance will be similar, maybe more meaty than my Surftech Soulfish. Bottom shape is a bit different I think. At the moment I am probably leaning more towards a Dom, but that could change by the hour. I will do some testing and see how things go. Thanks again.

[STC67]

Hi Terry,

Mate. Get an ADDvance. Go and get one today! I have been following your posts and it is THE board for you to get you going in the Firewire range. It is so versatile and catches waves very easy given the performance it delivers back with a good set of fins. In the future, if you think your ability has developed past the ADDvance then you could get a Hellfire or something more performance orientated but you will never want to sell your ADDvance as it is such a fun board to go out and just cruise in any conditions from 1 ft full onshore to 6th offshore and sucky. I'm pretty sure that's how Cuttlefish started on Firewires as well

You will be one stoked little puppy.

[terry]

Ha. Thanks STC67 for your candid advice. I am sure you are correct. This is the board which immediately took my fancy and your passionate advocacy of the boards, as well as posts from others are very convincing. I will try some and get on with it. Again thanks.

[STC67]

Ha. Thanks STC67 for your candid advice. I am sure you are correct. This is the board which immediately took my fancy and your passionate advocacy of the boards, as well as posts from others are very convincing. I will try some and get on with it. Again thanks.

Your welcome :)

[cuttlefish]

Well...I did start riding Firewires with the 6'6" Addvance.
I ended up selling it but I shouldn't have.
I'm a 92 plus kg unit and was after a bit more govellability (new term?) when my local beachbreaks were doing their high tide, break... back off in some deeper water and then eventually hit the shorebreak.
One of the things the 6'6" addvance did well in decent sized waves for me was get on a plane early when paddling for waves.
So I could push my self up off my chest and glide along until I wanted to get to my feet. I love that in a board as it is the pop up that gets tougher as you get older.
I treated the 6'6" as lighter guys would a shortboard.
I'm certain the longer addvances would have the same glide in early entry in smaller waves which I was getting in slightly larger waves on the shorter addvance.
Am I right STC?
Back then the sweet potato didn't exist.
What I should have done is kept the 6'6" and just demoed both the 6'10" and the 7'2" and bought one of them for the section connector duties and to keep the longboarders that take all the waves to the beach in these conditions on their toes (so to speak).
Don't start thinking sweet potato though...an addvance will flog a potato in the paddling and wave catching dept by dint of its length.

[terry]

Once again I thank you cuttlefish. Fantastic answer. I fully agree that the pop up gets harder as we get older. This was the main reason I was thinking abouy the Addvance. I especially like the word 'grovellability'. A fantastic new word that is sure to catch on. Seriously thanks heaps for your help. This forum is so great because of the people on it.

[Chris]

thanks for the good advice STC and Cuttle!!

[terry]

Once again thanks. I am onto organising some tests.

[Jords]

Hi Guys,
Some good chat going on here. I'm looking at a buying dominator at the moment. Tossing up between a 6'4 and a 6'6 (6'6 is 2nd hand and pretty cheap). I currently surf a 6'6 McCoy Tufflite and agree with most criticisms listed above around the performance of the tufflite, still love the board in the right waves though.
I'm 30 years old, 6'3, 88kgs and would say a good intermediate level of surfing. I'm surfing a fair bit more (and better now) than when I bought the McCoy, so think I could come in size a little bit.

I like the price of the second hand 6'6 but feel the 6'4 might be a better size for me, anyone got any thoughts around that? Also any feedback on how the doms hold up in bigger sucky surf compared to the McCoys?

Cheers

[buzzy]

A 6'6" Dom is pretty big. It might even be bigger than the 6'6" McCoy. It's certainly wider. I'd steer you to either the 6'2" or 6'4" Dom, probably the latter based on your background. I also surfed a few nuggest over the years and I'm 2 or 3 kgs heavier than you. I surf the 6'4" Dom and love it. I could easily drop down to the 6'2" but I don't perceive any deficiencies in the 6'4" in the surf I use it in. I suspect I'm using the Dom in surf many people see as the natural element of the SP or Potantonator. Plus bigger surf too of course.

How does the Dom compare to the Nugget in sucky surk? I'd need to surf them back to back to be sure but I reckon the Nugget would be a tad looser in the pocket and take steep drops a tad better. For me I really like the Nugget backhand, but not so much forehand. Not sure why - maybe I'm a more backfooted surfer backhand than forehand? But the nugget's extra looseness is offset by a number of things in the Dom's favour. First and foremost the Nugget struggles outside the pocket, relative to the Dom. The nugget fits in the steep part of a wave wonderfully, but put it on the shoulder and it slows markedly. It's really difficult to drive a Nugget through a full roundhouse cutty - but the Dom will do that with relative ease. I find the Dom much better forehand. Really, the Dom is a close relative of the nugget without it's weight (not so much for you with the Surftech), without its rolly pollyness, and with extra drive.

[Jords]

Cheers buzzy,
I reckon a 6'4 is the go. Completely agree with you on the nugget feeling better backhand than forehand. The nuggets' preference for backfoot surfing took me a lot of getting used to.

[Chris]

Stoked on the support jords,
Thanks for the great feedback Buzzy!

[terry]

This may be a hanging offence in these parts, but has anyone got an opinion on Sunova boards?

[prjwebb]

Never seen one in the flesh but no doubt they are great boards. I doubt there's any negativity between Firewire and Bert.

[terry]

That is good to hear.

[buzzy]

I took my 6'6" McCoy nugget single fin for a spin today in 1 foot surf. It was that, the Dom or a longboard, and the longboard was out because I hate stuffing around with roof racks and straps in the pre-dawn dark.

The Nugget definitely got into waves earlier than the Dom would, but not a world of difference. It wasn't any looser and definitely lacked drive in comparison to the Dom. It's a beautiful looking board though. A little extra push had the board come alive a tad. I'd definitely pick a Dom over a nugget, but I love having the nugget in the quiver.

[terry]

Many of my mates who are very good longboarders have one for when the surf gets a bit too big and sucky for a mal. They love them.

[Nev]

Guys...Great read... One thing I gotta say is that "effective rail" that connects with the wave face/curve is what differentiates the performance characteristics of a Dominator and a Nugget. If you compare the outlines of both, the Nugget is more os a teardrop - tail centric outline than the more even and forward distribution of curve of the Dominator. This means that when riding the Dominator and you are casually weighting and unweighting rail to rail to generate speed the board connects creating lots of forward momentum. When you want to put it on rail to get length and drive the slightly fuller nose connects to the curve of the wave face earlier giving length and subsequently drive off the bottom which results in speed and successfully made manoeuvres. The narrow nose wide tail of the nugget can allow for a more vertical tail pivot approach but not as much forward drive. If you then add concave, (as opposed to roll) and a quad or thruster setup as opposed to a signer fin, the Dominator or Spitfire excel because you get crisp directional manuverability. The even thickness distribution through to the tail and the full volume rail are characteristics most similar to the Nugget.
Nev

[terry]

Wow. Great answer. Thank you so much Nev.