Hey John,

Not sure how much help ill be but I'll have a crack.

A 6'10 Addvance is my go to board for everything from punchy beachies to small soft waves. I have tried a no. of different FW models over the past 2years, all have been good for the right type of wave and surfing style. Ability (or lack of for me) also needs to be considered.

It is important to work out what shape you want for your style and waves, ie front foot v's back foot, flat v's heavy rocker etc. Ill let others input here but It is important that you understand the dynamics involved and you make an educated decision. You will get lots of great advice on this forum, but nobody is exactly like YOU.

I also found the wider tail of the Pnator not suited to my style in anything other than exactly the right waves. I did find the Hellfire and El Fuego and Alternator much more enjoyable. For me, the key is volume, rocker and nose width. I'm 95kgs so a bit heavier than you but I feel my ideal volume for me as a ageing weekend warrior is around 48 to 50 litres. That's about a 10% drop in volume from the 6'10 Addvance

So my next board from the FireWire range will be around 48 to 50 litres with a fairly wider nose and suited to a front foot surfer, which I think those of us with limited ability or learnt on old school single fins are. What it will be, I'm not sure yet. It could even be a 6'6 Addvance !

Hope this helps. Cheers.

Thank you STC67 for taking the time to articulate your experience. My style of surfing is really about staying in the active zone with moderate bottom turns, cutbacks, and the occasional floater. After trying multiple FW boards/volumes, I'm surprised at how accurate the volume calculator is at predicting what works for me. Even more helpful was this forum (I've read a lot of your posts STC67!) which led me to buy the addvance and it has performed almost exactly as expected.

My ideal board is around 40L with significant volume under the front foot and a wider nose. With a decrease in volume I'm thinking a less aggressive rocker (but not too fish-like flat) will help my paddle power. The addvance shape has worked well for me. If it existed on CBD I would customize a 6'6" to be just a touch less thick and less wide.

If anyone with similar aspirations has found an "answer" let me know. Thanks for the group wisdom!

Out of curiously stc what size alt did you have?

702 Cuttle, surprisingly fast in a small punchy beach break but I thought it was very stiff. No probs catching waves.

Howzit.. I'm still a nub too the FW, but have been surfing a 6'6 SF since new years day, but i hopped on a 5'6 PN and liked it. 41yrs/ 185lbs and cudnt believe how that floated me, regretting that i just picked up a 6'10 add for threes and diamond head in the summer. shuda bought the PN first. The SF is nice and floaty w a wide nose. That might b worth looking into. after the Pn, i now feel my SF is too big. the mentallity of longboarding for 20+ yrs

stoked foka! The Addvance is a solid board though!! you're going to have some fun.

Cheers

After much thought I have decided on a 6'2" SF/Dom. fokaiHI, I'm the same age/weight as you... do you think this size would have been better for you?

I know I wanted to avoid the wider tail but there's no easy way to go down in size but maintain a fun volume. Thank you all for your communal experience and advice.

yeah. the Add is going to b my go to board for those days when i need the volume for breaks w longboarders and sup. a 6'2 SF or DOM will do u good. both r like MACs, user friendly. also, i think either board can b ridden overhead easily. after u've been on the ADD, i wudnt worry about the tail, cus every board out there has a smaller tail in thickness, so it wud feel more responsive. I'm actually super impressed w the float on all the FW boards. 20 yrs of riding 9' boards can spoil u. just remember, don't sacrifice wave count over volume. choose a board w enuff paddle not to struggle. my two favorite lines in the water r "i didnt come to watch u surf" and "the guy w the paddle always gets waves".