Hollower waves you'll be much better with the Hellfire. The El Fuego does not have as much rocker. But waves in Spain and Portugal can get really heavy!
Now the difference between a retro fish and the Hellfire is gonna be quite noticeable. I don't know how hollow you are planning on going here but I believe that the Spitfire might suit you a bit better considering you like boards with a bit more nose. The El Fuego is a good choice but will not handle hollow that good

Thanks a lot iggy.
The Spitfire seems to be very interestings as well.
Lets say i would go for a firewire two-baord-quiver.
the first one has to be the Quadfish in 6.0 i guess - just for every summerwave up to shoulderhigh (also got an surftech high performance longboard for this stuff).

For everything from headhigh and clean i need a second one.
After some research i had a look at the hellfire, the spitfire and the alternator (the dominator has too much fisch-charakteristics i guess).

in this case i am still very confused about the size.
Volume calculator says everything between 31 and 40 lt.
that would mean: spitfire 6.0, hellfire 6.4 or alternator 6.4 / 6.6.

Spitfire: more hybrid-style.
Hellfire/alternator: more shortboard style.

Isn't the hellfire 6.4 too much volume to duckdive in bigger waves?
otherwise the 6.2 seems to be very short (6.3 high, long legs)
Same with the alternator... i couldn't decide between 6.4 and 6.6..

thanks a lot so far!
Greets from Germany

Nic

Yeah Nic,
some of those bigger models pack quite a bit of volume. Keep in mind, for someone who doesn't get to surf all that often, you might want to keep the volume up a bit in order to ensure ease of use. On the other hand, if you are out in big surf frequently, then you might want a board that duck dives easily.

How big of a wave do you think you will be out in most often? If between waist and head high, then the spitfire 600 and the Hellfire 602 or 604 sound like they might be perfect!

the El Fuego is a great board, but its very flat, making it a great wave catcher, but a bit more difficult to use in steep surf.

If I were you, I would limit my choices down to a 600 Spitfire, 604 Hellfire and a 603 El Fuego. These should suit your ability and preferences....
Hope this helps.

I'm on the same boat with Chris!!
I would also maybe consider the sweet potato as a strong alternative for small waves instead of the fish...really fun board!!

If you're only surfing on holidays I'd personally suggest adding 2 inches to Chris' recommendations. I'd also be steering you more to the Spitfire than Hellfire. So I end up suggesting a 6'2" Spitfire or 6'4" Hellfire.

yeah I think Buzzy's point is valid, frequency of your surfing days would play a role as well...

Yeah, should remember that.

Thank @ all.
I think i am going either for a Spitfire 6.2 and an Alternator 6.6 for more performance
or 6.0 quadfish and 6.4 Hellfire for more Retro/hybridfeeling.

cheers
Nic