The main differences in my opinion are going to be the tail rocker and the tail thickness. The Michel has a refined shortboard tail with plenty of rocker that's going to really attack the critical section of a wave. The HellRazor is flatter off the tail with a lot more volume under the back foot. The bevelled rail ala Spitfire is still going to give it that control and response of a thinner tail but it's going to support the back foot a little easier pushing through turns on a fuller wave than the Michel would.
The 511 HZ is your size for sure. I was put off by the 2.25" thickness too but checked one out in the flesh and the rails were comparable to my 2.31" Sub Scorcher. It carries the thickness all the way to the rail and actually feels thicker than it is and also carries that thickness more into the tail. The nose has a good amount of rocker and feels like a modern shortboard nose.
I think the Michel has the edge if you're surfing punchy, bigger, bowly waves most of the time but otherwise the HellRazor is going to kill it.

I think the HellFire will handle Hossegor just fine up until the point you'd want to be on a step up.

right on prj, right on....... will, if jumping off your spit, or even a HF, you will find the razor much easier to adjust to...its the bigger brother.....i jump from the 510 HF to a MB daily, and there is a lot of dialing in between them...(worth it tho.!!)...

Prj thanks dude for the quality input as always! Yeah im leaning more towards the HZ.
Core you surf quite hollow, sucky waves dont you? how does the hellfire handle the barrel? think it will go well in hossegor?. Im thinking same as Prj that it will go good until the need of a stepup, and im not planning on surfing massive barrels over there anyway, id rather take it over my flexfire.

i do ride sucky waves, but i attack em (or try to) rather than pull in..i'm not a natural barrel rider..(actually, i'm crap.!.)..coming from full rockers and low volume which will sink if i try and trim, i have enjoyed the HF in tubes...it needs no driving through..it has its own speed so i can spend my time in there looking around..!..it bites into the face at least as well as a shorty, so you can pull off some real sketchy drops...moving up from here, i'd like to spend some time with a razor actually targeting tubes...i might even start to enjoy them....

these days i surf a peak a lot which stands up thick and throws...like france...as long as my back is working for take offs, the HF feels sooooo free on and through them....by the time its getting challenging on the HF, i could probably go straight past my shorty's and ride a 606 pin...

i'd love to ride my HF at your weight...it must feel so free and easy...you've still got the bite and hold of the step down rail without needing my excess weight..and paddling onto waves must be totally stress free....lucky skinny mongrel..!!

Nice !Haha yeah! To be honest I havnt had the chance to surf it much as there hasnt been much decent swell round by me over the summer so really looking forward to putting it through its paces in Hossegor! Ill let you guys know when I get back how it went for me, Ill try and get pics too if I can manage!
Nice one!

Yeah it's been a bad year at Will!

I can't speak for the MB but I've been riding the HellRazor for a couple of weeks ago. I really like it. I dig the the turns it allows me to do- very smooth feel and easy to throw tail and release fins. Only downside... I do notice that as a session goes on and I get a little tired I sometimes get off balance. I read someone describe the board as "precise" and that is very true. It likes clean waves and you need to be on point. Boards in the hybrid category might offer more stability and forgiveness.

One thing I like about FW is the ability to really analyze all aspects of the board. Using the "compare boards" feature you see much more than just the outline and main dimensions. I am tall and lanky so some people look at me and say I ride boards that are too big. They are taking my weight into consideration but what they don't understand is that my weight is very spread out- making it easier to get off balance sometimes. So when I compare boards I am looking at volume and stability ratings as well.

Hellfire handled Hossegor fine. Shame I didn't get any pics of me, got a lot of pros though.:( unfortunately hossegor handed me the worst conditions. Onshore, windy and massive for the first 5 days(typical!)Then all the sand banks were fucked for a few days after that apart from the contest site which had the best of it. Did surf 6 times and had it lovely twice, didn't get barrelled though, gutted! The pros pull barrels out of nowhere it's unreal!

Out of the MB & HZ which one do you think will grovel better? I'm not after a board for grovelling I have my spit for that but I want a higher performance short board which I can surf in waist - headhigh & above conditions.

Nevermind guys,Iv gone and ordered a 5'11 Hellrazor now!Yeww!!! Had to sell the flexfire :( as it doesnt get used enough, hopefully the guy who bought it will give it what it deserves.HZ is a board iv been wanting to surf since it came out, it was a really really hard choice between it and the 6'0 thin michel. Originally the cut off tail put me off but its really grown on me. The michel was really tempting as by the sounds of it, people are cranking out some of the best turns/carves they've ever done on it. But the HZ is just calling out to me haha! Cheers for the help!

Will

its a super sick board. can't go wrong with either!!

you'll love it Will...again, wish i was light enough for the 5'11.......i'm tossing between the 6'1 and 6'3...the hellfire has really made me want to keep lengths down...

yeah. I am a little beteen the 511 and the 601 myself. Though I have to say the larger option still works well for me... the board is so ultra precise.

yeah, i'm a little hesitant to go longer AND flatter that my MB/flexy with the 6'3...just jumped on the scales...back down to 88kg...how low can i go..??..!!...6'1 might get a start..!!

Surely you could ride the 6'1 core its the same volume as the 5'10 HF isnt it? I wouldnt have minded the extra length of a 6'1 but 19 1/2 wide is more than I wanted, 19 1/4 is still a little bit more than I wanted but the thickness 2.25 should make up for that. I recon a 6'0 x 19 x 2.3 would be really nice, but I havnt even surfed it yet so Ill probably be loving the 5'11 when it comes and I cannot wait for it!!!