New 7' Hellfire!!

Hopefully I chose the right board!! Been surfing for 38 years and mostly longboarding for the past 23 years. I went to Costa Rica last March and surfed a 7'3" 7S Superfish. The board rode great..it was fun to catch waves like a longboard but still be able to carve again!! Riding a longboard tends to make your legs lazy!!! I came back from Costa Rica stoked to find a good hybrid that would float my 52 year old 180lb bones and still perform like shortboard. After much research, I bought a 7' Hellfire. I figured at 7' it was long enough to make me comfortable (coming off of my 9'1" Bud Gardner and 9' Stewart longboards) but short enough and light enough to throw around. I surfed the board this past weekend during hurricane Leslie swell in Melbourne Beach and Ft Pierce inlet. The board floats like a cork, paddles like a long board and caught waves easily...unfortunately, there were more closeouts than open faces so I couldn't really get a great feel for the board yet. Hoping to catch some windswell this thursday by Juno Pier!!!

You probably could have gone way shorter than 7 0. I am 210 lbs and ride a 6 6 with no issues. I guess the differance for me was that I was never really a longboard surfer.

I don't think its such a bad thing with the bigger size. You will sacrifice a bit of little performance for some paddle power. It depends on what your looking for. Keep us informed Jupiter !!

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Originally Posted by hanaleisurfer

You probably could have gone way shorter than 7 0. I am 210 lbs and ride a 6 6 with no issues. I guess the differance for me was that I was never really a longboard surfer.

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I thought alot about what size to get..the 7'0" has alot of volume but..reflecting on the 7S Superfish that I rode in Costa Rica; the Hellfire is alot narrower, much less nose, and more performance oriented. I was able to pump the 7S Superfish down the line, carve roundhouse cutbacks and smack the lip pretty good considering the board was 7'3" with a wide nose and more of a funshape..The 7' Hellfire should easily outperform the 7S having a much narrower nose and tail with hard rails & double concaves...

I guess it comes down to what your most comfortable with Jupiter. You would be surprised on how short you can go on a board especially for an experienced surfer like you. It just takes some time for the body and muscle memory to kick in. When I bought my Hellfire, I was pushing 218 +, so my 6 6 was borderline small. Since then, I dropped to about 210 and my 6 6 now feels a little too big. Probably could ride a 6 4 HF right now! but surfing is all about catching waves and having fun, so you should enjoy the HF. Its really a great board!!

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Originally Posted by hanaleisurfer

I guess it comes down to what your most comfortable with Jupiter. You would be surprised on how short you can go on a board especially for an experienced surfer like you. It just takes some time for the body and muscle memory to kick in. When I bought my Hellfire, I was pushing 218 +, so my 6 6 was borderline small. Since then, I dropped to about 210 and my 6 6 now feels a little too big. Probably could ride a 6 4 HF right now! but surfing is all about catching waves and having fun, so you should enjoy the HF. Its really a great board!!

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With much of my local surf being in the 2'-5' range I need all the help I can get if I'm not riding a long board!! I rode the 7' Hellfire in waist to chest high windswell today. It took alot of getting used to and I realize now that I could've gone smaller (6'6" to 6'8"). The board was really easy to paddle but very floaty!! I'm sure I'll appreciate the xtra volume on the 2'-3' glassy days!! The board was fast and held firm in the bottom turns!!! I broke down and put a tail pad on it today..and was surprised that my back foot was actually on the pad on many of my turns!! I thought my longboarding habits would've had me in the middle of the Hellfire...but short board instinct was kicking in and had me nailing the tail with my back foot off the bottom and a few cutbacks!

Glad to hear Jupiter! One advice I can give regarding this board, is it really likes when you step way back on the tail. If you have a stomp pad in the back of your pad, try to get your back foot on that when you really want to crank a hard turn!!! BTW what kind of fins are you running on your HF??

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Originally Posted by hanaleisurfer

Glad to hear Jupiter! One advice I can give regarding this board, is it really likes when you step way back on the tail. If you have a stomp pad in the back of your pad, try to get your back foot on that when you really want to crank a hard turn!!! BTW what kind of fins are you running on your HF??

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They gave me some Future medium Quad pack fins...they look like plastic..definitly one of the cheaper Futures.. The outsides are foiled; the insides are flat..I've got it setup as a quad right now..I may try setting it up as a thruster. I'd rather the board feel loose and easier to turn so I'll experiment with the fins a bit next time out!

hope it rips for you Jupiter!!

Word of advice Jupiter, lose the plastic fins and upgrade!! I recently posted regarding the quad setup on my hellfire. I pretty much only rode this board as a thruster, but was very surprised on how well it worked as a quad!! It really depends on the type of wave IMHO. Bowly waves tend to favor three fins and walled up down the line waves tend to favor the quad setup. But no matter what setup, get some good fins. Check out futures web site and they can steer you in the right direction. have fun!!!