Potatonator in overhead surf and H3 Review.

Just returned from a surf trip to Puerto Rico and wanted to share my review on the board paired with H3 Nexus fins.

- 5'10" Potatonator FST
- I weigh 187 lbs
- H3 Nexus Thruster setup (Large, with rear fin all the way forward)
- Waves from waist to overhead and a half
- Average skills

First, let me say that I previously owned a 5'10" Spitfire that I felt was a bit on the small side for me. I tried to run the H3 fins on it, but it did not work. The trailer fin would slow the board down too much so I either rode it a a quad or with a smaller trailer fin. I eventually found a gently used Potatonator and decided to give it a try. So far the board has worked very well and was an improvement over the Spitfire. With that said, I initially test rode a 6'0 Spit that worked very well but followed the forum trend of going smaller (bad mistake).

Starting with the waist high surf, the fins worked like I was hoping the fins would work for the price paid. I could feel them flex and hydrodynamically engage the wave during turns, with the right amount of release at the proper times. I was also able to generate tons of speed.

Now, the bigger waves, I could definitely feel like I was at the upper end of the boards capabilities. The board worked but it was generating a lot of speed and I could feel some turbulence as I was dropping in from the high speed. With that said, the H3 Fins held nicely and allowed some relatively tight turns for the amount of speed (you could definitely feel the g's during the turns)

Overall, for those of us that aren't fans and the quad setup, I recommend the H3 as a thruster.


Cheers!

good stuff. Yeah the Potatonator probably isn't the best option as you get into bigger waves, especially in a place with steep faces like Puerto Rico.

That being said, i do think that going with a thruster setup over a quad setup helps with controlling the board and turning a bit more critically at higher speeds!

Cheers