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You shouldn't be afraid of the potatonator. I surf the same weak east coast waves here in Florida, and the potatonator is the best board I've ever had for these conditions. Can surf nearly everyday on the potatonator. It's an incredible groveler, but very high performance. Have 7 boards right now and surf the potatonator about 80% of the time.
Hey ECr1ppa, I'm 2" shorter than you but 5lbs heavier, 43 average surfer and not particularly fit.
I've had a 5'8" FST Dominator for a while now and have found it to be a great board for the weak surf that we get here. Also, it gets fairly cold in the winter (water currently 6C/42F) so we wear a lot of rubber, even in summer I'm usually in a 3/2mm.
As you are surfing a 6'4" x 19 3/8" x 2 3/8 shortboard I'd say that a 6'0" Spitfire would be far too much board for you. Indeed, you may even find the 5'10" a little corky.
Part of the attraction of boards like the Dominator and Spitfire is the short length that they can be surfed, this makes them so much more manoeuvrable in small gutless waves. They are designed to be ridden shorter and the relaxed rocker and extra width compensates for the drop in length.
I know it's a bit of a headspin to drop down to such a small board but I've met so many people who've ended up regretting not going short enough with their fish, Biscuit, Sweet Potato, Dominator etc. I started riding smaller boards about 9 years ago, everything I read online suggested a 5'8" or 5'6" fish would be right for me, but I was surfing a 6'5" thruster. The thought of going so short was totally alien to me. But I decided to take a gamble and went for a 5'8" fish and was amazed how much better it paddled than the much longer boards I had been riding. Needless to say I haven't looked back!
Go for the 5'10" but don't be surprised if you end up swapping it for a 5'8".
First, I want to thank all of you for your input. I'm a bit shocked by the amount of response I've had on a question I posted just yesterday. It really shows how good of boards these must be and made me even more convinced I want to have one.
Yesterday morning I was set on the 6'0", but I'm strongly reconsidering. It would really be nice to demo a board, but it doesn't appear that is an option where I am (even though the FW dealer list says the shop has demos). The custom program looks nice but maybe not worth it for me, so I'm now leaning Spitfire 5'10 FST with FCS plugs. Guess the next step will be figuring out the fins.
I really liked the K3s in my Spitfire!
Yeah I like k3's too.
I also like the JP Kinetic Racing fins.
PC5's would be a good neutral template to start with as well.
currently running SP4 quad with FCS knubster ........goes well ( Spitty 5'8 ) ... knubster gives it a bit more hold in the bigger stuff ... such a fun fast board !! would recommend.
Just adding my 2 cents here. I ride a 5'8 Dom/Spit at 175 lbs. I struggle with it being too big sometimes. My son has the 5'6 Dom which I use occasionally. It's just a tad too small when in comes to the flat mushy sections. I know it seems odd but don't go too big or you'll miss the entire purpose of the shape.
I ride the 5'8 spit in white rapid fire. Previosuly had the 5'10 dominator in rapid fire but sold it due to it having too much volume. I'm 5'11 and 80kg (175lbs).
I love the 5'8 and the new white rapid fire
I am now the proud owner of a 5'10" Spitfire, FST, FCS! Thanks for guiding me in the right direction. Just need it to warm up a bit and get waves headed this way. Stoked!
Yeeeeeeeeew