I just noticed the Flexfire doesn't appear to be on the website either as a current board or available on special order. It's a little too refined for my tastes but I'm curious - has it gone to FireWire heaven? What was the rationale?

I just thought I'd start a new thread for this year.

So, it's not far off the first showing for many pros at the Breaka Pro, and around a month off the start of the Quikky Pro at Snapper (or thereabouts). Who is going to shine in 2013? Who is going to fade?

I'm a huge Parko fan. I'd love to see him repeat in 2013. If it's not him though my call is for it to be Jordy Smith's year. The guy has the surfing to win it no doubt - he just needs to concentrate more. He was the form surfer at the Coldwater classic (along with Joel) last year but surfed one bad heat and he's out. I think he's fired up to make 2013 his year.

If not Joel or Jordy, who? Obviously Medina is going to win a tour or two. Will it be 2013? I think a lot depends on his results in two waves that don't suit his surfing as well as some others - Bells and Snapper. If he can get Quarters or better in these two events he'll be in the running. If not he'll be giving someone else a big head start.

Wilson? I can't see it, even though he's a big believer .I reckon Owen Wright could do it. He's definitely got the surfing. He needs a good start but I think his surfing better suits Bells and Snapper than Medina's.

JJF? The great white hope? he'll definitely he "in it". I have to confess from time to time I don't like his surfing. His arms hanging limp by his side forehand cutty, for instance, I just don't like. But he was in the running this year and he's a freak, so could go all the way.

Mick? He can definitely do it if he gets a good start. It will be interesting to see what he's done with his air game in the off season. Same with Joel too.

Slater? I'm not even sure if he'll compete. He virtually announced his retirement mid season but then didn't announce it as expected at Pipe, presumably because his script had him retiring with his 12th world title under his belt. His surfing is still up there in barrelling waves but on the face (Sunset, Bells, Steamer Lane) his surfing seems to be struggling. I did see a clip of him surfing Rincon and copying Parko's top turn. Interesting. he can't be written off but I think he won't win 2013.

Taj? I can't see it. If he performed consistently with a smart heat head he could, but I just don't think he can do it.

I personally can't wait to see Sebastian Zietz surf the tour. from what I've seen I love his style, but I've only seen him surf Hawaii.

Anyone else? Wilko to hit the top 10? Dane to rejoin the WQS and requalify?

Hi all. I'm 90kg, now 47, surf 3-5 days a week 6 months of the year and 2-3 days a week for the balance (except when skiing 3-4 weeks a year). Intermediate.

I love my 6'8" Alternator but it's just a touch too much volume for me. It does still work at that volume for me though after ski season when I lose surf fitness and add a touch of weight. As fitness improves though a tad less volume would be ideal. So I had been thinking of adding a 6'6" Alt to the quiver.

Then along came the Mini Driver. In addition to loving the Alternator I also love round tails. As I get older I also like a touch more width in my boards. So the 6'4" Mini Driver looked to be a pretty good board for me. The only caution I have is the reported 2.75" thickness, but I'm assuming most of that thickness is in the centre of the board, becoming more refined toward the rails. If so I'm not concerned about volume at centre.

So which way to go? Any comments, hints, views etc encouraged. Thanks.

I haven't checked to validate but I hear the big KS has parted ways with FCS. At this stage of his career (if true) it seems to be a strange decision. I also thought he had shares in FCS. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how this, his wave pool project etc pan out.

Great to see! It'll be interesting to see what model/models end up in Firewire tech. I've never had my eyes particularly on an LSD shape but Luke Short is a highly respected shaper and great to see more great shapers in this tech.

I'm assuming they are just older boards but it's worth checking. I'm seeing a fair number of FST Alternators on EBay in Oz with all the current stock dimensions except the thickness is 1/8th thinner. So I'm seeing a 6'8" x 20.25" x 2 5/8" rather than 2 3/4" thick, and 6'6" x 19.75" x 2.5" instead if 2 5/8". Is this a case if the current stock boards being 1/8" thicker, or are the dimensions unchanged and simply the way they're reported is changed?

As below I'm a 90kg intermediate long term surfer. I've had a 6'8" Alt which I got as I was coming back into the water after a long layoff. While it's fine I feel I can do with a touch less volume. I recently bought a 6'4" Futura which paddles fine. While it hasn't got float for the absolutely most gutless waves, it has enough for most conditions. Copunterbalancing that, as I'm getting older I feel like I can benefit from a touch more width than is probably "standard" on my boards.

The board would be used typically in head high plus beach break, reef break and point conditions. While there is no doubt a lot of overlap with the Alt and the Futura, so far I'm finding the Alt just a touch more responsive.

So I was wondering what views there were around me doing a CBD customisation on a 6'6" by making only one change, namely bringing the width out to somewhere between 20" and 20.25". The latter width is exactly the same as the 6'8" which I like, and indeed provided that's not considered too extreme that's probably what I'd do. It'd probably replace the 6'8" but I may keep the 6'8" for a while just out of caution.

Thoughts?

I guess you guys have decided not to manufacture any non-FireWire shapers other than Mayhem, but I'd love to see some other top line shapers in this tech. Any chance?

There's an older model Alt for sale 6'6" x 19.25" x 2.5". Chris or anyone else, can you say how many litres that board is in volume?

Picked up my new baby today. Now bear in mind I hadn't actually seen one of these in the flesh before ordering. I went off the web description, reviews, the dims and gut feeling. I haven't surfed it as yet. Today was a nice solid 3-4 foot (head high to a bit above) east swell, which is Alternator territory all the way. I picked up the board on the way down for a surf and only put a leggy and tail pad on it this afternoon.

Preliminary impressions? It feels wider than I thought it would. That's not a bad thing - just an observation. The nose area is wider than I expected - indeed the tail is too. But that's offset by it being thinner/more refined than I expected. I can see how this board will pick up speed quickly and hold it, drive off the front foot, yet still allow strong back foot surfing.

First surf will be tomorrow. On honour of my favourite surfer the first fins to get a go are Parko KR fins (thruster). In honour of my cousin I got a Mick Lowe tail pad on EBay, and whacked that on. Can't wait for tomorrow!

What are people's experiences with this set up? I'm a 90kg intermediate with a thruster preference but wanting to give quads a go. I use and like PC7s in a thruster set up. They'd be for use in a Dom.

The pondering continues. I'm now evaluating a 6'4" HF vs a 6'4" Futura. The board would sit between 6'4" Dom and 6'8" Alt in intended use. My weight fluctuates between 89 and 92kg. I typically surf Sydney beach breaks or rocky reefs/point breaks when it gets bigger. I suspect the Futura or HF would typically be used on beach breaks, but may get a run at a place like Bronte reef on a 3 foot day from time to time.

Any real difference or is it a struck match between them?

Has anyone got any feedback on these? And maybe the K2.1 as well? How would they suit a heavier (90kg) guy looking to try a slightly looser fin than a PC7 or PC GAM?

He, I'm looking at a secind hand Hellfire, but it has some base dings (see pictures). Do these need repairing? Any concerns?

Bought some PC GAM's (the Large version of the Al Merrick template) and used them on a...ahem, cough... non-Firewire board yesterday afternoon as the swell pulsed from longboarding size in the morning to 2-3 foot (waist to head high) in the afternoon. This particular board is probably somewhere between the Dom and El Fuego in terms of rocker, but a tad more nose kick than the Dom (but still quite flat), and a nice fat square tail thruster set up at the beefy end.

Ok, one surf only so not a huge point of comparison, but I got great drive out of these fins. They appeared to be just a tad looser off the top than my PC7's. It might be my imagination but in cutbacks where the wave power was dying where on the PC7's you would carve or stop, the GAM's seemed to allow a flick around (release) to complete the turn. I don't necessarily see that as a huge advantage as I like to drive turns, but I did like that these fins appeared to be a bit looser off the top.

All in all I reckon these would be a great all round fin for pretty much any conditions for a larger (80kg+) surfer.

One of our local surf shops is now advertising custom shapes in future flex for (amongst others) Channel Islands boards. The tech looks to have some fundamental similarities to what you are doing, except the parabolic rails are carbon, not balsa.

Without looking to generate a slag fest, how do you guys think this tech differs from FW in terms of performance and durability? Do you see a reason why more pros aren't moving to EPS/epoxy like this when Taj and Michael, amongst others, have demonstrated its validity at the highest level?

Also, I see that FF is offering its tech to a number of shapers. I'm not sure how that works and how it is customisable. I know you guys are doing stuff with Lost, but have you got any more shapers looking to jump on board? No disrespect to Nev and Dan and others and indeed your boards rip, but still it'd be great to see some of the other great shapers on FW. I've raised this before but I was frankly shocked when I saw the large number of shapers who have afiliated themselves with FF.

I was thinking maybe you guys could indicate which stores have a good range of demo boards in stock, or maybe running a few specific demo days in popular spots.

I know there are a number of stores that have done demos in the past but when I've made enquiries they've basically said it was too much of a hassle to continue to do that.

it isn't necessarily all about trying different shapes (although there's definitely that), as also trying different lengths to be sure you've got the right size before plunking down the hard earned.

This sub forum was looking a little lonely! I thought I should add something.

Ok, so I'm surfing PC7's in my 6'4" Dom and 6'8" Alternator. I've swapped out the Standard fibreglass 7 fins I'd had in them before. The PC7 seems to offer more drive than the fibreglass ones, although its also fair to say the fibreglass ones offered a delayed "twang" from time to time. The PC's by contrast offer drive all the way through a turn. Not much release though but I'm not really into sliding with my surfing.

My next fin experiment will be controller style quads on the Dom, and then GAM's which will probably go on a yet to be purchased 6'6" Quadrafive.

The PC7 seems in my limited experience to be a fairly stiff fin suitable for a mid size to bigger surfer looking for drive, and enjoying rail to rail surfing.

I was just wondering whether you think flex becomes progressively less important as wave size increases. Not to say the durability of FW isn't important but my guess is that at a certain wave size flex becomes less important and indeed weight would be something you'd look to increase again. Waddaya reckon?

This was originally posted in the old forums. Chris asked me to copy and re-post and obligingly I'm now doing just that!

I've posted a few comments here and there about my experiences with a new Dom from the perspective of a heavier (90kg) slightly older (46) surfer. Now having reached a point where I'm getting a lot more comfortable with the board I thought I'd put them in the one place, for the benefit of others in a similar position.

Firstly is the issue that seems to concern most people which is size/volume. Now bear in mind I first learnt to surf in the late 70's and early eighties and I never really liked the move to narrower, thinner, chip boards. So I prefer more volume to some others on this site, but if you do some searching you'll also see a lot of strong surfers of a similar vintage to me like pretty similar volume at much the same weight. I went 6'4" and as a small wave board (which is its intended use) that's fine. I could have used a 6'2" but that would have limited its useability in smaller surf. I don't think I could go the 6'6" - that'd just be too big. So I reckon 6'2" to 6'4" is good for someone of my vintage with my preferences at my weight.

I've surfed the board in all around 10 times now, pretty much exclusively in small beach break conditions in the Sydney, Australia area. My only prior experience of Firewire is an Alternator (6'8") which I pretty much loved from the first surf, and fitted my surfing style well. Sure, I could possibly have used 2 inches less (I was just returning to surfing after 2 years out of the water with illness) but really it was close to right, right from the start. There was no adaptation at all. Not so with the Dom. Don't get me wrong, I could surf it. It just took me longer to adapt.

So as I say I've surfed it around 10 times now in small Sydney surf. Up to head high but mostly in the knee to chest range. At the start I found the board entered waves well, and I was getting some drive, but less than I was used to on my other small wave board. I put that down to the really soft waves I was surfing it in and it being the first surf. However, the more I surfed it the more I found it difficult to generate drive for myself when the wave didn't provide it. I made some comments on this site and some suggestions were made to look at my fins. I'd been using some M7's in basic fibreglass construction. I've basically used the 7's and 8's as my fins for quite a while now and really had no concerns. However, I took on board the comments and bought some PC7's. To my surprise the fins did aide in adding drive to the board.

I've also now had occasion to surf the board in really quite small waves, but running into a rip, offering nice bowly waves. This also changed the way I approached the board. Suddenly the wave had enough guts to allow me to drive the board, weighting my turns, driving off the fins and rail and relying on the rebound. My head space was transformed. This was a good board.

With the new fins and my head space again more positive toward the board I now find I'm just surfing a tad differently on the Dom in all conditions. I'm more aggressive, in the sense I'm now more active from turn to turn. That greater activity leads to more drive and speed. Much as I hate hops I've also found that the odd well placed hop over a dead section will generate its own drive, and link you up with the next power pocket. I theorise that the added flex of a firewire just enables those ugly hops to generate more drive than on a normal board.

I'm now unequivocally a happy Dom camper. Sure, maybe I'd like a square tail from time to time to generate more drive, but by and large this is the best small wave board I have owned in many a year. In my mind's eye I maybe rate my first McCoy Zap from maybe 1981 better, but that is rated as against its peers, not as an absolute comparison. Now that I'm surfing it more I can see why people might want to go with less volume if they are to use this board as their all round board, but that isn't my intended use. I have a shortboard for good days and much as I like the Dom I'm happy to use the Alt when it gets around head high. The Dom for me is a small to average wave champion.