Jon-bro, that spins me out, 100kgs on a 5'8", you must be fit and flexible.
Great post cuttle, i have rellies in Ballina so i can relate to the waves you are on, i had good surf at flat rock and wategoes, 2 years ago and a good day on the lefts at south wall when it went north one day. I always have trouble getting my head around a wide nose, i see them when im surrounded by mal riders. My 6'10" Simon Anderson Mollusc has a fair bit of area in the nose and i dont think i have ever felt restricted by it. The local surf shop just rang and said they had a 5'8" P'nator just come in so i will have a look, although i wouldnt go smaller than a 6'4".

Just went surfing in awful waves after getting amped watching Slater do carving 360's in 6ft Margarets, i surfed like a decrepid old man. Im thinking that maybe i surf much better in my mind than real life. I think i have narrowed it down to a 6'6" pnator or 6'6" addvance, when will the pnator show up in the board comparison?

I was just doing the dishes and standing there thinking of surfboards, and i just had to come back and ask some more questions. I thought i should also clear up what sort of board im after as i think i might have given the wrong impression with my last description. I am looking for a board that i have to put a bit of effort into riding, not just a cruise machine, i have 2 of them already. The 6'4" dominator was more effort than i wanted and although i had a good surf on it, in smallish good shape waves i was expecting more natural speed. I am also not sure i gave the right impression of my surfing, it sounds like im a decrepid old man on his last legs. I still think i can do fins out the back reos on the right wave so i want a board that will give me the speed to do that in less than perfect surf. I like hearing cuttlefish's description of surfing over the back of the wave and doing some surprising snaps on his pnator. I have surfed in the masters division in the aussie titles after finishing 3rd in the state, 16 years ago, so occasionally i can surprise myself in the surf. I have a mate who is 60 and he just bought a 5'8" neck beard. Talk about a frothing old grommet! I guess what im trying to say is i dont think im ready for an old mans board, no disrespect to those who have chosen a larger weapon, we are all different. I think the addvance nose might be a bit wide for vertical snap type turns, or too wide to come hard off the bottom and up to the lip. I appreciate the wide nose helps glide and paddle speed, and that was exactly what i felt was lacking in the dom. I am a front foot surfer which i think is an important in choosing a board. Width in the front should suit me. So my questions, would a 6'6" addvance surf better as a thruster or quad? Which one out of the addvance and the pnator be more adaptable with different fin combos, as in suit a wider variety of conditions. Would the pnator go better in waist high waves?. Thanks in addvance.....

Thanks guys, its good to know im not going crazy thinking the dom was a bit slow, and i could tell it would be better as a quad so i ordered a set for $34 from the US, they arrived just before i put the dom in the shop, but in keen to try the quad setup in another board.
My 6'10 tuflite mollusc goes great and i surfed it in perfect waves at the Banyak islands recently, but it felt a bit long at times, especially on my backhand.
I got a call today from the local surf shop guy and he said they cant get El fuego's until July, thats good cos i had changed my mind to the P'nater after reading this last night.
Its so good to hear other guys who have ridden different boards, to compare with. Especially older groms who still rip. My 6'3" webber minifish is a fast, fun board to ride but at 6'3" tall i have trouble drawing a longer line on decent waves. It also has limitations hitting the lip because of the extreme thickness, but that just might be me. Its like trying to control a cork.
Stc, good to hear the shoulder op was a success, luckily mine are still ok, and i can still paddle alright, im leaning towards the 6'4" potato, although its a similar size to my minifish i reckon it will surf a lot differently, and will handle head to h/half size waves, then i'll go the 6'10" mollusc. I would also like to ride it as a quad which i reckon adds 6 inches to a board, control wise.
Most of the waves i ride around here are similar to Avalon point, fullish walls, but i do surf the beach breaks in winter when they are not a 5km long closeout. The reefbreaks in the SW are also a favourite in summer.
I think the best thing i can do next is pick up the potato and addvance in a shop and check them out up close, better still would be to try a demo but i havent seen any shops that do it in WA.
Keep posting reports of your sessions, always good to read.


. The 6'3" webber minifish is a fast, fun board to ride, despite the fact it looks crazy and way too fat. Because i am 6'3" tall it is hard to draw a longer line on a decent wave. I hadnt considered the addvance because it just looked too big, but i was mistaken for Vance Burrow surfing down at Boranup one day, so maybe i will have a closer look.

Hi guys, found this thread after almost deciding a 6'5" el fuego would be the right board for me, i had a 6'4" dom but didnt like it, found it hard to paddle compared to my other high volume boards, namely a webber minifish, my groveller.
Cuttlefish has my attention with his grommet like stoke and now i think i want a Potatonater.
I am 52, 95kg+, 6'3" and i used to be advanced but have regressed to beginner, although i would like to think i am still in the intermediate class.
I am looking for a board which paddles well and is fast off the mark, the waves i want it for are mostly fat wally waves that are not steep. Sometimes a section pops up that i could do a top turn but its mostly cutbacks. I would not want a board that fits in the barrel cos that is very rare around Mandurah.
I can relate to cuttlefish and his sore hip as i have a metal right hip and bad knees. But i have surfed my brains out for 38 years and hope to do so for as long as i can.
There are so many good boards out there and forums like these are invaluable to find the right ones, any suggestions?

Holy Toledo! i just had to get that out after the Shmoo got it out as well, what a bummer about the interference, theres no way Cardoso would have got anywhere near the face of that wave! The kid rips and he doesnt claim. That backhand air reverse was amazing, and Cardoso was overscored for 2 floaters and a lip wack. Didnt see Toledo in the Margaret River heat list, would like to see him again. The waves look like being insane at MR for the week.

Thanks for the input guys, i am still going through all the forums and still not sure what would go best for me. Most of the time i ride slow full faced waves and have built my quiver around low rockered boards. It depends a lot on how you surf as well, i tend to take off and try and go as fast as possible down the line to get a face to turn on, and that is probably because i am not quick enough or flexible enough to go hard off the bottom and up into the lip. If there is a lip further along the wave i will try and hit it but the days of multiple lip smacks from takeoff are well behind me. I tend to enjoy a drawn out bottom turn and what i call a parko type carve under the steep part of the wave, probably not risky but when you get on a green wall with speed there's nothing worse than smacking the lip and getting caught behind it.
I dropped off the dom in the surf shop yesterday and the owner, who is a firewire disciple, was confused with my lack of stoke for it. I think i need a bit more volume if im going to ride a board of the doms rocker. In saying that i know most people think the dom has a flat rocker to start with, but for me it feels loose and easy to turn without much drive, quad fins would probably give it more but i would prefer to ride a thruster in decent waves, maybe?
My question then, assuming 45lts of volume is about right for me, would a 6'5" elf, 6'6" spit or 6'6" dom be the go? I want a board for chest to a bit overhead, offshore good waves like Lefthanders down Margaret River way. I rarely surf punchy bowly waves. I have also just bought a set of quad fins to try out.