How should you size the tomo board

[Slowman]

Well I found this thread over on RealSurf

He's 90kg and riding a 5'2" and sits armpit deep in the water! As I suspected you don't need quite as much volume as a more conventional board (no idea of the volume but at a guess mid 20s)...

So it's been finished for a month now and I have ridden it in everything from shin high slop to overhead barrels. here's a bit of a run down of how it's going for me:

Board: 5'2 x 19 x 2 5/16
Me: 5'9 1/2, 90 kgs (200 lbs)
Fins: thruster

I made this board for a bit of fun after watching curren rip on his and I had a spare second blank floating around. I wasn't exactly sure where in the quiver this board would fit.

First couple of surfs were pretty small waves with shapers KS 5s (KS2.1). first impression was that the board was going to be too small for me, when I sit on the board the water is up to my arm pits. However, although the board doesn't float me very well, it catches waves surprisingly easy. It took a few waves and bogged turns to get my feet in the right position. Once I had that sorted the board felt skatey, but never like it was going to slide out. It takes a bit of work to get it going in tiny waves, like a HPSB, but once the waves are waist high or have a bit of push it lights up and planes really well.
...more

[Wandi]

Well I found this thread over on RealSurf

He's 90kg and riding a 5'2" and sits armpit deep in the water! As I suspected you don't need quite as much volume as a more conventional board (no idea of the volume but at a guess mid 20s)...

What size would you be riding Slowman
I was thinking I'd be on a 5'6 but from all reports that would be too big
5'4 maybe
What I'm thinking is that on a extremely low volumed board you would still have to paddle out on it
I wouldn't like to be struggling to get out the back and be tired in half an hour
In beach breaks where a lot of paddling and duckdiving is required you would still require ease of use. A good balance would be still required

[Slowman]

Wandi, my best guess at this stage is the 5'6". They are supposed to be fairly easy to paddle because of the low rocker but I'll be waiting for more info or a demo before deciding. It's one thing to paddle easily into a late drop and another to chase a shifting peak around. If a break is consistent and mechanical you can position yourself OK and stay there but with shifting peaks (and rips) different story. So if they are easy to paddle to the point that a little less volume is no impediment like I'm thinking, the 5'6" should be OK. And maybe a little more than needed so unlike Pirate_Agenda quoted above it will also grovel a bit better. It looks more like a magic carpet too!

[nn66]

Hope they bring one out at say 5'11" x 20" x 2 7/8 for the over 100kg crew, looks like the 5'10" will not float me at 103kgs which is a bummer as I love different boards always keeps you interested. Look forward to a reply from the Firewire staff if there is going to be anything over 5'10".

[mads sand]

There is

[prjwebb]

I've emailed Dan a couple of times regarding sizing for these and he said that you can go a touch lower volume due to the stability of the rectangular template if you want the highest performance. If you want a little cruisier ride keep the volume up.

[Slowman]

What's a touch? As much as 10%? Or more like 5%? I'm torn between 5'6" and 5'8" and I'm thinking the only way I'm going get to ride one soon is to pre-order. I doubt there will be any demos here for a while.

[prjwebb]

Well he said I could push for the 504 or go 506 to keep things cruisy. That's about 7% lower for me I guess. I'm not sure what to do either. I might just play it safe with the 506 but it would feel pretty incredible on such a small board I reckon.

[nn66]

Thanks mad sands both in 6'0" now the question what thickness I am thinking 2' 7/8 based on my weight and where this board will fit in my quiver. Do i get rid of the 6'6" Hellfire or the 6'4" Spitfire.
Does anybody know when the Vanguard is available in Australia?

[Slowman]

Some more from the same fellow on his self shaped Tomo board...

Dims on my 5'2 are 5'2 x 19 x 2 5/16 carrying about 29 litres. I am 5'9 and 90 kegs, so that's a pretty small board for me. For comparison if I were to be riding a regular HPSB it would probably look something like 6'1 x 19 x 2 1/2 around 30-31 litres.

with how straight the outline is and how much surface area the design has, I think going longer is just defeating the purpose of the design. I don't think it's so much about going a little under volume, more just having a similar volume come out of smaller dimensions. eg the 5'2 is only 5/16 thick, but the foam goes all the way out to the rails and is foiled pretty thickly to the tail to give me a similar volume to a hpsb. gotta remember you still have to paddle the thing.

As for 95% of east coast waves, maybe a bit less the downfalls i am finding are:
- tiny gutless waves - you can surf it but it;s hard work like a HPSB, better off on a full on groveller imo
- sucky reefs - a bit more paddle power and rail to get in earlier is more comfortable. It's fun once you're on the waves though
- choppy conditions - it is a little more sensitive to chop than more regular boards.

I've got a 5'3 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 2 3/8 carrying a bit more volume and a little less concave that i've finished now and only surfed once, with more of a rounded tail. Only had one surf so far and it was in 4-6ft backhand sucky point break waves, so a bit hard to judge, but it felt good so far.

From those volumes it seems the Vanguard's foil may be little more refined than his. Here's a picture of his board too, very similar...
pirateAgendaVanguard.jpg