Jacknife rocker v futura and wave catchability

[dandan]

I was wanting to know if there was any difference between rocker, particularly entry rocker, between the futura and jacknife models? For the waves I surf the futura has the perfect entry rocker being flat but just enough lift for when things get steeper. I am looking at replacing my 6'2 futura and 6'4 hellfire with a 6'4 jacknife but only if it doesnt have more nose rocker. I really enjoy the futura and how the swallow tail allows it to release so well in the top of the wave around the lip and pocket and how it handles bigger waves better than the 6'2 dom. I have put on a bit of weight latey and find the futura getting too difficult to paddle into waves, especially compared to the dom. I was going to get a 6'4 futura but after all the positve feedback on this site decided on the 6'4 hellfire. The hellfire cuts back much better than the dom and is more responsive but it is significantly harder to catch waves on and not as fast. The hellfire is a little better at catching waves than the 6'2 futura, but not as much as I would like and is nowhere near as good off the top, in the pocket, or as solid in overhead waves due in my opinion to too much volume in the tail. However the hellfire is very responsive especially off the bottom but foot placement is critical whereas the futura is more forgiving in this regard.

When comparing the nose rockers of the three mentioned boards I was surprised that the futura is very similar to the dom with only an extra 1/8th of an inch whereas the hellfire has comparatively more at 1/2 an inch. Compared to the futura the hellfire is slightly narrower in the nose but this is countered by being fuller in the rails. I am hoping that the 6'4 jacknife will have the same rocker as the futura??? and that this will make it paddle significantly better and catch waves easier than the 6'4 hellfire even though it has slightly less volume? For me wave count and catchability is very important.

I also hope that the extra 3 litres of volume between the 6'2 futura and 6'4 jacknife wont inhibit the performance or reponsiveness too much. The 6'2 futura certainly is a great board. I just wish I could find a board that catches waves as easily as the dom and then performs as well as futura!!!


Any thoughts, comments, suggestions or answers would be appreciated thank you.

[aurfalien]

Wow, very pleasing to hear Futura chatter on this board as of late. I too love my Futura.

[Fazza]

Dandan,

I have had a 5'8 dominator for quite sometime and as a comparison the Chubby Chedda has a flat entry rocker but a real sweet tail kick.

I found the CC to have better performance than the Dom and turns on a dime and the CC catches waves easily. The CC has a lower entry rocker than the JK but has more tail kick and probably surfs tighter than the JK.

I do love the feel of the JK and it definitely paddles really easily into waves, can handle a drop but doesn't handle the lower end of the wave spectrum as well as the Chubby Chedda.

If you want a swallow tail then the JK is the go if you want a rounded square tail that can handle dominator range of waves plus some over head sets then CC is for you.

[custom]

Wow, very pleasing to hear Futura chatter on this board as of late. I too love my Futura.

Futura...........all time classic!!!!!

[Magnet]

Hey fazza how do the rail foils compare between the jk and cc, and does the jk have a high top end (wave size)
thanks in advance.

[Magnet]

Hey fazza how do the rail foils compare between the jk and cc, and does the jk have a high top end (wave size)
thanks in advance.

[Slowman]

I was wanting to know if there was any difference between rocker, particularly entry rocker, between the futura and jacknife models? For the waves I surf the futura has the perfect entry rocker being flat but just enough lift for when things get steeper. I am looking at replacing my 6'2 futura and 6'4 hellfire with a 6'4 jacknife but only if it doesnt have more nose rocker. I really enjoy the futura and how the swallow tail allows it to release so well in the top of the wave around the lip and pocket and how it handles bigger waves better than the 6'2 dom. I have put on a bit of weight latey and find the futura getting too difficult to paddle into waves, especially compared to the dom. I was going to get a 6'4 futura but after all the positve feedback on this site decided on the 6'4 hellfire. The hellfire cuts back much better than the dom and is more responsive but it is significantly harder to catch waves on and not as fast. The hellfire is a little better at catching waves than the 6'2 futura, but not as much as I would like and is nowhere near as good off the top, in the pocket, or as solid in overhead waves due in my opinion to too much volume in the tail. However the hellfire is very responsive especially off the bottom but foot placement is critical whereas the futura is more forgiving in this regard.

If the hellfire catches waves more easily than the futura then you'll be happy to know the jacknife paddles into waves better than the hellfire. I'd say it is nearly as easy as the dom/spit. On the score of paddling the HF better I found if you move your chest back a couple of inches it paddles much better. That way your weight is on the flatter part of the rocker.

When comparing the nose rockers of the three mentioned boards I was surprised that the futura is very similar to the dom with only an extra 1/8th of an inch whereas the hellfire has comparatively more at 1/2 an inch. Compared to the futura the hellfire is slightly narrower in the nose but this is countered by being fuller in the rails. I am hoping that the 6'4 jacknife will have the same rocker as the futura??? and that this will make it paddle significantly better and catch waves easier than the 6'4 hellfire even though it has slightly less volume? For me wave count and catchability is very important.
....

I think the rocker of the JK is comparable with the HF, yet it paddles better. I think there are 2 reasons for this the primary one I think is the concave flattens the rocker a bit in the centre and the nose width which allows a bigger concave which probably channels the water with less resistance. Not 100% sure, but I can tell you it paddles well. I bought this board to see if it would replace the spit and it does for all but for the smallest or weakest and full waves. It handles steep take offs far better than the spit/dom so it is a very versatile board. I've surfed mine in almost double overhead waves and it goes well. I'd say it has a similar top end to the HF but the low end is probably a little better. My HF will go OK in waist high waves whereas the JK will go ok in knee to thigh high if there is a little juice in them otherwise the spit comes out.

[guigoon]

Hi, Slowman, can you say to me, without inquisitiveness, your weight and your size? For my part, I hesitate between JK in 5'10 or 6'. I fear that JK in 6.0 is too spacious for me and of blow that I lose in workability and performance, for a rather broad board. I want the best of 2 worlds : comfort and performance in knee to good overhead (60 cm to 2m)
I like and I hesitate with Futura also, which seems to me a very good classic and versatile board for this program. Of what do you think of it? Thank you.

[Slowman]

Guigoon I am 6'0 and 90kg. I don't have a Futura but have something that looks very similar - a Webber Afterburner (in fact I'm surfing it in my avatar); similar but more stretched out (6'6 x 19.25 x 2.38 cf Futura 6'2 x 20 x 2.5). If the Futura goes like the Afterburner then it would be a great board and I'm sure it does, it would be a great board for waist to overhead waves. Since I already had something so similar and was looking for a lower bottom end I bought the JK.