New 5'8 Dominator (sold the Stealth)

[iggy]

Yeah I thought my last stub nose board was quick out of the gates especially with the addition of the Controllers, but the Dom definitely accelerates more quickly out of the gate - really cool and inspiring feeling haha.

iggy - quick question. Looks like you have a 5'8 Potatonator and 5'8 Spitfire - do you find that the Potatonator seems to cover a lot of the Spitfire's ground?

Hey Scotty sorry for the delay. Indeed they overlap quite a bit but since the waves we get most of the time are towards the weak side, I personally like better the Pnator. I find way the volume is distributed helps tons while paddling but does not get in the way once on the wave. I still have my spit (for the moment) but the pnator and the sweet get most of the time (for my local conditions)

[ScottyDanger]

Ok nice, that makes sense. Thanks for weighing in!

[csarqui]

Careful Scotty. The Dom will ruin you for all other boards from here on out.

[ScottyDanger]

I agree csarqui haha, but I'm still drooling over the potatonator. Surfed the Dom 4 times last week with some new fin configurations.

SA3 fronts and Controller rears: Really fun setup - frictionless is the word that I would use to describe it. However, the strange thing is that it felt unusually slow out of the gates. When I used the Rusty Quad setup with nubster, I felt like I was flying into waves (even smaller waist high ones). I also noticed wayyy more drive. With each pump, I would just feel this crazy thrust. The SA3 / Controller setup took a while to get going, but once it was up to speed, I got that "mind surfing" sensation. You know, where you think of doing something and then a millisecond later you are actually doing it. To be fair, I should have thrown a nubster in there to make the comparison totally fair.

Stretch SA4: Couldn't bond with them. Not bad, but for some reason I felt a bit unstable on them (mainly at take off through my first turn). Then, I would settle in. Had some nice carves once I was settled (they held through cutbacks better for me than the SA3 / Controller setup - less tail drift). Still, the SA4 set almost made the board a bit twitchy, and I don't feel the need to try them again after really bonding with the Rusty 5 fin.

SA3 Thruster: Total wildcard. I knew that they would be way too big for me, but wanted to switch it up. Once up to speed, these felt soo good for carving. Again, I think it was more of the "thruster feeling" in general that was nice. While a bit slower than the various quad setups, it's not like I really missed any crucial sections or got left behind. I just felt sooo locked in carving. Even though it was nice to have that extra pivot point for snaps, I felt that the fins were just to big and were taking longer than I wanted to turn up the face (they did, however, feel very solid, which was welcome after a year of riding quads).

So, I'm buying the Rusty 5 fin set and will probably use it a decent amount as a thruster (maybe I will put a smaller trailer in). I'm also thinking of scooping up the Solus as well, since that last session really got me thinking about thrusters again. I know - I need help haha

[csarqui]

I shelved my Dominator for a while after I purchased a Sweet Potato. It was a good fresh challenge and I think I wrapped my head around it. After 2 months I took the Dominator out again in 2ft surf. It caught waves easier, generated enough speed, and I was able to go straight up into the lip with just a thought. Sold the Sweet Potato.

I love my Rusty 5 fin set. It's still my favorite.

Let me know how that Potatonator goes if you get one.

[ScottyDanger]

Good info csarqui - hmmm can you comment on how the Rusty 5 fin setup goes as a thruster? I'm still eyeing the black stix V2F4 setup as well. I thought that the V2 foil might help a bit on the waves that I'll be using the Dom on (waist to head high), but I'm really not sure.

[Chris]

the V2 foil, in my experience, is best used in surf that isn't suuuper fast. The foil increases the speed of the water over the fin, thus increasing response. For me, flat foils when its cooking, V2s when it gets a little slower. Not a black and white rule though.

Cheers

[ScottyDanger]

Good info Chris, thanks. What are your favorite tri setups on the Dominator? I think that I've seen you post about the EA Black Stix before. I found an awesome fin hookup, so I'm gonna grab the Solus, Rusty 5 fin, and either the EA Tech Flex or CM2.

Thinking Solus or Rusty quad for small stuff, some black stix tri for middle ground, and then maybe a RTM or tech flex for the juicy 5-8ft stuff

[Chris]

yeah those sound pretty good. let use know how they go. The Dom I love my WCTs for sure...

[ScottyDanger]

Ok nice I was eyeing the WCT's as well. EA Black Stix seem a bit big for me, and the AM1 Black Stix look really fun, but I think I'd really like a fin that pivots more like the WCT (2-5 foot range)