6'6 Adv to replace 7'3 PU 7S?

[micko68]

Gday. How much paddle and wave catching ability do you think I'd lose going from an old PU 7'3 7S to a 6'6 Addvance? Cant afford to lose much.. 44yo, 6'1, 80kg, intermediate on a good day, crap paddler and only surf couple of times a month, mainly in gutless 2-4ft beachies. Just looking for something a bit funner and little easier to duck dive. Cheers.

[fokaiHI]

if ur looking to duck dive, u wont get it w the ADD. super fun board w easy paddle. very loose and maneuverable.

[micko68]

thanks fokai, loose and manoeuvrable sounds good. I'm not expecting it to be much easier to duck dive, not harder might be enough, I can duck dive the 7S ok. Mainly wondering if it'll lose much paddle speed being that much shorter, even though volumes are comparable, 7S is 53, and also PU.

[fokaiHI]

i think my 6'10 is big, but i bought it for summer days when the crowds urk me. the 6'6 can probably keep up w any other board out there. i just like the feel and shape. at 1st i thought the tail was ridiculously thick, but the hard .edge and swallow make it a super easy board to carve and go vertical. paddling, i keep up w the 9'ers

[micko68]

yeah ok thanks again, nothing for it but jump in and see how it goes

[micko68]

...but before I do, one more question. Ive read loads of your posts fokaiHI and those of STC and a few others about the 6'10, and it sounds like I would really enjoy surfing it round here. And everyone seems to have the 6'10 rather than the 6'6. Im also a big fan of foam and realistic about my ability and fitness (ie. not much of either). I've only thinking the 6'6 so I can duck dive it. So just trying to get a sense of exactly how hard they are to duck dive. Im about your height and weight fokaiHI, how do you go with the 6'10? And very keen to hear from anyone with a 6'6? I know it wont be easy to get either one under but is it so hard that you just treat it like a longboard and roll, if so Ill go the 6'6, or is that the same, if so Ill go a different model. I can guess based on the volume compared to the 7S but Ive never had a FW so not sure how extra floaty they are. Thanks in advance, very happy to have discovered this forum.

[suncoastslop]

Hi micko68, had my first seesion on the 6'6 yesterday, paddled awesome really early entry onto waves, and although i thought the duckdive would be a challenge stepping up from 43liters to 48, i was suprised how normal it felt, waves were 4-5 peaky point waves and found it no problem to duckdive. Was using controller quads which went ok, but probably could have done with some more fin at that size, i have amt robbers on order, so will be trying those out shortly. With reports to follow, Btw im currently 98 kgs.

suncoast

[micko68]

thanks suncoast, sounds encouraging. What did you step up from?

[suncoastslop]

thanks suncoast, sounds encouraging. What did you step up from?

Hey mate, up from a 5'8 sp, in firewires. Btw have had a 6'6 super fish in the past, haven't ridden the advance enough to make the comparison yet, only maybe that it feels faster, I'll post some pics soon of my setup

Suncoast

[fokaiHI]

the duck dive isnt bad until it gets couple feet overhead. i've turtled mine when it got big. what is nice is tha when u get held under, the board pulls u up nice. this board is a real workhorse at any size. i have so many 6'6 and under, thats why i went 6'10. i wud imagine the 6'6 performs real nice. the only thing is when the waves r kinda real fat and big, the board may tend to slide. when the waves stand up and go so does the ADD. u wont go wrong w the 6'6. i might even say that its the best FW i own, but i mostly surf the VG.