When do we get a big wave board for big guys - rounded pin?

[Magnet]

Scott I can recommend the wide version 7'2" flex fire for bigger waves at same volume as you're 6'8" alternator. Gets in early, super smooth yet still turns well, a real confidence builder in the bigger stuff

[scott]

thanks magnet. you think it'll get in earlier. even at the same float? i know the flexfire is a more advanced board than the alternator. is it going to be less forgiving?

[Chris]

Hey All, good stuff!! keep it coming.

[surferireland]

Oh yea, Ill keep my eye on this.

[Magnet]

Scott it's a beautiful smooth board, I'm an intermediate surfer and gave me the confidence to take on solid restaurants and cloud break yet still really nice to turn, fantastic on dicey drops too. Was easy transition from 6'8 alternator. A keeper. If you Look at the dims it's actually pretty conservative.

[scott]

thanks magnet. i'll check out the 7'2" flexfire for sure. do you think it gets you in earlier than your 6'8" even though it's the same float and surface area? i'm also considering the alternator 6'10" round tail.

does anyone else have feedback for a step up for 8'-10' from the 6'8" alt.?
- the 7'2" flex has equal float, approximately equal surface area but has that pin tail
- the 6'10 alt has more float and surface area with a round tail.

i'm more concerned with getting in earlier than getting barreled so i'm leaning towards the 6'10" alt.

chris, pjr web? any news the step up line?
also, any advise here?

i surf mostly OB in SF. pretty steep waves. hard to get in when they're in the 7'-10' range especially with offshore winds.

i'm 200 lbs, surfing 6 days a week for almost 3 years. 6'8" alt, 6'4" spitfire

[prjwebb]

Between the 7'2 FE and the 6'10" AR I'd think the AR would paddle a little better on smooth water, it'll sit more on the surface and glide well, but in water with a little more texture I can actually imagine the longer but sleeker FE cutting through the water a little easier. Tough call, especially as I don't really have any experience with step ups. Gut instinct would be that the AR would probably be the easier of the two to get in earlier with but on a more committed drop the FE would have the advantage.

If you're in no immediate hurry it could be worth hanging tight and seeing what's coming in the step up line. Chris will be the one to look to for updates on that.

[Ben]

Hi,

Yeah, I'll be interested in a 608 or 700 type alternator but with 35-36 liters of volume and maybe a tad narrower then my current alt in 608 and round or pin tail option..... I surfed two weeks in Peru recently, using the 608 daily, wave size was from 6-12 feet frontside, and especially on the heaver point breaks, I struggled to duck dive when on the in-side, the standard alt in 608 packs a lot of volume that I think could be reduced for the bigger days, but I love the outline and length of this board....

Cheers

[buzzy]

Geez, I feel a little guilty Ben! At 90kg I'm findingthat after duckdiving 5 or 6 waves in a row the 7th or 8th one can start to become problematic, but when I was carrying more kgs I didn't find that at all. As a rough rule of thumb I'd therefore put the changeover point from a 6'8" Alt to a 6'6" Alt in the sense of noticing an impact on duckdiving at around my current weight, give or take a kilo either way. Maybe you dropped some kgs in Peru?

But I'd really love to see a round tail 6'8". I could then turn my 6'8" into a 6'6" performance square tail Alt and a 6'8" round tail step up Alt and I'd be a happy camper.

[Ben]

Hi Buzz, thanks. its not so much the quantity of waves that I have to duck, its more when the surf is big and you surf at a point where its shallow water 4-5 feet and rock reef, the energy from a 9-12 feet wave sometimes when I ducked under just rips the boards out of my hands literally. I'm in pretty good shape right now, training etc before going to Peru, so could have lost a couple of kgs, but I really don't think that's the main reason :-)... talked with some of my friends about it, seems like I do duck-diving ok according to what they can see. In deeper waters i don't have this issue at all even with bigger waves. I was observing guys with much lesser volume surely also less weight, and they tend to not have this issue that often. One of my friends also on the trip to Peru, he used a 608 PU, but with 29 liters, he is 70 kgs, and it just seems like he with less trouble ducks under these shallow water bombs, I might be doing something wrong here, not only blaming the equipment ;-) could be that I need to adjust the duck-diving for this kind of surf or do something different...or maybe its the timing of duck-diving that goes wrong on the shallower spots. I have a 605 PU, around 35 liters, its just so much easier to duck obviously, but sometimes I get the feel that the EPS have 'more' buoyancy, if you know what I mean, despite the 608 only carries ~5 more liters.

Yeah, it would be something to have an round tailed 608 step-up and a 606 alt square for the daily surf.

Cheers

I like the feel of the alt 608, maybe I should try the 606 at some point as reference.