Michel Bourez Pro Model

[Sarge]

Hi Johnny, well pretty much all my boards have been an experiment. Some work out, some don't. Switching to Firewires was one. I will not go back to PU.
I've only had the Hypto for 3 weeks so haven't had too much variety to choose from, however being "The New Board" I have ridden it 90% of the time just to get used to it. Solid 4 foot peaky wind swell down to 1 foot reform runners at my local Sydney beach break.
The board is a keeper. I think it will be up there with my Dominator in the "Never To Be Sold" category. My Dom is my daily driver.
It's very fast, I think faster than the dominator, with great acceleration, and at 5'8" it is not surprisingly really really loose. This made me nervous on my first few bottom turns, but the low rail and narrow tail really bite when put hard on the rail. Be ready to release the fins coming off the top after this kind of bottom turn. Due to its short length it still gets vertical pretty well despite the width up front. I primarily bought it cause i am off to Victoria for 2 months and thought it would suit several of the breaks on the surf coast at the 1 - 5 foot range - Will be taking the Alternator & Hellfire for the same breaks at 4 - 6 foot. Hellfire will also have to do up to 8 foot if I have driven the distance to get there. (Any bigger and I will have to wuss out / 'sustain an injury' that prohibits me from surfing for as long as it takes the surf to get back down to a more sensible size)
I have learnt not to take the Hypto when conditions are fairly bumpy. I think a combination of the low rail and super light weight are to answer. It's in EPS. In spite of many surf contest commentators' opinions on Taj's equipment, this is not something I have found to be a problem with any of my Firewires.

Cheers, Sarge
ps The "Never To Be Sold" category does not stop me from 'swapping it' -a good term to use when discussing quiver details with the wifey- for a newer (new) Dominator or its close more sporty sibling the Spitfire.

[Chris]

good stuff Sarge!!

Stoked on the post.

[Sarge]

Johnny, forgot to mention Taj board. It gets used only when conditions are perfect. Over 3 foot, and barrelling. Especially if there is a sucky take-off involved. I have not come unstuck yet, and I have had many take-offs that my 30yrs of surfing have told me that "I" wouldn't make just so I can keep my spot closer to the pointy end of a pecking order. I have literally thrown myself over the edge with a view to copping a good pummelling, only to find that board and feet are still connected at the bottom. More than once this has been followed by a pitching lip slapping the surprised look off my face. Downside of this board for me is that I only get to surf these conditions a few times a year.
If it is a 3 foot plus high performance wave and I want to pretend that I should be getting paid for surfing and kick the life out of every available lip then my Alternator is the ducks nuts. Mine is an older one with more rocker and less volume than the current version. (6'2" x 19" x 2'3/8" -28.7 litres).
At the moment I am in the process of "swapping" my Taj and Alt, and combining them into either a 6'0" or 6'2" MB. Will make that decision once I get to give both sizes a touch up in store.
Hope this helps,

[prjwebb]

I thought the same thing about late drops on the Taj. Started to think I was invincible. A late drop behind the rocks at 1.5+ overhead Anchor point proved that wrong though when I free fell on the drop straight into a nose dive in the trough and then got picked up and tossed arounded over the falls before popping up right next to the rocks with the wave behind mowing me down.
Thankfully I escaped with board intact and a couple of scrapes from the rocks on my feet.

[Johnny]

Thanks for the review of several of your boards Sarge. That was most helpful. It's a good time to be a surfer - so many great boards to ride and experiment with. And sharing experiences makes it even more fun. Cheers!

[core personal training]

i agree with the drops on a taj...i jumped on a 604 and was dropping into super sucky waves with full rail engaged with confidence (invincible like PRJ)..didn't need to drop clear then bottom turn.. it plugged straight into the wave and flew down the line...great for fast waves or behind the peak stuff...wonder how close my upcoming MB will feel to that..??..soon see...wont be long now.....

[Wandi]

I'm still tossing up between the 6'0 and the 5'10
The 6'0 is on order so at the moment it's advantage 6'0
I'm hoping it will still have all the good things from the Taj board and more
Easy drops in bowly waves but better down the line speed due to a more relaxed rocker profile
Fingers crossed

[buzzy]

This is more for Chris than anything, and more out of curiosity that anything.

The ASP World Tour profile on Michel has his favourite stick being a 6'0" x 18" a 2 5/16", which is vastly different to the dims for his pro model. What's the back story here? Have his dims changed, the pro model is a consumer friendly derivation of his actual stick, or he was understating the dims for his favourite stick for fear of being labelled a fatty?!

[prjwebb]

I asked something similar a while back. The thread below called Changes might help.

[Chris]

Hey Buzzy,
That dim is funky on the Michel page. They monitor that stuff and are the ones that gather it. Guys change equipment faster than they can update so I am sure there are funny dims for other athletes as well.

He definitely uses other dims now...