Potatonator: small wave assasinator?

[jon_bro]

Hi guys,

A few weeks ago I wasnt a fan of the PN, and was actually critical of this board. But since breaking my SP (pulled a fin box out at a very popular point here on the east coast of Australia) and only using my PN, once you get this stick dialled in, it has so much more to offer. Im a lazy surfer, and I like the SP for everywave possible BUT since riding my PN for the last week I find you can push it a little harder in turns, and much better at handling those punchy bowls. I always found the SP hard to negotiate with barrells, but the refined features of the PN make hollow waves a lot easier to pull into. Can get this thing to surf top to bottom a lot easier than the SP, I have surfed it twinnie, quad and preferred thruster (AM2 Techs MAD!!! :)

Like they say, it takes time but once you get this board locked in, its so much fun! (Still love the SP though) haha

[cuttlefish]

Good to hear.
I was really suprised that you thought the sp paddled better than the PN as I find it the opposite.
I did start on the 6'er and went to a 5'8" sp (43l) and my pn 6'2" is 1 litre more.
I still really like the Futures AMT's with the trailer as well as the Blackstix thrusters.

[Chris]

hey great objective feedback jon bro

[flo_fed]

hi guys,

i'm reading the forum since a few days as i'm trying to biuld a 2 boards quiver for my france beach breaks, and my next trip to maldives.

the 2 board quiver constraint is due to flight issues when tripping. but the goal is still to address every wave from 30 cm longboarding time, to 2 meter fast beach breaks. i'm 35 , 200-210 LBS,novice/int (bottom , cuising from top to bottom of walls, able to generate speed, decent reentry, hard to roundhouse backside cutbacks , ok for frontside cutbacks).

the volume calculation allowed me the 7' hellfire which sounds good to me for the upper part of my wave program, but i'm stuggling on the right coherent step down for that Hf.
do you think the 6'8 PN could be the best candidate ?

why not the 6'10 addvance? because would like to still improve manoeuvers during the time i can still improve it

is my goal an infinite loop search :)?

[flo_fed]

hi guys,

i'm reading the forum since a few days as i'm trying to biuld a 2 boards quiver for my france beach breaks, and my next trip to maldives.

the 2 board quiver constraint is due to flight issues when tripping. but the goal is still to address every wave from 30 cm longboarding time, to 2 meter fast beach breaks. i'm 35 , 200-210 LBS,novice/int (bottom , cuising from top to bottom of walls, able to generate speed, decent reentry, hard to roundhouse backside cutbacks , ok for frontside cutbacks).

the volume calculation allowed me the 7' hellfire which sounds good to me for the upper part of my wave program, but i'm stuggling on the right coherent step down for that Hf.
do you think the 6'8 PN could be the best candidate ?

why not the 6'10 addvance? because would like to still improve manoeuvers during the time i can still improve it

is my goal an infinite loop search :)?

i forgot to mention that i'm 6'3 tall and that i'm searching a solid board , easy and fast to repair in trips. In fact i'm not sure about firewire buying yet.

i would have preferred XPS foams for board dry after a shock, but as i'm a big guy, the company proposing xps (except surftech) are not so many (lost, fcd, ...) and thus the dims and volume i require are hard to find at 7' maximum length (except for surftech , but i'm not a fan of chinese stuff :( )

my current small wave board is a PU stubby (5 fin option) 6'4 22 3 => not far from 50 Liters i think, a little like mandala shapes: it is killer in small wave but limited in manoeuvers, and the glass is going wrong now,

i also rode a PU 6'6 20 1/2 2 3/4 speed egg but it was limited in very small surf for wave catching (sold)

a quad retro fish 5'11 21 3 PU => far better to drvie but i struggled to catch waves under 80 cm



for bigger surf i used to ride a 6'3 single fin

[surfgumby]

Hard call flo-fed, I reckon the addvance might be the go if your on the novice side but the Potatonator if your more on the Intermediate side of things. Have you considered a 6'3" baked potato for the smaller stuff?

[flo_fed]

Hard call flo-fed, I reckon the addvance might be the go if your on the novice side but the Potatonator if your more on the Intermediate side of things. Have you considered a 6'3" baked potato for the smaller stuff?

In fact i'm really not able to say on which side of the frontier novice/intermediate i am. i aldready passed the mini malibu step 2 years ago (approx 80 days o surfing a year) and i surf shorter boards since a while now (maybe too short i think for some).

Let me explain why i'm struggling in my choice:

I know i will never reach the advance level with my age and frequency of surfing . Even i still don't know if i could progess in the intermediate but i sill have some time to go as far as i can.

On an other side i can choose a more performance board for small stuff to progress in intermediate level in term of manoeuvers, (which is my goal). That would lead to a board i could keep for a long while or definitely.

On the other side, yes i could give a call to the baked potatoe (which was the other solution i kept in mind out o potatonator) to keep on my current stubby style board. But currently the baked potatoe is not yet available (End july i guess) and is only in rapidfire ... i would prefer fst. Will i still have the same chance of progress with it... that is something i don't know.

I recognize that the Addvance is the best option if i would stick to the my current level or just optimize, but will the addvance :

- still help the progress i'm inquiring
- be a coherent complement of the HF.

... that is something i really don't know. The thing is to keep coherent with the hellfire.

if i could try both in a demo that would be perfect, but there is no chance i could find my dimensions (7'0 HF,6'8) in the shops i have around.

BTW : I choosed the dims of the Potatonator as following :

- I first calculated the required HF volume (At least 53 L) which was my preferred one in the list of proposed board. and then choose the Potatonator dims on the fact that nev's advices to try keep the boards in the same volume.

My process of buying would be first the HF and considering the way i like it choose the complementing board...

[surfgumby]

flo_fed, Well taking into account your wanting the small wave board to progress your performance maybe the potatonator in 6'6 (close of 50lts like your pu stubby) or the 6'8" to keep volume in line with proposed hellfire is the go! You might find you get a bit more performance out of the shorter PN! Not sure how the PN goes in 30cm surf though (recommended for 60cm - 120cm give or take) as I'm still waiting for mine to arrive, I also like the FST tech the best!

[flo_fed]

Not sure how the PN goes in 30cm surf though (recommended for 60cm - 120cm give or take) as I'm still waiting for mine to arrive, I also like the FST tech the best!

i will be glad to hear how it goes , if you try it ...
i know that it needs much hunger to go in 30 cm surf), but france and especially my part of france, is sometimes (often?) quite a "bitch" break :)

[Bumper]

Finally picked up my 6'0 last week and have had it out twice. I really like it so far. Took it out in thigh to waist at best weak junk. Semi clean but disorganized. I had a few fun drops until the wind killed it. I would normally have had my SP in those waves but I was happy with how the Pnator went on my first session. Took it out yesterday in thigh to waist again but the surf had alot of push due to TS Beryl. The board was terrific. I'm still trying to get a feel for it so I dug the rail a couple of times and blew a drop or two but when everything did come together the board absoulutely ripped small waves. It surfs a bit differently than the SP. Alot looser with more of a short board feel. It has the same feel that my dominator has in bigger waves. This will problably become my every day board mostly due to the fact that our waves are usually 1-3 feet. For the past year I've been riding the SP 70% of the time mostly because the waves called for it. Unfortuntely when the waves picked up and I'd take my dom or hf the transition would be frustrating. The pnator will definitely help me go from board to board. For advanced surfers I think the Pnator could replace the SP in knee to waist waves. I still will use the SP in knee to waist when i'm in the line up with longboarders. But when there is a bit of a push and a few small long walls and guys have the shortboards out the pnator will be the call for me. Paddle wise I think it actually paddles better than the SP but In weaker waves I still need the deep double concave of the SP to drive the board down the line. I might be able to get into those weaker waves with my pnator but it doesnt carry the same speed in those types of waves that the SP does. For an advanced/expert though the pnator tshould be fine I think. The pnator will definitely help me progress and as I get more proficient it should perform for me eventually in weaker knee-thigh high stuff. I could see it being a tough call for someone who has to choose between the SP and pnator. I think it depends on ability level, home break wave conditions and stoke. I need both right now in order to really surf small to medium waves well not to mention I love how the SP feels and surfs. It's still my favorite board hands down.