Well I couldn't have asked for better conditions to test a new board in. Perfect 2-3ft hollow and fast. early morning sunrise surf with only a couple of out. Just magic.
Now for the board - as soon as I jumped on to paddle out I noticed the increased buoyancy. It definitely made paddling a lot easier. First waves was ambitious. Late take off. I hadn't anticipated the speed. Even taking off late and deeper than I would normally I was way out on the shoulder by the time I had drawn out the first bottom turn.
The next few I took were smaller and I really started to realise how this board surfed in comparison to my regular alaia. The added buoyancy enabled me to take off earlier. The bottom contours and refined rails with the fact that it was recently oiled made the board incredibly fast, I had to keep my hand in the wave to hold myself locked in the pocket as the board just wanted to go. The board's flex was noticeably less, but it didn't seem to impact the boards hold in the wave during take off and bottom turns, but it was far more likely to slip out as the wave started shoulder off or when I tried to cut back. I'm not sure if this was due to the reduced flex or increased buoyancy or both... Either way I think with a few more sessions I will have this under control.
The only real downside is that the board took in some water. Its the first time I have trialed this building method so I am not surprised it didn't work perfectly. I can't work out where just yet, although the culprit(s) joins will reveal themselves as the water evaporates out. The outcome from this will be that I will need to sand it back and re-seal all the joins.
Already thinking about the next version! Definitely on to something with this shape + more buoyancy! Stoked
Cheers
James
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