Hi guys
with new season coming shortly would like to by myself new toy .

i am fairly new to directional riding. I would like buy board for those lighter days and small beach waves - I live close to perth mulas spot.
So contemplating one of the above boards. I know I can demo them but since I do not know what I am doing with directionals - That might be of limited value. i am 90 kgs - and I see slayers can be slightly bigger.
Thaks for advice.

Which version of Slayer? The first 2 were fun almost-raceboards, the latest one was some kind of wave board . . .

The Slayer is less of a surfing board.

In my experience it is very hard to go past the Firewire Vanguard 5'2 or the F-One Fish 5'4. Both are brilliant light wind/high wind small surf boards.

do you know how to surf? it will help. My advice is to buy a used big wide surfboard with small fins or sawing  them to be able to kite on the shallow water. After a few session, you will have more experience and can have a better understanding of boards.  There are so many kite surfboards for sales in Seabreeze. You can pick up boards for less than $500. For surfing small wave the shorter the board the better. I am currently using a 4.8 slingshot allen twister. cheers

note: find a sandy shallow beach, jump on the board and edge. Repeat and repeat.

Although a generic surf board probably won't have straps. I suspect the choice between Nugget and slayer is based around wide boards which have straps.

Nuggets are great, but not so good riding a big swell.
Have shat myself a few times on my nugget trying to do what I would normally do on my surfboard.

I can ride a bit strapless and do not have intention to use straps.
The idea is to buy board that will be going in light wind and will be easy and fun to turn.
I have core ripper but i feel that it needs fair bit of wind and its bit slow also wound prefer something wider so it is easier to keep balance.
I never had much fun with that core board so would like to try something different.

any of those boards will be good for light wind small waves. Depending on your budget the new Cabrinha boards are amazing. I have demo the squid launcher and tick all the boxes

light wind
turns quick
for small waves

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castill0jf said..
any of those boards will be good for light wind small waves. Depending on your budget the new Cabrinha boards are amazing. I have demo the squid launcher and tick all the boxes

light wind
turns quick
for small waves

I rode the Squid Launcher 5'5 yesterday . . . needed bigger fins IMO. It's very much a board you ride, and it wasn't much fun in the lake chop.

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Kamikuza said..
Which version of Slayer? The first 2 were fun almost-raceboards, the latest one was some kind of wave board . . .

The Slayer is less of a surfing board.

the new slayer is good for mush and light wind, there are other boards in the line up like the Cypher which are better if you want to ride waves with a bit more punch, the north nugget is a bit flat and will be ok for light wind and small waves, I think i saw a new north board that looked a fair bit like a tomo.

AS others have said, grab a second hand boat for a few hundred, learn and see if you enjoy it- you can usually sell these for about what you pay anyway.

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ThomasU said..

I can ride a bit strapless and do not have intention to use straps.
The idea is to buy board that will be going in light wind and will be easy and fun to turn.
I have core ripper but i feel that it needs fair bit of wind and its bit slow also wound prefer something wider so it is easier to keep balance.
I never had much fun with that core board so would like to try something different.

Get a second hand surfboard with a wide/full profile, flat rocker, up to 6 foot depending on your height. Sometimes referred to as "fish" and sometimes "small wave board". Prefer future fins.

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Dave Whettingsteel said..
Nuggets are great, but not so good riding a big swell.
Have shat myself a few times on my nugget trying to do what I would normally do on my surfboard.

... just to add,,,,,, if Dave shat himself with the nugget then get ready to do some serious shatting on the slayer in the same conditions then!

cheers,

Robbie :)

p.s. shat myself taking on a double-overhead in Sumbawa Lakey Peak once, with the nugget too, so I know the shatting feeling all too well

Love my 5'5" 2014 nugget- so good to have in the quiver as it makes the most of less than perfect days- great to get you going in light wind and especially good for the westerly straight onshore days we get in winter. Where a more standard surf shape bogs down in the whitewater making it harder to get out the nugget just glides right over it. I will often ride the nugget when it is really onshore even in higher winds just got to ride slow and keep the edge in. Doesn't go too well in real waves but for Perth slop it is a gem.

Check how many cheap secondhand nuggets there are in the buy and sell,f#*k all!!! That is a pretty good indication I reckon

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ThomasU said..

I can ride a bit strapless and do not have intention to use straps.
The idea is to buy board that will be going in light wind and will be easy and fun to turn.
I have core ripper but i feel that it needs fair bit of wind and its bit slow also wound prefer something wider so it is easier to keep balance.
I never had much fun with that core board so would like to try something different.

Hi Thomas,

For the type of riding your looking at and the conditions in Perth, we would recommend the Cypher over the Slayer.

The Cypher is ideal in onshore, medium-sized surf and can turn small wavers into a fun day. It has good power underfoot but still has a tight playful turn radius and is snappy off the tail when it needs to be. I have found it is one of the most comfortable boards when not on a wave out the back and can be ridden extremely fast with great control strapless.

Although not at all designed for flat water free riding I've also found it very usable and fun on flat water days for practicing strapless airs, high speed carving transition and gybes.

Regards

Dave

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Puetz said..

Dave Whettingsteel said..
Nuggets are great, but not so good riding a big swell.
Have shat myself a few times on my nugget trying to do what I would normally do on my surfboard.

... just to add,,,,,, if Dave shat himself with the nugget then get ready to do some serious shatting on the slayer in the same conditions then!

cheers,

Robbie :)

p.s. shat myself taking on a double-overhead in Sumbawa Lakey Peak once, with the nugget too, so I know the shatting feeling all too well

Glad to hear its not just me Peutz! I think its where you have to make a fast turn or get smashed, the nugget just doesn't carve like a surfboard. The lack of rocker I guess. They are not really designed for riding big waves so I guess that's fair enough. Cant have everything!

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ThomasU said..
Hi guys
with new season coming shortly would like to by myself new toy .

i am fairly new to directional riding. I would like buy board for those lighter days and small beach waves - I live close to perth mulas spot.
So contemplating one of the above boards. I know I can demo them but since I do not know what I am doing with directionals - That might be of limited value. i am 90 kgs - and I see slayers can be slightly bigger.
Thaks for advice.

Hi Thomas,
It comes down to what you really want to do most of the time.

I use Slayer 58 as my Bali board, bit heavier than you. Does the job with ease up there, small waves and on shore.

Have also ridden the Nugget in Bali and I think the Nugget is a bit more looser than the Slayer. If your after straight out light wind mowing the grass then I would go the Slayer.
Nugget is not far behind mowing. Found the Nugget is a bit better in smallish waves due to been a bit smaller.

Cypher is also a good onshore board but needs a bit more wind to get it going.

My rule of thumb would be - light wind )10 / 13 knots) with big kite = Slayer or Nugget.
Mowing - Slayer
Up to head high waves = Nugget

13 plus knots on a smaller kite in waves then the cypher would be worth checking out.

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philipellis said..
In my experience it is very hard to go past the Firewire Vanguard 5'2 or the F-One Fish 5'4. Both are brilliant light wind/high wind small surf boards.

I am hoping that you are right, but I can't see it. The F-One Fish and the Vanguard are not even remotely similar to each other. The Fish is short and wide and flat. The Vanguard is narrower and has a heap more rocker and much straighter lines.

Unfortunately F-One no longer make the Fish so I will have to look elsewhere when mine finally dies.

There's a heap of guys riding Nuggets. Not so many riding Slayers but that has more to do with the market than the quality of the board.