Big wave charger Ian Walsh posted this recently -
10'4, 100 per cent carbon, Jaws gun - I sense a SUP/prone crossover in board design on the horizon.
giddy up!

wtf is that....but I like it, maybe stick a hydro foil on that black knight and it will fly like a bat out of hell.

BLACK BANANAS

Not sure I understand that one...never have been and never will be a big wave surfer, but seems to me that huge rocker in the nose would catch wind as you drop down the face and make you very sketchy as you gather speed?? Am I missing something here?

EDIT - just found this article....
www.tracksmag.com.au/news/could-this-be-the-board-that-changes-big-wave-surfing-forever-532429

Very interesting. If you can stop looking at the nose for a minute it looks to me like there are inside raised forward "rails" that will be used for aiding with and controlling a pop up. I have been thinking about how I could assist my pop up on my prone board and was trying to imagining something like this as a geezer assist. My inflexibility makes a pop up and getting my feet under me difficult if not impossible.

Bob

With respect to the nose think about a rocket or a jet. If the nose was shaped like a surfboard it would be insanely hard to keep the rocket going in a straight line. I think for high speed surfing this should work well for steep drops and fast down the line. That said I can't imaging it staying in one piece in a big close out. It will be great up until the point of impact.

Bob

A quick resume of the purpose of this huge becked/bulked nose is the fact that it is acting as a front spoiler to tackle the nose down.
Some writings to read about hydrodynamic of surfing.
www.quantum-surf-physics.com/?fbclid=IwAR2dkwruKZ2h0sfHrWCTq6oUJMM96Hoxaa8MX2IvUFB2bDhkp7eV4IJhFUI

Getting the nose downward is paramount to actually paddling fast enough to catch bigger surf. Good idea.
However, being slightly caught inside and scratching over the top, this nose won't allow any kind of duck. Questionable.
And getting caught inside, will the extra volume just catch whitewater and go IN on the first wave? ??
You've already bailed on the leash.

Yeah, 9'6" boards need almost a foot of nose rocker to get over the nasty bumps caused by side current, backwash, and wind coming up the face.
Truly big surf is best with slight ONshore breeze, because any offshore component is rushing up the face at 15+ mph while you're paddling into it.