Have rode two discontinued boards recently that were good fun.

Late model Starboard drive 10'5 x 170odd L -- catches anything and turns well for a ten footer..

Early model Naish Mana 8'10 130odd L -- catches anything and turns even better of course

The early model SB drive used to be 150odd L (this is what I was after coz see others with them and they work well..., but when I went to check out the 2nd hand board saw that was 170odd, but grabbed it anyway, and it is fun!).

Then..., hired an 8'10 Mana old 130L model (coz thats all that was available) and it was a blast in tiny stuff. Looked it up and now see that the late current model 8'10 Mana is coming in at 140odd L

Why do you think they are chucking volume into later editions of otherwise working shapes?

open.spotify.com/track/6ExmJ22JQxXdGbH65LvIri?si=6f46e65c51134a69

Yo

I guess they are evolving their shapes, based on what they think is their market.

Note: you can see the glass half-full or half empty: You can say that for the same length they added volume, or for the same volume, they reduced the length.

Maybe they add volume to allow the board catch waves just that bit easier. A kind of last ditch effort to appeal to a wider chunk of market.

adding volume gives more range to who can ride it and if the rails are designed well - it'll still perform.

I've got a smik hipster 8'10 thats 145L and it's fast and loose. Volumes well spread nose to mid board, so where volume lives is important. Rails and tails are well refined and responsive. In a nutshell design has evolved

I personally could not relate to (ride)the Kalama,but the volume distribution was ,imo innovative,I've always wondered why the step deck ,nose and tail of longboards was not applied to sups ,three stage foil ,flattish standing area,stability,step nose less swing weight or the nose flexing down for noseriding,step tail for burying the rail for turning.