No sign of this model on McTavish website, no longer in production? Looking at one in Tuflite tech.

Cheers chaps!

Never heard of a dominator ? Do you mean Liberator ?

Sorry, model is 'liberator', not 'dominator', my mistake

Very similar board to the square tail Fireball,Bill will know better than me

FANTASTIC board. Exactly the same as a fireball (pre-evolution model) but with a square tail instead of the fireball rounded pin.
They are a few years old now but a very very good board IMO.

So more of a traditional ride? Or more of a progressive shape? Are the Tuflite versions too 'stiff'?

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SUPcuz said...

So more of a traditional ride? Or more of a progressive shape? Are the Tuflite versions too 'stiff'?

Like a fireball its the ultimate allrounder - a quite modern and versatile shape and very forgiving when on rail. They have a nice "3 stage rocker" which means you have enough nose and tail lift for performance surfing whilst maintaining a significant amount of flat area through the middle of the board to ensure its a fast paddler and very fast and stable for running dead sections and trimming. It does have a bit of nose area which will take some getting used to but with practice you will learn to use the fuller heavy nose as swing weight to pull the board through big turns (takes practice but Mcts are gems at tis)
As for tuflite construction - well I personally love it but it is noticably corkier and in strong offshores and very choppy days they can get a tad fluttery and skippy underfoot but you learn to live with it and dont notice it after a while. As for stiffness - in my opinion if you can get a PU board to noticably flex then I take my hat off to you cos thats a mighty effort. Flex in a mal is something I personally dont want and wouldnt have any benefit.
Anyhow - just my personal thought - if the board is a reasonable price then grab it cos its one of the best boards ever.

^^^^^sweet post bb,thanks

I've ridden the tuff lite version of the Liberator and didn't really like it that much. If you are looking at getting a tuff lite longboard there are better models around. The McTavish original model is a good one but the one I liked best was the Tolhurst 9'1. This board is pretty thinned out and best for 100kg and under. You would probably be better off trying out a few demo's if you can. I forgot to mention there is a 9'6 Tolhurst as well. Some of the Takayama boards are also well worth a look.

Not a fan of tuflite way too corky the rails do not grab.But only a real surf knows the feeling.

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62mac said...

Not a fan of tuflite way too corky the rails do not grab.But only a real surf knows the feeling.

I agree Mac . I've ridden heaps of them but being corkier means that you could go thinner than what you might normaly ride in PU. I guess wether you like them is a personal thing. I reckon PU runs better being a bit heavier. The tuff lites were good in cleaner waves without too much bump or wind.

I agree I did because crapstar wouldnt let me take my board so I went far a epoxy way down on dim' and it almost killed me first wave,that board lasted two week.

The other thing is that it's nice to order a board and get your dims sorted and colour and turn up on the day and there she is. Kind of like what your doing now.
I ordered a board once and ordered a grey bottom with a 1cm orange pin line on the deck and when I went to pick it up it was green.Poor handwriting skills from the shaper but it still looked good.

A 'real surfer' has no problems riding surftecs - its all about recognising and embracing the subtleties in each construction and fine-tuning your technique to suit

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billboard said...

A 'real surfer' has no problems riding surftecs - its all about recognising and embracing the subtleties in each construction and fine-tuning your technique to suit

I hear you but this not real surfer had little time or patience,so one surf was enough.

Cheers fellas, great comments. And BB, thanks for taking the time to produce such a consice rundown on this for me, you the man! Next Q's is around fin setup, any ideas? Obviously has a 2+1 capability, but do you ride it as a single or add some small side bites, and where in the box do you run the centre? So many questions......

where are though our LACEY quick someone put the fin symbol in the sky so lacey can come out off the fin cave

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SUPcuz said...

Cheers fellas, great comments. And BB, thanks for taking the time to produce such a consice rundown on this for me, you the man! Next Q's is around fin setup, any ideas? Obviously has a 2+1 capability, but do you ride it as a single or add some small side bites, and where in the box do you run the centre? So many questions......

I would imagine the standard original setup for that board would have been similar to 8inch cente with GX sides. I would probably stick as close to that setup as possible and be running the centre just to the rear of the middle of the box. If I remember rightly I ran my old fireball with a 7 inch Mct centre - which are a tad over 7 in reality and glass gx sides, which made the board very nimble but not quite as drivey as I would run the same board nowdays. However, back to you - from what you are saying I reckon I would stick to an 8inch with gx's. Oh - do not run the board as a single fin - the reason I say this is that the liberator needs a bit of muscle/finesse on the tail to get the wider tail to come alive and allow the board to transition better from rail to rail, as such the little sides will assit you in holding in whilst you learn to turn the board and minimise any slipping or losing the tail if you don't quite get it right.

Hope that doesn't confuse you too much. What I suggest you do is buy the board and ship it to me to tune up for you

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billboard said...

SUPcuz said...

Cheers fellas, great comments. And BB, thanks for taking the time to produce such a consice rundown on this for me, you the man! Next Q's is around fin setup, any ideas? Obviously has a 2+1 capability, but do you ride it as a single or add some small side bites, and where in the box do you run the centre? So many questions......

I would imagine the standard original setup for that board would have been similar to 8inch cente with GX sides. I would probably stick as close to that setup as possible and be running the centre just to the rear of the middle of the box. If I remember rightly I ran my old fireball with a 7 inch Mct centre - which are a tad over 7 in reality and glass gx sides, which made the board very nimble but not quite as drivey as I would run the same board nowdays. However, back to you - from what you are saying I reckon I would stick to an 8inch with gx's. Oh - do not run the board as a single fin - the reason I say this is that the liberator needs a bit of muscle/finesse on the tail to get the wider tail to come alive and allow the board to transition better from rail to rail, as such the little sides will assit you in holding in whilst you learn to turn the board and minimise any slipping or losing the tail if you don't quite get it right.

Hope that doesn't confuse you too much. What I suggest you do is buy the board and ship it to me to tune up for you

Is the Liberator at it's optimum in 2 to 4 foot breaks BB or is it one for all ?

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chrispychru said...

where are though our LACEY quick someone put the fin symbol in the sky so lacey can come out off the fin cave

boom boom

The liberator, like the identical fireball is happy in anything from 1ft to 10ft. They excell in small waves up to waist/shoulder high and just need a bit of confidence in over head waves but they will handle it without any question. I actually reckon the liberator is a much better board than the fireball due to the wider tail but most customers wanted the easier to turn rounded pin that the fireball offered so I think the liberator kinda fell by the wayside. I have surfed a liberator in maybe double o/h waves and pretty much the same on an old fireball and the liberator felt safer, but having said that the fireball was an easier board to make small adjustments on in those big waves whereas the liberator just seemed to lock in and needed a bit more muscle to drag it off the top and bottom when the wave opened up enough to do so.
When the boys at Mctavish offer to make me a free board of my choice for services rendered I will be asking for an original liberator without question - just love em. (liberators that is not the ...........)

I had a look at the surftech site and the Liberator is no longer in production.
The Fireball and the Original are still going.

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billboard said...

SUPcuz said...

Cheers fellas, great comments. And BB, thanks for taking the time to produce such a consice rundown on this for me, you the man! Next Q's is around fin setup, any ideas? Obviously has a 2+1 capability, but do you ride it as a single or add some small side bites, and where in the box do you run the centre? So many questions......

I would imagine the standard original setup for that board would have been similar to 8inch cente with GX sides. I would probably stick as close to that setup as possible and be running the centre just to the rear of the middle of the box. If I remember rightly I ran my old fireball with a 7 inch Mct centre - which are a tad over 7 in reality and glass gx sides, which made the board very nimble but not quite as drivey as I would run the same board nowdays. However, back to you - from what you are saying I reckon I would stick to an 8inch with gx's. Oh - do not run the board as a single fin - the reason I say this is that the liberator needs a bit of muscle/finesse on the tail to get the wider tail to come alive and allow the board to transition better from rail to rail, as such the little sides will assit you in holding in whilst you learn to turn the board and minimise any slipping or losing the tail if you don't quite get it right.

Hope that doesn't confuse you too much. What I suggest you do is buy the board and ship it to me to tune up for you

Haha nice 1 BB! Maybe I'll just fly you over to caddy for me and tune my gear!!!! But seriously, thanks again for all your input. I pick up my new Liberator later this week, cherry!!! You should become an embassador for McT for sure, you've earned it

^^^^^^^ yeh bb is a wiked mct ambassador no bb is fair to all brands,if there is good or bad he will give his opinion,always informative and good to read

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chrispychru said...

^^^^^^^ yeh bb is a wiked mct ambassador no bb is fair to all brands,if there is good or bad he will give his opinion,always informative and good to read

knows his sups even better well done BB

Just met BB's sponsors Surf FXNice bolk however he lost me when he said BB was a top guy and then he showed me this sup on his car

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62mac said...

Just met BB's sponsors Surf FXNice bolk however he lost me when he said BB was a top guy and then he showed me this sup on his car

Hey mac I've been sitting beside the phone waiting for the bens to call, asking where I want my new liberator delivered ??? They musta lost my number

Sorry but in my opinion that board is a dog. Why has it been discontinued ?
Agree to disagree I guess.

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smh said...

Sorry but in my opinion that board is a dog. Why has it been discontinued ?
Agree to disagree I guess.

SO what makes the liberator a dog?

Or as I like to call it, the DOMINATOR, it has a nicer ring to it I think.....

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smh said...

Sorry but in my opinion that board is a dog. Why has it been discontinued ?
Agree to disagree I guess.

good point smh i was thinking the same

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smh said...

Sorry but in my opinion that board is a dog. Why has it been discontinued ?
Agree to disagree I guess.

Its the same board as a Fireball and that is certainly not a dog !
I believe it may have been discontinued simply because it was the same board as the fireball, and for the average surfer the fireball was slightly easier to turn and as such it. became the one that attracted 99% of sales - and, well something had to go.
Personally I believe that there arent any bad boards, whether PU or SURFTEC - some just dont suit our individual wants/needs/conditions or whatever - that doesnt make them dogs, it just makes them not suitable for the individual IMHO.