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Cuttlefish said..AndyrooMac said..surf1ng said..Ricardo1709 said..surf1ng said..Cuttlefish said..Rode the Outlier with the upright side bites yesterday. Local point and swell had dropped to a fun 3' and mid tide going into high for the session.
Definitely a lot better control compared to the Bonzer sides in the smaller waves on offer. Board shone with its down the line speed and I was able to turn it with confidence. Had a few instances where lost the tail on hail Mary foam climbs trying to beat sections which were basically un-makeable.
But others where I timed it right and made it.
Ordered a 9" fin in a more upright template which I should have in a day or two to try. Figure if it makes the board feel even better it will be worth it.

Yes it will be around for a while for sure.
Here's some reading for you.
Won't let me post a link.
Jam longboarding forum. CJ Nelson Outlier thread.
I contributed there as the discussion was all about the longer ones rather than the 7'er with the wider tail and 2+1 set up.
Great read Cuttlefish, thanks for the ride report. The Outlier sounds magic and right up my alley. it's up towards the top of the list now.
Thanks for the Jam advice. that thread covers a number of the boards I have been looking at (one member talks about owning the Outlier, Moe and Mid6. all boards I am looking at). Most aren't in shops here in SA so a bit tricky. Cheers
Sweet quiver

I highly recommend the tolhurst mid6 it's such a great clean planshape and is super fast with quads in it.
Thanks for the recommendation, appreciate it. Great looking board and how good does Harley surf it. makes me drool. On further research it seems the Mid 6 is a bit more back foot and performance focussed than suits me. like a stretched shortboard. I'm after something that trims really well when standing forward of centre, not sure if the Mid 6 does that compared to other boards with a bit more flow?
I've heard nothing but positive things about the ride reports on the outlier, seems like a really nice neutral board, a great allrounder. The only downside is they are very "floaty" so they dont like to dd and that also creates a different "feel" on the wave. Did you watch the review by Surf Craft Union?
Personally I prefer poly boards and how they ride in the water. These boards that sit in the water a bit more tend ride better in forward trim...
Some other great mids for forward trim are the Christenson Flat Tracker and Flat Tracker mk2, deffinatlety worth consideration... The Lovemachine 7'10" Hayley Pin will also be a baller but I reckon they are 6 months away.
You and I are more to opposite ends of the spectrum and after different feels on the waves I reckon Andy. Mean that in a totally neutral way. I ponied up for that Raido fin and put it in the Outlier as a single the other day. Caveat: waves were lame but it felt like I was dragging kelp with it...kinda like you remarked about a Modii fin but the Modii fin I have (Greenough 4A template) has no such problem. I've run the Outlier with a 10" FCS Clique fin as a single which felt very good.
I have the Raido in there to run with some sidebites so hopefully it will work much better as a 2+1. I reckon due to its float from its high amount of foam it responds well to a higher amount of fin area (and the 7'er has a wider tail than the longer ones).
Duck diving the Outlier is a matter of angling in the nose to get the initial depth. It is a lot of foam in a relatively short board though.
I've owned a Christenson flat tracker 2 and it was without a doubt the most disappointing board purchase I have made in recent memory. Despite plenty of online stuff about it being so good I found it had only one speed which frustrated me no end. Entirely too "retro" in its performance. Bought it new and took a big loss when I eventually sold it, which took a very long time.
The Outlier on the other hand has a spiciness about it that is entirely engaging and it is so fast when it needs to be.

Thats definately very possible, I'm very passive on the wave. I'm just looking to find that perfect trim spot and cruise, maybe a big carve or cutback as the section presents but yeah, very laid back...
With the fin, thats not the Raido fin I was reccomending btw. I was reccomending the K-Fibre which is a 4a template. Thing goes unreal if you like a stiffer but really responsive flex pattern.
Looks like you have the Hull Flex, these are designed to surf at the front of the fin box and have much looser flex. Really designed for displacement hull boards like a liddle. They work well when you are surfing the front third of the board and riding off your front foot, not great for back foot surfing. That board prefers a wider base and bit more fin, CJ goes even bigger, I think 9" plus on his.
The issue with the Modii was it was really heavy, it might have been a faulty batch as it seriously weighed about double any of my other fins, very strange.
The Outlier is just a design that makes sense. The outline, the hull, the flat rocker, the volume distribution are things that are really simple and we know work. Its basically an Andreni Vaquero or a Velzy Egg with thicker rails, more float and bit of vee through the tail, its very similar to where Salty ended up after years and years of subtle refinement although his has finer/harder rails and that guy is a real perfectionist, he hand crafts guitars and violins as well as building boards and boats...
And seems that design works either in the floatier/more zippy thunderbolt tech but it also works unreal in poly if you want something more cruisy, more forward trim.... Its WAY easier to surf than the Lovelace though i'd say less rewarding...
I'm loving my 7'10" self shaped so much i'm going to knock out a 7'6" that will also be a bit thinner in the tail/rails as my 7'10" and the 7'10" becomes my small/mellow wave board although it does like some juice...