Anybody got one? Thoughts?

I entertained it for a bit but no-one in perth has them in stock or demo boards either.......

I want to ride one before I part with that amount of cash, going price is around 1000

I bought meself a new oceanline custom instead........

Had one since Oct last year, they only come in LFT and retail $850 over here in Sydney.

Best board I've ever had by a mile, I'm 82kg and riding 5'6" x 18 5/8" 30.5 litres in everything from waist to 2 x OH - beaches to slabs.

Not a groveller but handles a wide range of conditions with instant speed and acceleration, turns on a dime and goes well in the barrel/suck due to narrowness.

Would suit more experienced riders as you need to be fit to ride em at a lower volume which suits the style of design. The looks put people off but that said I would get comment/questions every 2nd surf abut the speed of the thing.

Worth a demo.

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goatman said..
Had one since Oct last year, they only come in LFT and retail $850 over here in Sydney.

Best board I've ever had by a mile, I'm 82kg and riding 5'6" x 18 5/8" 30.5 litres in everything from waist to 2 x OH - beaches to slabs.

Not a groveller but handles a wide range of conditions with instant speed and acceleration, turns on a dime and goes well in the barrel/suck due to narrowness.

Would suit more experienced riders as you need to be fit to ride em at a lower volume which suits the style of design. The looks put people off but that said I would get comment/questions every 2nd surf abut the speed of the thing.

Worth a demo.

Thanks goatman that great feedback

Tux has been making a version of these for himself of late and loves them. I have ordered one off him. I love my Nano. Can not wait to get hold of a Vader.

Star Surf in the Perth city had them (full range) a couple of months ago. I brough the 6" nano (6'2" 110kgs) just back from a week on the GC and it was the perfect travel board for the beaches over there from waist/chest high and over. I am a fan of thomos shapes can see a vader in the quiver next.

Cheers

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Ted the Kiwi said..
Tux has been making a version of these for himself of late and loves them. I have ordered one off him. I love my Nano. Can not wait to get hold of a Vader.

Tux or Ted, what would the damage be for a "Tux Vader"? Presuming that Tux would want to shape another for somebody he doesn't know.

(Please PM me if you don't want to broadcast that in an open forum. Thanks)

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Salty Sea Dog said..

Ted the Kiwi said..
Tux has been making a version of these for himself of late and loves them. I have ordered one off him. I love my Nano. Can not wait to get hold of a Vader.

Tux or Ted, what would the damage be for a "Tux Vader"? Presuming that Tux would want to shape another for somebody he doesn't know.

(Please PM me if you don't want to broadcast that in an open forum. Thanks)

Hey Bro have sent you a PM couple of shots of mine and a bigger version I made for a guy that lives in Torquay. mine is a 5'10 x 19 x 3 ( the orange one) and his is a 6'0 x 20 x 3...mine goes amazing and I can say hands down it makes me surf better...its lightning fast and where ever your mind decides you should be the board will take you straight there...feed back on the other one is the same.

Tomo is back living in Lennox. Heard he's waiting on a particular brand of foam blank before he starts production shaping here. Not sure of retail, but I think a custom would be around the same price as the FireWire. I have had a vader tomo hand shaped 5'2" and a FireWire vader 5'3" x 17 7/8". I'm 5'9" 160lb. The firewire is surprisingly good. It's my go to board atm. Love it

I get the plan shape other than the nose. What is the thinking there? Or is it entirely aesthetic? Just curious because the rest of the board's I have seen look awesome but the nose concerns me. It's not often, but I have dropped in late, looked down and seen almost all the nose rail buried and that nose looks very unforgiving and designed to catch when pushed. The mention of slabs implies my take is completely wrong though so let me know. Cheers.

Parrallel rail profile in the plane shape means you can reduce the overall length and still keep the same volume....my 5'10 packs about the same paddle power as my 6'2 or 6'4...to attain this you need to keep the width all the way forward...you also cut down on the swing weight by removing the nose part that you don't use. As for the rails they work pretty much the same as normal board except you have reduced length so you have less rail to bury in on a late drop...you can also add some over curve as most of these boards run a very deep concave the full length of the board this can alos help by getting a bit of air under the board as you drop down the face to stop pearling....the ones I make have a very long low entry rocker and slight tail kick (2 and bit inchs and 1 inch respectivly) and I havn't had any issues so far...the rails are alos quite forgiving in the front third

Not a Vader but i have started surfing a Thomo Vanguard. Also a 5'10" whilst my normal board is 6'2" and I'm 95 kilos. I also agree the vanguard paddles and seems to catch waves much easier than my Dominator. It has sadly been mostly only small stuff since I've had it but it really feels like a go to ATM for me. I've got no idea about the technical stuff but it feels great, i like short boards as they can stay in the car and its light when having to lug other boards (kids) down to the beach.

Get used to all the questions about "did you snap the nose off" and "What the hell is that thing?"

I wanted to buy one last year and everyone talked me out of it, i then bought my dominator and travelled with that OS. But TBH i regret that big time. I think the Vanguard would have been so much fun in the bigger stuff

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thedrip said..
I get the plan shape other than the nose. What is the thinking there? Or is it entirely aesthetic? Just curious because the rest of the board's I have seen look awesome but the nose concerns me. It's not often, but I have dropped in late, looked down and seen almost all the nose rail buried and that nose looks very unforgiving and designed to catch when pushed. The mention of slabs implies my take is completely wrong though so let me know. Cheers.

These boards look weird. But on the late take offs I have had no dramas. I just treat it like I am snowboarding - put all your weight on the front foot and lean forward and into the drop - the rest of the board just follows. I think I have only nose dived the Nano once - and that was my fault not the boards ! With all that extra volume under the front of the board it picks up waves nice and easy.

Great timing.....Hey Tux, What measurements are you using for the fin placements? up from tail, in from rail? I'm just about to glass 2 different legnth Vaders.

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pearl said..
Tomo is back living in Lennox. Heard he's waiting on a particular brand of foam blank before he starts production shaping here. Not sure of retail, but I think a custom would be around the same price as the FireWire. I have had a vader tomo hand shaped 5'2" and a FireWire vader 5'3" x 17 7/8". I'm 5'9" 160lb. The firewire is surprisingly good. It's my go to board atm. Love it

Instagram reports him back in California today.

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Dr Funk said..
Great timing.....Hey Tux, What measurements are you using for the fin placements? up from tail, in from rail? I'm just about to glass 2 different legnth Vaders.

hey bro 3 inches from the tail for the back fins and 10 1/2 I think for the fronts on the thrusters...3mm toe in and only about 1in in from the rail rally tight fin clusters seem to work best.


ted hit the nail on teh head they are more like riding a snowboard than than anything else...don't let the weird shap put you off they definatly work

Your a legend Tux. Cheers mate.

Quads are about half way between front and back 3mm toe in as well

I am demo - ing a nano at the moment.

604 in length - I am 110kgs but above average in fitness etc.

Took it out in quick hollow beach break this arvo for the first time, I couldn't click with it. I felt behind on everything and struggled. It caught waves easily though. The demo board has been used twice and the shop said I could buy that board at a decent price if I like it.

I am thinking I need to spend some more time on it though. Time will tell.....

Yeah, I grabbed a couple of small waves on one a few weeks ago. Didn't have nearly as much get up and go as other boards in the same conditions.
bigger waves might have been fun...

My 6'2" nano goes like a raped ape. When its small and lined up with some push I'll run mine with sea shepherd keels as a twin.
A lot of peeps don't realise that the mph's have fish/mini-simmons dna in their design so throwing a set of keels in can work even with the 5 fin box placement.
Surfed it at my local point over last weekend with the sea shepherds and a futures nubster in the centre box and had an absolute blast going mach speed and then laying into carves and cutbacks. The waves were 4-5' and it felt loose but still with enough control even at speed.
When I want to draw more conventional lines or if its hollow on the beachbreaks I also use a TP1 thruster set or a X1 quad set.
Maybe your foot placement is off if you're not tapping into the amazing acceleration the mph boards can easily deliver.

Given the rave reviews on the board - I am positive it is rider error on my part and more than likely I just need to spend more time on the board. I give it another crack tomorrow after work and then Saturday morning before deciding on what I really think of the board.

Keels, thats an interesting thought for sure, wouldn't of immediately come to mind however makes sense - simmons/fish = keels. Interesting though and definitely outside of the box...

Me personally - I LOVE quads. Its kind of a sick obsession

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leashless said..
I am demo - ing a nano at the moment.

604 in length - I am 110kgs but above average in fitness etc.

Took it out in quick hollow beach break this arvo for the first time, I couldn't click with it. I felt behind on everything and struggled. It caught waves easily though. The demo board has been used twice and the shop said I could buy that board at a decent price if I like it.

I am thinking I need to spend some more time on it though. Time will tell.....

If you get on a vader and you have good fitness you could go down to the 6'0 or 6'2

Vader is much quicker off the mark than the Nano, more like the Vanguard but with the smoother feel of the Nano. I had a Nano for about 6 months - brilliant when there is a bit of push but a lot less range (top and bottom) than either the VG or Vader, IMO.

put some fins in the nano with lots of rake - AM2's or similar. Goes great as a thruster but when it's big n hollow having an extra fin at the back makes life a lot easier.

Would these things work in the waves around Margies? Say head and half to triple overhead if I got a 6'2" or 6'4"? I don't really surf much below four foot so it would need to handle a bit of size and grunt. The apparent wave catching ability sounds good. These days, with family and work, I only surf 1-3 times a week so I need all the help I can get.

I think ink the grey in the beard may be trying to tell me there other factors at work on my paddling too.

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thedrip said..
Would these things work in the waves around Margies? Say head and half to triple overhead if I got a 6'2" or 6'4"? I don't really surf much below four foot so it would need to handle a bit of size and grunt. The apparent wave catching ability sounds good. These days, with family and work, I only surf 1-3 times a week so I need all the help I can get.

I think ink the grey in the beard may be trying to tell me there other factors at work on my paddling too.

Yep they go amazing....demo one if your unsure...when it gets big its like riding snowboard at mach 10 on a never ending half pipe....up down and all around wherever your brain thinks the board goes

The Nano works well at 1.5-2 times overhead but it definitely feels like it's upper limit. Not been game to try it bigger as I prefer a more conventional gunnier shape when it's big n hollow.

Check out the shots in this thread of a guy riding one at good size Cloudbreak...deffo a wave that you need a bit of paddle speed to handle

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Surfing/Shortboards/Mainland-Fiji-to-Cloudy-Boats/?SearchTerms=Vanguard

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Tux said..
Check out the shots in this thread of a guy riding one at good size Cloudbreak...deffo a wave that you need a bit of paddle speed to handle

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Surfing/Shortboards/Mainland-Fiji-to-Cloudy-Boats/?SearchTerms=Vanguard

Yeah sic board, I've got a 5'8" 32L Vanguard as my 'step up'. Such a solid drivey board in some size.

Picked up a 5'5" Tomo Evo yesterday!

Hey goatman I'd love to hear you thoughts regarding the difference between the Evo and the Vanguard once you've had it under your feet for a few sessions.

I'm getting board envy all over the place at the moment