Rider: 80kg and 7 years
Style: Freeriding, Surf
Weather: 18-28knots
Disclosure: Used to work at a shop, team rider
My Comments:
Didn't even intend to buy this board, looked too wide through the body and tail, turns out I don't know much at all about board design
Background:
Started riding the Choptop 5'4" when it first came out, the width and stability really helped me get familiar in the surf, started with a front footstrap only then moved to unstrapped, havn't looked back. Then onto a 6'4" converse, took me a year to realise it was a bit big for my weight and conditions to be riding unstrapped. Rode a carbon 6'1" converse for a few years, exceptional board, in a good wave or stronger wind it is amazing you can put it in the most ridiculous places and somehow it does the rest for you :) Recently I have been riding some of my normal poly boards that I surf to try and figure out what works and what doesn't. The flex feels a lot better in the bottom turn, seems to engage better, also riding upwind was a bit smoother. Rode a performance orientated 6'2" bogged down during bottom and top turns unless super windy, tail was too small. Have been riding a 5'10" x 19" 1/2" quadfin, looks sexy and very fun to ride, but still dents to easy and big heel wells even with extra glass, also if you had a bit of speed up it was a little tricky to lay over in a bottom turn, sort of got stuck in the middle with the board still flat.
Impressions
Wide body, wide tail, bamboo construction looks nice.
Ride:
First demoed it as a thruster(AR5), board feels lively underfoot, lays into a bottom turn nicely, no hint of hesitation like my surfboard. Top turns are amazing and had me smiling all afternoon, you can hit it in the pocket and it comes around perfectly or do big open shoulder carves(skinnier performance boards don't usually like this) just seemed like you had a lot more control during the turn then usual. Heap of hold during the turns, way way more than I expected for the width of the tail.
Quad: The one I bought came as a quad, surprisingly it seems to have a little less hold than the thruster, push the tail out if you try, but if you hit it hard in the pocket it still comes around perfectly.
The carry through the turns is something that had been missing in my previous boards, always got the feeling of losing power after a turn and having to use the kite too much to link up the next turn, like I wasn't placing my turns in the right spot on the wave. I assume it's the width of the tail, but the board just seems to have heaps of drive, and holds its speed coming out of the turn as you setup for the next turn, really refreshing and a huge advantage in Perth.
Flex seems to be better than the tufflite/double sandwhich style board, yet slightly stiffer than the normal poly boards, I'm actually really happy with it. Weight seems decent, 3.3kg, for unstrapped airs, less than 15knots may want poly board. Seems solid underfoot, don't foresee it getting any heel dents.
Summary:
I'm stoked! Really fun to ride and will handle decent turns. Moral of the story don't judge a book by it's cover, not sure what they have done but it works. 
