Anyone ridden one? I'm looking at the 133 for freeride finning and foiling. I'd ride it with an 8.6/7.5 and fin, and if it were good enough on a foil it might even replace my Severne Alien and become a one-board quiver. No chance to try one but also under consideration are the Patrik F-Ride, the Starboard Futura or Carve, the JP Super Sport and Tabou's own Rocket +, all of which seem somewhat similar in specs. I like the Alien for foiling but I miss having a real blasting board for fin conditions.
On the foil side, the tail looks very similar to the Blast I've got. I recently had a day where I felt like experimenting again, so I ran the Blast with the Starboard 105+/725 front wing and a 7.0.
I could foil it and I think get it working right with a tweak or two (strap location and maybe adding more shim), but I also did not like the narrow tail width on foil. Your Alien is probably still going to be the better foil board.
Yeah, I wouldn't really expect it to work all that well with a big sail/small foil, but it might actually pump up easier than the Alien with big foil/small sail and an upright free ride technique. What I do wonder is whether I'd be happier with something like the rocket+ as a faster sportier board on a fin, which could be foiled once in a while like you do with the Blast.
very scary session two days ago on 7.0/1050 high aspect, which was only doable because the Alien is so wide. On a narrower board I could have been on a lower aspect wing and a 5.2
I bought a Bic Techno 130 carbon on the cheap. It's similar in concept, shape and dimensions to the Fifty, being designed as a foil/fin board. It just lacks the tail cut-outs. It's 230x81 and 130 litres. I also have a Slingshot Freestyle 115 and a Starboard Foil X 125. I was thinking the Bic was going to be too long and too much of a fin slalom shape to be much of a foil board, but I wanted a board that was capable of both fin and foil, mainly for travelling. When I eventually tried it, it turned out to be a great foil board. The extra length makes it very stable while up in gusty conditions, and it planes up earlier and bogs around much nicer than my other boards in Northern Beaches either very light or gusty full-on/full-off conditions. The tail width is more than fine on the foil and I use it much more often than my other boards. Having a board that can do both fin and foil capably is a real blessing. I reckon you would love the Fifty.
Oh...On reading the previous replies, I respectfully agree that tail width is important for control while going fast (I use centre straps and a more upright stance on my Slingshot and Starboard coz I tool around on them more). The tail on the very comfy and capable Alien may be very slightly wider, but the tail on my Bic is much wider than that on a Blast; it's pretty much exactly the same board as the AHD Topaz, and the Fifty looks very similar, maybe a bit wider. Shapers Jean-Marie Guiriec (Bic, AHD) and Fabien Vollenweider (Tabou) have been around for a long time at the highest level, and I think they design great boards, just as Severne (check the tail shape of the freestyle/freeride Predator vs Alien or Hydro) and all of the reputable guys do.
