I recently bought a Flikka 135 litre thruster quad second hand in the UK.
Dimensions are 241cm x 69 cm, the previous owner had it made direct from Flick, he went onto their site and designed it himself etc.
He has since bought a 155 freemove and a 115 stubby style (compact wave from Flikka too)..
The board is way bigger than would normally go for a freewave design but its summer in the northern hemisphere and when I first came back to the U.K. I bought full on slalom gear ( 128 litre board and 7.8m sail) but it really had to be driven by big sails and be completely powered up. After a year I sold it all as the only times I used it my ankles were hurting as foot strap were right on the rail and the whole package wasn't really designed for just about planing rather than flat out racing.
A Flikka custom came up on a friends feed and I enquired about it.
The board is made from their stander S-glass and the guy also had quad fin boxes fitted. It was supplied with quad fins 12cm fronts and 17cm rears in their medium flex and I paid a little more for a 26cm Black Projects freewave fin which I use with the 12cm side front fins. They still add carbon layers where needed.
I have used it several times now and completely impressed with the Flikka brand and the feel of the board, its crisp, light and very responsive. Friends have used it too and they say it feels like a 100 litre wave board. I haven't used it in any decent waves yet but on a swell it turns nicely and gybes beautifully. It takes a 6.2m sail and I could probably use a 7m on it but would have to increase the centre fin, 6.2m is the biggest I'd use comfortably on it for U.K. sailing. I do have an older 115 freewave but think that board might be redundant as the 115 seems really sluggish now and no where near as crisp to ride.
If I get the chance I'll be ordering a 115 compact, again with 5 boxes but at the moment the 135 takes me from 6.2m sails down to 5.3m then I go straight down to my Stubby 99 so going to try for this year just to use 2 boards.
The only down side I'd say is that the stance is very wide but I'll get used to that in time and when he originally got it the tail got damaged.
Try run it as a twin instead of a thruster. For a 7.0 you'd probably need 2x 18.5 cm. Benefits are earlier planing than a thruster and easier turn initiation. Downside is you can't push as hard with your back foot in the top turn or you will slide out.
Testing update:
The board works really well in UK onshore conditions and feels a lot twitchier with a Thruster set up than I initially thought, turns well and planes early.
As I sail in both the harbour and on the solent (Local stretch of sea) I really needed a board that was floaty for lulls and still turns nice.
At 135 litres I was hesitant as thats a massive board for me but I bought it and glad I did.
In the harbour it carries a 6.9m ~Ezzy panther, its a 2009 sail but is pretty much immaculate condition, anyway the board works well with that using 26cm centre with 12cm side fins. It potters along not planing and is nice and stable, once theres a gust it accelerates nicely and is very smooth and crisp underfoot.
I would say though that it works best with a 6m not in waves so much but just bump and Jump conditions. Once overpowered though it gets a handful. Thats then when I put the quad fins in, these seem to calm the board down and I can use it with a 5.3m sail. In quad mode it prefers to be rides with a more on off sail, I use the Ezzy 5.3m Taka, it's on off power seems to drive the board well and its pull point seems to make the quad fins slightly more lively.
I have since bought a 105 Flikka compact which I'll be picking up in August, 5 fin boxes, Dynema light construction which should suit 5.3m down.
Testing Update 2:
I have been using this board now in various conditions and recently tried it with the Flikka Asymmetric 12cm 3 degree front thruster fins, was really amazed that the straight line speed seemed to not be effected in any way and it acceleration even quicker than the regular non angled fins.
I have also been using it on the south coast UK wind blown swell, just shoulder high and the board feels completely Alive, back side turns are great and with the front of the board being quite chunky it comes off the white water for a re-entry really nicely. Getting out through any breaking waves is a breeze too. Still using the 26cm fin but tried a 24cm last week and it didn't seem to work as well.
