FireWire vanguard ?

[kitepilot]

knotwindy and anyone else who kites in shallow water with Future fins. I know this thread is about a really good board, (I love my Vanguard too). But this reply is related to it also, by way of previous post about fin box damage on the Tomos'. Please see my previous reply above.

here are a couple pics of the fin mod. before and after hitting a coral head on a bottom turn. Super shallow where I kite, plus razor sharp reef. I bleed a lot…But it beats the alternative.

[Bushflyr]

KP, Awesome, thanks for the pics, that makes total sense now. Have you ever has a fin break without hitting something? Going to try that out tomorrow as we're supposed to get nuking winds for the next week

[knotwindy]

brilliant, that is a great idea. thanks for the pics, helps a lot.

[kitepilot]

bushflyr, no I have never lost a fin without hitting something hard. And that pic is the 3rd fin that broke now with 0 damage to my fin boxes so the mod works. Also I have hit the reef occasionally without the fin breaking loose when I didn't hit it so hard, so it's not like you are going to be loosing fins prematurely all the time.

[Starsky]

F'n brilliant. Thank you for sharing.

[dandaka]

Guys, what about Vader performance in bigger waves (2-3 meters)? I don't ride them very often, but for me it is the perfect size right after perfectly manageable and before f*cking scary

Firewire forums say Vader is perfect up to 2xOH, which is a limit for me right now.

http://www.firewiresurfboards.com/f/for ... der-review

Also please help me find correct size for Vader. I'm 182 cm 72 kgs skinny guy. Waves I ride is generally 1-3m height from wind (no proper swell around). Wind direction — from straight onshore (Vietnam) to side-onshore (Baltic sea). I ride 6'0" strapless, which is my first board, no problems with it (except upwind performance is questionable, but maybe mine problem). Have tried Vanguard 5'2" from a buddy in small waves and 7m² wind in Vietnam, found it a good one, not too small / too big. Riding waves for 2+ years, kiteboarding 5+ years. Ozone Reo 5+7m² + Rally 9m² (needs to be sold). Lightwind riding is not my thing, since no waves at this windspeed here.

I'm thinking 4'10" or 5'0"...

[knotwindy]

I am 72kg also and ride the 5'2" Vanguard as my all-around/lightwind board. I rode the Vader 4'10" and the 5'1" and although the 5'1" turns as fast as I would ever need it actually felt too big so I went for the 4'10" which is crazy fast/turny. If the Vanguard is a sports car, the Vader is a go-cart. Turns as fast as anything I can imagine but can get a bit loose at really high speeds on the drawn out bottom turns. Vanguard is more stable at speed. If the Vanguard is a giant slalom ski, the Vader is a slalom ski, short,fast, turny but you better keep it on edge. The 4'10" is an amazing ride.

[Megabear]

What kind of fins are you guys using for the vader? I wonder if it differs from the vanguard, because the vader is so loose?

[knotwindy]

well, loose might have been the wrong word for the feeling you get at speed. It is not like it wants to break loose and different fins would help. It feels like it wants to turn and might get "wobbly" when you are really going fast into a wide bottom turn. So, you just turn sooner and tighter. It is not a bad thing. It just feels like it wants to go back up more vertical and sooner. Like you do not want to be out in front of the wave at all, got to stay on it more like paddle surfing. Really fun.

[Megabear]

So which fin setup are you using ?

Its weird for me at 75 kg and a full wetsuit i felt the vader 5.1 was a bit to small so went for the 5.3 instead