discuss: quad v thruster quantified

My favorite board I ever owned back in the mid to early 90's was a linden 6 channel thruster that had wings. Surfed that board till it was beat to death...then had a local shaper try to replicate that board...just wasn't the same.

Love quads, super speedy and can get skatey, but can draw nice lines when surfed well...never tried a bonzer and would love to give one a go. All shapes, IMO, have there place. What's good for one person isn't always good or suit another persons style. It's amazing what's out there and would love to try too surf all of them.

Finally got some stoke back...been going through some boards the last couple months because my surfing stunk. Figure go a whole other route...been riding short fat boards with some increase area in the nose. Decided to go a tad longer and narrower. All my boards have been in the 20" + range...Just bought the dagger and felt great in waist high surf with strong off shores. Skinnier nose and middle section is skinnier...also has some crazy double concave in it...I think bonzers are like that too. Felt great and had a smile on my face after the session. Got me thinking that the linden with the deep six channels would be very similar to the deep double concave that the dagger has...but there is more to how board surfs other then what's under the backfoot. Either way, finally stoked again.

 

awesome! always a great feeling when you go out on a limb w/ something new & it opens up a whole new world. experimentation is a great thing!
& yes, the dagger is a bonzer based design, as is the fort knox. not incidentally, those 2 models are the only 2 thrusters i've had in the last 15 years that i actually liked.

 

I posted these before but for those who didn't see them, here you go. Rich Price 6 channel 6'8 step up custom for PR. I only got to ride it one day in 3-4 feet overhead. I loved it. Great drive down the line. When its big like that I'm usually just trying to outrun the wave to stay safe. I got one big barrel and came flying out so far down the line that I nearly left the wave behind. I didn't get to do a bunch of good turns on it yet and only tried the one fin set that it came with. I'm looking forward to using it this hurricane seasone and will report after my next session with this board. It's interesting to note that on the other 6 channel board the channels were spaced closer and the outside channel ran right down the boxes.

 

by the look of the pic, those channels are pretty deep...pretty sweet looking. My linden had a squash with straight deep channels...dam, I miss that board! I have a guy in my neighborhood who shapes. May inquire about getting something with channels.

 

i like quads though they are still relatively new to me.
i like thrusters. i like hybrids and i like the idea that firewire surfboards hybrids their hybrids.
i think (like fantasy city) that if i had to surf a heat against kelly i would pick a thruster.

 

...but Kelly might not surf a thruster against you...

Most people haven't even figured out ONE design, let alone multiple designs. The fact that quads are new to you means you have a whole lifetime of "new" ahead of you. And if I could trade all I know about surfboards for that opportunity... brother, I'd do it in a second.

 

he prob wouldn't even have to go in the water to win and if he did and he brought his 'door'…well...

 

Yeah, I meant to say this when you first posted this. I've owned one PB channel bottom thruster as I mentioned, and I have seen quite a few in my day in shops, but don't EVER remember seeing channels cut right over the fin boxes like that. Interesting concept. I always thought manipulating those boxes would jeapordize the integrity of the fin boxes, but I guess not. Why not shave right over them...

That board looks sweet. Nothing wrong with getting blasted out of a barrel so hard you end up out in flat water... I would call that a pretty good problem =)

 

, let alone multiple designs. The fact that quads are new to you means you have a whole lifetime of "new" ahead of you. And if I could trade all I know about surfboards for that opportunity... brother, I'd do it in a second.[/QUOTE]

sounds like my new path is your road well-traveled. straight up, any tips?

 

sounds like my new path is your road well-traveled. straight up, any tips?[/QUOTE]


just surf it a lot in all kind of conditions. don't write it off after one or two bad sessions.

 

just surf it a lot in all kind of conditions. don't write it off after one or two bad sessions.[/QUOTE
funny u say that as things began to improve when i stopped switching back/forth...anyway thanks.

 

lol. i guess cause our types need to talk to/at/with our types cause others not interested.

 

I like surfing a thruster when I`m looking to have three fins in the water. If I`m going for more of a 4 fin type of feel, then I no doubt go with the quad setup.

 

I used to surf a thruster but now I only own quads for some reason. I think there better for the close out waves here and air sections. I don't think there as good for snapping the lip thought, I feel on a thruster More power. Because of the less speed.

 

i had a wave ystdy on my quad - that which i'm still trying to figure out - nice 3ft left, difficult take-off
cause i had to wait FOREVER for the goon on the shoulder to graciously let me have MY wave - but by the
time i was able to pay attention i had pumped twice and then again when the stick took off - not unlike
shifting gears into OD on a manual shift car;…it really WENT FAST. that i liked…..and want to do it again.

 

Yeah paulie you're heading in the right direction.

 

The fin configuration pictured below is working for me at a nice Costa Rica break -- nice combination of fast forward speed tracking and pivot turning. Started out with full-on Bonzer fin set-up but then started tweaking for the turning responsiveness for my style of riding. The rear runners are the smaller of the quad runner set. The board is 50 x 20.375.

I'll see how it works at a couple of my PR breaks this winter.

 

A bonzer paipo!?!? I had no clue...

 

IMO quads are good in good waves, and so is everything else. They definitely feel good when you can really surf the rails and push off your fins without sliding around too much, but quads can get tracky and do better when surfing more linear vs. up and down.

But really, im lazy and true quads (no center box) are nice because when routing future boxes I don't have to blow out my ear drums (or wear ear plugs) routing out the center box, or f*ck with getting stringer dust outta the pretty, brite-white foam.

 

I love my quad in the smaller stuff...tail slides and roundhouse cutbacks...closest thing to a carver. Absolutely dig the quad. Use this the majority of the summer. When wave gets a little oomph, I ride thrusters.

I would imagine a lot of top guys ride quads and even twinnies for fun in the small stuff. When it's contest times, waves are normally good since they have a window. They aren't riding gutless weak surf.