I've been spending the last few weeks on Sri Lanka. Brought a few freshies, here's a quick ride report, maybe somebody cares
waves were always in the waist to a bit overhead range, fairly punchy and playful reefs.
CI Twin Pin
First session on it was on the best day of the trip so far. Solid 6-8 foot and long rifling walls, so pretty much exactly where I thought the board would excel. Had a bit of a shocker though....blew a few take offs because of all the foam upfront and the flat entry. It was pretty easy to go vertical, but much to my surprise I had to be super careful not to slide all over the place cause the board felt so loose. Had a few waves with some good turns, but was pretty pissed it did not hold better.
Sold the board after just that one session to a sponsored 14 year old Israeli girl. For her it's almost a midlength, but she's ripping on it. Told me "I love you man" after her very first wave, saying she didn't have that much fun in the water since years. She reckons it feels really loose too so that reconfirms my decision to get rid of it at minimal loss. It's funny how every review is like "you can push it as hard as you want" and I'm like "nope". I'm sure it's a fine board for some types of waves, just not what I was looking for.
Driver 2 bro light speed
My third driver 2 so no big surprises, absolutely solid board. Does everything you ask it to do, and does it well. With the wider dims and the light speed construction it even grovels pretty well. Have yet to surf it in big windy conditions but doubt it will shine there, it really is extremely light.
Inferno FT
Really impressed with this one. My daily driver was a Pyzalien 2 setup as quad prior to the FT. The FT is a bit harder to ride well, seems to be less forgiving if your foot placement is off or something about the angle / speed of a turn isn't quite right. It also redlines earlier, but boy does it rip in waist high to a bit overhead. My new favourite board in the quiver. The rocker and rails feel unlike every board I've ever had. My first sharpeye, won't be the last.
Fishbeard
Bit of a trip, the shape is quite different to anything I've ever ridden. Like a mullet, business in the front, party in the back. It sort of has the best of both worlds, shortboard and fish. The nose doesn't get in the way when you want to go vertical but then it has great drive off the straight rail in the tail. Loves to carve and holds the rail really well, but simultaneously easy to release the tail. Took me longer than usual to figure it out but now I'm quite fond of it. Wouldn't be the only board I'd bring somewhere though.