Last spring, I wanted to dial in my shortboard thruster. Like many of you, I wasn't considering Album for this type of board.
I interacted with Stamps, got a nice mini quiver. He was absolutely great to deal with. The Stamps Flare remains one of the best small wave shortboards (will never get rid of this board). The GrinderX - also good board, very similar to the CI Everyday. The Blindspot also very good board. The Stamps FX didn't care for. I also picked up a custom Arakawa Jackpot - again great experience. I also found deal on CC OP3. I got a local shaper custom - rockered pointy nose, kind of based on the CI Pro but for our waves. Along the way, I grabbed a Freewing and then VBSM.
Stamps board are solid workhorse boards that work - can't go wrong. The Flare is magic.
I would say the VBSM has similar magic to the Flare, especially for everyday waves. A lot volume is integrated into the VBSM, but it is balanced.
Freewing and VSBM, they surf a bit differently to a true standard shortboard, yet I feel they still have good performance, but are relatively easier. Especially for everyday conditions. I felt like these boards also carried more speed. I prefer to surf a shortboard, as love that feel. Many mornings I am first one in the water so I can get away with surfing a shortboard, but as the sun rises, most people are paddling out midlengths, so these type of shortboards allow me to compete easier when it gets crowded.
I believe there are simiarities between the pyzel red tiger and the Freewing, as well as differences. I haven't surfed a red tiger but I have looked at them closely.
Biases - yes, I am Album fanboi and enjoy my relationship with Matt. I think my biases developed from surfing his boards before going down the thruster rabbit hole, inherently enjoyed these boards more. If you like how the Album alternatives feel, you might be surprised by his thruster. While I really enjoy the 5' 10" Freewing, I don't care for the 5' 8" Freewing owing to the tail feeling blocky tail, it feels unbalanced.
For the true high-performance shortboard - it was between Arakawa, OP3 and local shaper. I preferred the local shaper, had the right elements for performance as well as ease that lets my surfing progress more. The OP3 was the most electric, but it needs a good wave, and the sizing was off for me. Arakawa was solid, high performance, but was missing that it factor.
For most days, the VBSM and Freewing work well, and they have been my go-to boards, until recently getting the Disorder. I surfed Freewing this morning and it was awesome.
