92122 said:
Please educate me here friends... I always thought a Step Up was just that, a step up in size from your performance shortboard used for bigger waves.
Looking at something like the Slayer2, a new model, they recommend to ride it shorter than your regular performance shortboard. So is it the extra volume that makes a Step Up, and not necessarily the length!?
https://www.rustysurfboards.com/slayer-2/
I know the sizing comparison to a “regular performance shortboard” could be considered tired rhetoric, but it’s still thrown around quite a bit, and to my understanding it’s a board about 2-4 inches taller than the rider while being fairly low volume.
I have a Slayer 2 that I bought OTR at the warehouse. Under my arm it felt just right. Felt like a stepup, very solid.
5'8"x18.50"x2.35" 26.07L. I'm 5'8/147lbs. Normal HPSB would be 5'8x18.25x2.25 and around 24L
Once I got home I was admittedly skeptical, it felt good under arm but still looked too small. Ended up taking an additional, "standard' 5'11 stepup on my trip.
TBH it blew me away. Such a good paddler and did exactly what I wanted it to do. 8 - 10 ft faces with some strong offshore winds. Beaches and points. Periods 12 - 17 seconds. Better paddler than my 5'11 - in fact there were a few times on the 5'11 that I wished I was on the 5'8 instead, believe it or not!
My HPSB flat out did not work for me, so I ended up riding the board in OH conditions frequently when I would have normally been on my HPSB.
On one occasion swell dropped fast and ended up in chest high conditions and the board did not work, totally dead and felt like way too much board. So yes this is a board meant for OH waves only.
It's enough for any of the more performancey waves that you're going to need a stepup for in San Diego (which are rare). I would describe it as a board for when you need more confidence or when conditions are pushing it on your regular HPSB.
Clint described it as a board for all around stepup conditions - "It will do barrels well and open faces well but not great" because it's a sort of middle of the road design. "If you want something just for barrels go with the Slayer."
To me it seems like a board for a guy that needs a stepup but isn't charging, looking for big death pits, or looking to push the limits of his stepup, or surfing spots/period where more length is a necessity.
If that's the case - would highly recommend. The thing is really, really smooth in performancey, pulsing conditions.