OK...finally got this board into some good waves this morning
and now have about 7-8 sessions on it in a pretty good
range of conditions. Figured it's time to post up an actual
official rider review, so here goes...
Rider:
6'3", 205ish lbs., 32 years old, and surf anywhere from 2-5
times per week, 90% of the time at local beachbreaks with
the rest of the sessions usually at reef/beachbreaks south
of here. Intermediate ability with plenty of kook moments
mixed in with flashes of competence from time to time. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Have surfed mostly fish and 'alternative' type designs over
the past few years with the odd session on a 'shortboard'
when the waves have some juice.
Background:
This is the 6th board I've owned that has been designed by
Sean Mattison, with the last three being customs ordered
directly from him under this Von Sol label ( http://vonsolsurfboards.blogspot.com/ ).
Every one of them has worked better for me than most other boards I've owned.
The Board:
The 'Shadow' was designed by Mattison as a board that
hopefully helps answer the question (in his words) of "What's
next after the fish?". Basically you have the front half
of a fish very similar to his other fish designs, with the
rear half consisting of an elevated wing (e-wing) leading
into a foiled-out rounded pin tail. Sean told me the e-wing
was something he used to have on the bonzers he rode a while
back, that he's always dug, providing somewhat of a release
point during turns.
This board is 6'2" x 20 7/8" x 2 5/8", EPS/Epoxy, which
came out incredibly light, even for the amount of foam it
packs.
Went with a 5-fin setup and have found so far that I really
dig it as a twin+trailer setup, which I'm sticking with
for now.
The Ride:
<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/village idiot.gif" alt="" />
Simply put, I'm LOVING this board! The best way I can
describe it is this...it has all of the biggest benefits
of a 'fish', these being great paddling and wave-catching,
early and immediate planing, speed right out of the gates,
and ability to beat sections unlike a shortboard (for me),
but the ability to really lay into sections and turns that
is generally only found in a shortboard. In junky surf,
it's fast and playful enough that you can throw it up off
of sections for floaters, get around crumbly sections to
find a face to turn, and generally have more fun than the
surf would normally indicate.
In good waves, which I found out about today, the thing
handles steeper drops very comfortably, is faster than $hit,
and LOVES to be turned HARD in the pocket. The board goes
rail-to-rail really, really smoothly...moreso than any fish-
type design I've ever tried, and wants to do full-rail
wraparounds and S-turns with little to no loss of speed,
in more critical parts of the wave than my past fishies.
In the short time I've had the board, 2 people (one being
the designer of the board, the other someone who has
probably seen me surf more than anyone over the past couple
of years) have told me I did the best turn they've ever
seen me do. Today I had a couple of overhead clean lefts
that I was able to do 3 straight hard and smooth gouges off
of the top in a row, something unheard of for me.
Backside, it goes just as well. Allows you to come off the
bottom as hard as you want into a turn, or take a quick
high-line pump just as well, all with more than enough SPEED.
Quite simply, this board is continually putting a smile on
my face, which is the point, right? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
Highly, highly recommend this design as a very versatile
and FUN shape for 90% of the waves you're likely to come
across here in SoCal. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wave2.gif" alt="" />
and now have about 7-8 sessions on it in a pretty good
range of conditions. Figured it's time to post up an actual
official rider review, so here goes...
Rider:
6'3", 205ish lbs., 32 years old, and surf anywhere from 2-5
times per week, 90% of the time at local beachbreaks with
the rest of the sessions usually at reef/beachbreaks south
of here. Intermediate ability with plenty of kook moments
mixed in with flashes of competence from time to time. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Have surfed mostly fish and 'alternative' type designs over
the past few years with the odd session on a 'shortboard'
when the waves have some juice.
Background:
This is the 6th board I've owned that has been designed by
Sean Mattison, with the last three being customs ordered
directly from him under this Von Sol label ( http://vonsolsurfboards.blogspot.com/ ).
Every one of them has worked better for me than most other boards I've owned.
The Board:
The 'Shadow' was designed by Mattison as a board that
hopefully helps answer the question (in his words) of "What's
next after the fish?". Basically you have the front half
of a fish very similar to his other fish designs, with the
rear half consisting of an elevated wing (e-wing) leading
into a foiled-out rounded pin tail. Sean told me the e-wing
was something he used to have on the bonzers he rode a while
back, that he's always dug, providing somewhat of a release
point during turns.
This board is 6'2" x 20 7/8" x 2 5/8", EPS/Epoxy, which
came out incredibly light, even for the amount of foam it
packs.
Went with a 5-fin setup and have found so far that I really
dig it as a twin+trailer setup, which I'm sticking with
for now.
The Ride:
<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/village idiot.gif" alt="" />
Simply put, I'm LOVING this board! The best way I can
describe it is this...it has all of the biggest benefits
of a 'fish', these being great paddling and wave-catching,
early and immediate planing, speed right out of the gates,
and ability to beat sections unlike a shortboard (for me),
but the ability to really lay into sections and turns that
is generally only found in a shortboard. In junky surf,
it's fast and playful enough that you can throw it up off
of sections for floaters, get around crumbly sections to
find a face to turn, and generally have more fun than the
surf would normally indicate.
In good waves, which I found out about today, the thing
handles steeper drops very comfortably, is faster than $hit,
and LOVES to be turned HARD in the pocket. The board goes
rail-to-rail really, really smoothly...moreso than any fish-
type design I've ever tried, and wants to do full-rail
wraparounds and S-turns with little to no loss of speed,
in more critical parts of the wave than my past fishies.
In the short time I've had the board, 2 people (one being
the designer of the board, the other someone who has
probably seen me surf more than anyone over the past couple
of years) have told me I did the best turn they've ever
seen me do. Today I had a couple of overhead clean lefts
that I was able to do 3 straight hard and smooth gouges off
of the top in a row, something unheard of for me.
Backside, it goes just as well. Allows you to come off the
bottom as hard as you want into a turn, or take a quick
high-line pump just as well, all with more than enough SPEED.
Quite simply, this board is continually putting a smile on
my face, which is the point, right? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
Highly, highly recommend this design as a very versatile
and FUN shape for 90% of the waves you're likely to come
across here in SoCal. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wave2.gif" alt="" />
