I'll be very interested to hear what you think, especially now that I'm going to be back on my B&B fulltime. 2.5 lbs seems like a goodly amount of weight, so if nothing else, the effect of it should definitely be noticeable. What fin are you going to try it with first?
Here you go Linter (I created a new thread cause I felt someone might not appreciate it
inside a Sunova marketplace thread):
I got to try the tail-weighted B&B today. Surfline said it was 3 to 4 feet +.
It was pretty good shape and not too windy - so good conditions except the crowd.
Some overhead waves.
It was crowded. I even got hit by an aggressive beginner shortboarder with
a thin, very pointy board. I'd seen him earlier and could not believe it but he
could actually catch a wave, although he couldn't surf very well. I moved my
takeoff area away from him, but somehow he dropped in - luckily I wasn't hit
by the point. No board damage. I can't remember the last time I actually got
hit by someone and today I also had a couple other close calls - so in that way,
not optimal for an "experiment."
Anyway, it was crowded & people were shoulder hopping, etc. but I did get
quite a few nice waves. But in those conditions, I'm not as much into stalling
the board, but more just run up on the nose, cutbacks, etc. I think I could have
used more precision for better results as far as hanging toes.
Well, I did go with the 10.25" Rainbow Nomad fin, so I don't really have a complete base line; however, it
is pretty much like some of the other fins I have.
First, it wasn't all that different carrying it down the stairs to the surf - tail didn't drag.
I did notice the extra weight but not much; coming back up the stairway after the surf
was another matter - it seemed like it was 20 pounds heavier.
In the water, I think it lowered the tail a little and was a bit more work to paddle.
I think as a heavier board, it was a bit more stable and went through the whitewater
a little more easily.
I was concerned it may have negatively affected taking off but it didn't seem to -
difficult to tell any difference.
Ok, on the wave, I do think the board was more stable and I was able to get out
further on the nose than normal - although not positive with that fin, since I'd not
used it previously. I was up "in the black" pretty much whenever I wanted to be.
Several times I was within about five inches of the tip. Usually on bigger waves
- Some were overhead - I was surfing on the nose in the steeper part of the wave
much more than normal but, geeze, didn't want to risk wiping out by trying to hang toes
over the nose.
I did get some great rides.
The board did everything well - take-offs, cut backs, noserides, pivot turns, bottom turns, etc.
I did seem to be maybe a tad more slugglish...but I think that also translated into more stablility.
After a while I really didn't really notice it - although I would think "I've got extra hold"
when running up front & I do think it does result (from more water over the tail) in a bit
more support. I have to work more on stalling and burying the tail - but the crowd was
distracting me I think. Thinking about it, I do think the board was a bit slower which was
good today as the waves weren't closing out (very often) so maybe it kept me more in the pocket.
One thing, I did take off on a pretty large wave switch-foot - pretty strange because
I don't normally do that and I really didn't even think about it - never done it on a wave that large
- maybe, the extra stability gave me extra confidence - it was kind of fun when I realized
what I was doing.
So, bottom line is that it was good enough and fun enough that I'll leave it on and try
it with some of the other fins from my quiver - hopefully, toes over!
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