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Topics - JBMaine

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Gear Talk / placid? Yes and no
« on: September 19, 2021, 02:25:16 PM »
I am a 65 year old sup surfer. With no background in surfing, I started 3 years ago on a Sunova Steeze (9’6”, 144 liters).  Last Feb, amidst the dark cold of a snowy Maine USA, forced to sequester from humanity in my bedroom to work through the computer,  I tossed  my family’s financial prudence aside and put a down payment on a new ride. I ordered a 8’7” Sunova Placid (125 liters).

It arrived on Monday, (more than 7 months of anticipation). Tropical storm Odette is now sliding through the North Atlantic pushing swell at my beach so it was a good time to try the board. I am used to a thruster so I set it up as that.  The Placid thruster set up has a center fin that is smaller than the sides. I choose the smallest sides with the even smaller center.

Sat morning was foggy and waist high glass. I paddle out thinking that it is a lot more tippy than what I am used to and that it  really does not want to go in a straight line. It needs to turn. I paddle around outside getting used to the board. I discover that the tipping is predictable and the board is much more stable if my stance is more narrow.

Time for a wave. I see a long grey lump moving at me out of the fog. Only 2 paddle strokes swings the board 90 degrees,  from parallel to the beach to pointing at it. There is no need for a step back turn. This board just pivots around where I am standing easily. Another stroke and I am on the wave. I do my compress and crank bottom turn that I learned on the bigger Steeze and. . .  WOAH I find myself doing a 180, going vertically back up the face into a floater off the lip. I have never gone vertical before. I have never done a floater before. I feel like some one has handed me the keys to their Porsche.

I spend the next 3 hours learning (and crashing a lot ). I am carving bottom to top on wave faces. It is not a speedy race down the line board but I am having fun turning. It feels like it is a plank on marbles. Just look and it turns. First ever floater - check. First ever vertical - check. First ever backside cutback - check. Yeehaa! Definitely not Placid.

It becomes clear that I can’t power in from outside. I must start farther inside where the wave is steeper. I am 6’2” and whenever I lean forward to do a power stroke, the shift in weight makes the nose dive. (Rick W suggested that I consider the 8’10” due to my height. - smart man, but I am learning to adapt.)

Day 2 - Lots of chop. The wind blows strongly from the side down the beach. I know that most on the zone run the Placid as a quad so I try it. I put on the smallest provided Sunova sides as the front pair and on the rear I place a pair of RFC 3.75 fins that I had. It is a completely different board! It is rock solid. There is no edgy tippy feeling. The chop is rolling over the rails and my feet. The  Placid is, well it is placid. Turns are no longer feeling like a plank on marbles. They are longer, but buttery smooth. I have fun but there is not a “yeehaa” moment.

 I am happy. I have never aspired to be a short board shredder but I have discovered that the feel of turning this thing can be really fun. I have only had a brief taste of what is possible.  This is an aspirational board for me. It can push the edge of my skill zone.  I expect to be playing with fins and learning from it for quite a while. It is good for oldsters to learn new stuff.

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