L41 S4 vs S5

[GOTWAVZ]

Got my hands on the new S5 tonight.  I will write a review in a week or so.
Some folks were asking about the differences between the S4 and S5, so I took a few shots for visual analysis.

Dimensions are;

S4 = 7-6 x 29 x 4 3/8 106 Liters
S5 = 7-5 x 27 3/4 x 4 3/8 108 Liters

Im 5'-9" at 215 Lbs

Note they do come with lithium ion batteries to keep them glowing, which adds to the weight

Scary note I only have one leash plug....not sure what to do with just one...maybe I need to have an IPA

[lopezwill]

  Great!  I have the S4 and really like it!  I don't know how you can balance on yours at 108 liters?  This one is 31.5 across and was too small for me.  I went to a 8'10" 159 volume and 33 across S4 and I'm really happy with it!  I'm curious to your upcoming review as to how the S5 surfs backside, stability and surfing larger waves compared to the S4.  I might upgrade?

[SUPcheat]

The word seems to be that the Tomo door types are more stable due to more parallel rails and chopped off nose and can be ridden shorter and narrower.  I think I will wait for more water research from the guinea pigs.

I have seen Kirk riding his S5 type around Privates/Sharks Santa Cruz.  His looks pretty small and a tad sunk, but he is the test pilot for his product, he may just be pushing the limits to see how it goes. Didn't look like it paddled very fast or very straight.  He also must be in the upper percentiles for balance for his height and weight.  He looks smooth as butter on the waves with it.

[lunchbox]

The word seems to be that the Tomo door types are more stable due to more parallel rails and chopped off nose and can be ridden shorter and narrower.

Definitely agree with this statement. As an example...

I'm 6'4" and 205lbs (without wetsuit and hyrdration pack) and I have a Simsup X - 8'0"x30.5"x 4 3/8 130L. I test drove a T. Patterson 9'2" x 29" x 4" 128L.

I found the Simsup X to be a bit more stable. I've only had the simsup X out once so I'll have to take it it out a few more times so this might be a little premature, but I don't think I would want to go any smaller and especially not more narrow. If I'm struggling to stay on the board too much and I lose the ability to get into waves easily, then I lose the fun factor.

[GOTWAVZ]

So got some really fun conditions to test this new board in today. Surfline said 3-4 plus, there were defiantly some head high plus sets at 17th St in Huntington Beach with mild Santa Ana Winds (offshore) and 82F air, so I put on my sprint shortie and let her rip.  Oh an the spring break college girls were in full effect, just sayin.

I was a little nervous with the width being 27" 3/4 but this board seemed even more stable than my S4 which his 29". Maybe it was the perfect glassy conditions, but yes it gave me instant confidence.

I noticed right away as I paddled on my belly outside that the board was faster than my S4 (due to the parallel rails).  This was even more noticeable once I got the courage to stand on the board and take a few strokes.

Catching waves was very easy, even more so than my S4, but it was kind of weird when I stepped forward to "help" the board down the face of the wave...it kinda slowed down, but as soon as you put weight back on the tail it "took off"

This board was exceptionally fast down the line...I made the shoulder on waves that I would not have on my S4.

I caught about 4 waves..made it to the shoulder and tried to turn but not so good....started to get scared that something was not right

As I caught more waves my confidence built and I figured out where the stomp pad was...caught another wave and hit the stomp pad...it was like a switch was turned on an the thing was LOOSE...I smacked the lip with full force....almost ate it but the board came around (so light) quickly and I came back down the face....that's when I knew everything was going to be just fine.

This was the first virgin voyage...more to come as I figure this out. I definitely want to play with the fin set up.

Now ready to sell the S4...PM me if your interested

[Sup-position]

Gotwavz, was re-finned today..

Scimitars (front), QD375 (Rears), TMF (Center)

Maybe he'll post his thoughts...

[supthecreek]

Good thread.... love the input here. Keep it coming 

Kinda unhappy that I haven't noticed it for a few days, because the format allows "witty" exchanges on the "Shark" thread to admonish the useful threads to the archives.

[GOTWAVZ]

Gotwavz, was re-finned today..

Scimitars (front), QD375 (Rears), TMF (Center)

Maybe he'll post his thoughts...

Well another really fun day here in HB. Ralph let me try out his fin reccomendation and although it looks really "busy" it actually worked really well. This board is all that and a bag of chips. Super fast down the line, snappy off the top and has great glide.

I hate to say it but I could have gone smaller even at my 215 plus weight.

The new fin set up makes it more alive and easier to pivot, It was my second day on the board and my learning curve has been very steep.

The only negative on the board is that the squared tip catches sometimes when leaning heavy over into a bottom turn and has caused me to "trip" over it.  Kinda weird, but I'm assuming with time I will be able to adjust accordingly.

A positive on the squared nose it that it pops over the whitewater and I am making a lot of walls of whitewater on my paddle out, that along with the parallel rails allows for speedy returns to the lineup for more waves.