L41 ST Demo session

[NorthJerzSurfer]

Great to see you again this AM Ken!

Glad you enjoyed the board and I think everyones comments on the thread have it nailed!

I've found, as I mentioned to you in person, this has become my go to board 85% of the time for our speedy NJ waves below Chest high.

As a matter of fact the size waves you were in on it would probably be the max I would take that out in before going to my Genration Wedge.

it really is a great high tide weapon.  Ive been able to extend sessions well beyond proners and even other suppers when the waves fatten out.

[sflinux]

In general, best to converse with Kirk to get an idea of sizing and model for your conditions.
But it seems the trend for riders that love riding L41 as their all-around board is to not go too small in terms of volume, to best balance the fun to work ratio.
The taller rider will appreciate width in terms of leverage.
For e.x.
ST:
AJR ST 8'4" x 31" 4.5" 136L 6'1" (225#)  [gf=1.33]
DEMO LBsup L41 ST 8' x 30.5" 129L 5'9" 200# [gf=1.42]
TallDude ST 8'8" x 32" 4.5" 146L 6'7" 225# [gf=1.43]
Northjerzsurfer: L41 ST 8' x 30.5" 129L 175# [gf=1.62]
StarboardSUPMan  ST 8'4" x 31.5" 136L 6'2" 175# [gf=1.71]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simsup:
Ponobill: Simsup 8'8" x 32" x 4.5" 150L 235# 6'2" [gf=1.4]
Lopezwill: L41 Simsup 8'10" x 33" 159L 230# 6'4"  [gf=1.52]
Beasho: L41 Simpsup 8'2" x 32" 139L 180# [gf=1.7]

[gf = guild factor = volume of board (L) / weight of rider (kg)]

[ospreysup]

Just to add. I am 6'2 245. My ST is 8'10 x 32 160L. (GF=1.44)

[supthecreek]

Hi Ken, nice to see a vid of you again!
You handled the board well and the waves looked fun!

I have a few boards that are so fast, that I have to manage speed to get the ride I want.
Sometimes a top turn as I take off, then start carving control turns down the line before I get to Mach speed.
When I need the speed, I can run it into a longer arc, down the line turn, which handles the speed and gets around sections.

Now that travel stops are back in plan A, I will have to drop in some day, instead of wizzing past on my way up and down the coast!
I have missed the visits to surf with you my friend.... and all of the awesome Jerzy Crew!

[LBsup]

Hi Ken, nice to see a vid of you again!
You handled the board well and the waves looked fun!

I have a few boards that are so fast, that I have to manage speed to get the ride I want.
Sometimes a top turn as I take off, then start carving control turns down the line before I get to Mach speed.
When I need the speed, I can run it into a longer arc, down the line turn, which handles the speed and gets around sections.

Now that travel stops are back in plan A, I will have to drop in some day, instead of wizzing past on my way up and down the coast!
I have missed the visits to surf with you my friend.... and all of the awesome Jerzy Crew!

Hey Rick,  thanks!  Yea it sounds like there is an adjustment period to get used to fast boards.  I hope you do plan to make a stop or two in the Jersey area, please let me know when/if you do.  I’d love to demo the Placid, reading about it on the other site sounds like one I would enjoy.  Take care.

[NorthJerzSurfer]

In general, best to converse with Kirk to get an idea of sizing and model for your conditions.
But it seems the trend for riders that love riding L41 as their all-around board is to not go too small in terms of volume, to best balance the fun to work ratio.
The taller rider will appreciate width in terms of leverage.
For e.x.
ST:
AJR ST 8'4" x 31" 4.5" 136L 6'1" (225#)  [gf=1.33]
DEMO LBsup L41 ST 8' x 30.5" 129L 5'9" 200# [gf=1.42]
TallDude ST 8'8" x 32" 4.5" 146L 6'7" 225# [gf=1.43]
Northjerzsurfer: L41 ST 8' x 30.5" 129L 175# [gf=1.62]
StarboardSUPMan  ST 8'4" x 31.5" 136L 6'2" 175# [gf=1.71]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simsup:
Ponobill: Simsup 8'8" x 32" x 4.5" 150L 235# 6'2" [gf=1.4]
Lopezwill: L41 Simsup 8'10" x 33" 159L 230# 6'4"  [gf=1.52]
Beasho: L41 Simpsup 8'2" x 32" 139L 180# [gf=1.7]

[gf = guild factor = volume of board (L) / weight of rider (kg)]

Im actually about 210.  so im around 1.36 GF. and on the lower side  But completely agree. these boards should be at 1.3 or above to be fun and fast.

[slsup]

I have the L41 bruce wayne GF 1.25 so I don't know how relevant to the ST but it does have a relatively wider nose and tail similar to some of kurts other shapes.

I can use this board in a wide variety of conditions, but not super stable to stand around on for me. Anyway it has a very pronounced double concave/spiral v. I find the effect of this is to help split the board so when you are on rail your not feeling the width, and it also feeds from rail to rail very quickly. The trade off to me is it is hard to wrap a cutback all the way around or pivot off the tail. 0 to 90 degree turns no problem. If you've ever surfed a wider tailed fish surfboard thats kind of what I'm feeling more like a fish but still can carve it up in overhead surf. I have no problem with it being too fast or slow, but I would say it is happiest on fast down the line waves.

Kurt makes a variety of stuff so it's hard to generalize, my friend has a more traditional pin tail of his that he likes.

[SUPlime]

I've found, as I mentioned to you in person, this has become my go to board 85% of the time for our speedy NJ waves below Chest high.

As a matter of fact the size waves you were in on it would probably be the max I would take that out in before going to my Genration Wedge.

I took my 7'11" 125L ST to Nicaragua two summers ago. Waves were consistently head+ and the ST (or at least me on the ST) wouldn't hold an edge on a steep face. I often felt like I was 'skating' out. Anybody else have this experience?

[TallDude]

When it gets OH+ and it's steep I'll surf my 9' green machine with a tradition pulled in nose and tail. Plus more rocker. It can handle the speed and the steep set up a thruster or quad. It needs to be big for that board to really perform. BUT...... 95% of the time, I'm on shoulder to head high slopey waves which is where my L41 ST is so much more fun.

[ospreysup]

SUPlime and Talldude- This was exactly the conversation I had with Kirk. I was between a Popdart and the ST. I chose the added stability over the performance because I was buying sight unseen (or demoed). To quote Kirk on the ST compared to the Popdart for East coast waves; "Not as functional when the surf gets big and round.......but a great general purpose board." 

 I have only had my ST out twice in overhead and after experiencing the speed by flying off the back of my board on my first wave, I tried something a little different for me. On entry I gave an extra pump at the top (which is counter intuitive for me) which allowed me to get ahead of the wave  without speeding down the face. Once ahead of the wave,  I faded a cutback back to the pocket to kill the some speed. From there I continued to the cutback to kill speed. Not sure if this is a thing or just me being a kook but I felt like I was surfing way more of the wave face for me. Not sure how accurate the Apple Watch is but this was the biggest wave  (overhead+) and most amount of time on a wave I have every surfed. Also the first time I tried the little pump at the top with my ST.

Looks like you can see the little wiggle at the top on both waves in the picture.

[NorthJerzSurfer]

I've found, as I mentioned to you in person, this has become my go to board 85% of the time for our speedy NJ waves below Chest high.

As a matter of fact the size waves you were in on it would probably be the max I would take that out in before going to my Genration Wedge.

I took my 7'11" 125L ST to Nicaragua two summers ago. Waves were consistently head+ and the ST (or at least me on the ST) wouldn't hold an edge on a steep face. I often felt like I was 'skating' out. Anybody else have this experience?

Yep...not something I want to be in a dredging pocket or Head high bareling wave.  Definetly the board's kryptonite.

[PonoBill]

The L41 is all about the fins. Connectors. I tried everything else I could think of because I broke one and I couldn't find connectors in local stores (SoCal). They're hard to find anywhere, but they make the L41 into a carving machine. Without great fins they skid out, with connectors they carve like buttah. It's been a while since I surfed my L41 and I just gave it away, but I never used as much of a wave until I got that thing, and it eased my transition to foiling since it's as close to foiling as you can get without being 2 feet off the surface with a sushi blade under you.

[Bean]

Yes, Controllers (Futures) work well for sim-sups, (even boards with Probox fin boxes (Infinity Phoenix), with minor mods.

[sflinux]

I agree Controllers work best. 
But in weak waves they can feel slow.  I experimented with fins and found that Keel fins are fun.  Feels like twins have less drag than quads.  Been using the Rasta Keels in weaker waves.  The area of the Rasta-keels is 24.6 versus 30.3 for the Controllers.  I have the Torren Martyn keel fins on my wish list (height 135mm/ base 178 mm), which look even bigger than the Rastas (height 121 mm/ base 174.5mm).
The Controllers are basically a split keel.

[NorthJerzSurfer]

I agree Controllers work best. 
But in weak waves they can feel slow.  I experimented with fins and found that Keel fins are fun.  Feels like twins have less drag than quads.  Been using the Rasta Keels in weaker waves.  The area of the Rasta-keels is 24.6 versus 30.3 for the Controllers.  I have the Torren Martyn keel fins on my wish list (height 135mm/ base 178 mm), which look even bigger than the Rastas (height 121 mm/ base 174.5mm).
The Controllers are basically a split keel.

This is an awesome peice of advice.  I also use controllers on my ST.  I'm going to give twins a rip and see how it works in the really gutless summer stuff.