Ian reviews the Firewire LFT Hydronaut Surfboard: www.boardshop....
The Firewire LFT Hydronaut has been in the pipeline (sorry) for a long, long time and after some rigorous testing and fine tuning has finally landed at the Boardshop warehouse.
This is Daniel "Tomo" Thomson's first proper step-up designed for big powerful waves and barrels. Although already revered as a beast in barrelling beach-breaks, the long awaited Hydronaut is no one-trick-pony. According to the Firewire website the Hydronaut's ideal wave size would be 3 - 6 feet but this sounds a little limiting to us. Sized right this step-up will thrive in sizeable waves, perfect for Bali and the bigger days in the Maldives, right at home in the chunkier barrels of France and Portugal and now having had the opportunity to tuck it under an arm we think the Hydronaut would be fun on those chunky winter days here in the UK and Ireland.
The elliptical outline is pleasing on the eye and the rounded 'torpedo' nose significantly reduces the 'swing weight' making for a memorable, faster turning 'big-wave board which can still perform on the open face of a walling wave. The Hydronaut is unique in the step-up shortboard realm in that its 3 or 4 inches shorter than the norm. In fact it paddles like a much longer board but reacts like a board 3 or 4 inches shorter and is surprizingly fast to turn for a step-up. It feels floaty and free underfoot thanks to Tomo's Quad Inside Single Concave and inteligent rocker line.
Both Tomo and Stuey Kennedy have surfed the Hydronaut all over the globe, from Blacks and Baja to Hawaii and all over Australia. This pairing has brought Tomo's step-up philosophies to the wider 'Joe public' and are expecting big wave surfing to reach new heights in 2018. Tomo says he is also expecting average surfers to really enjoy the Hydronaut's ability to do the simple things easily; drop in...pull in...spit out...kick out!
The Hydronaut has a 'beefed up' version of the regular Linear Flex Technology (LFT), with a higher density core and slightly (barely really noticeable under the arm) heavier glassing to give it more durability and resistance to snapping in heavier waves.
View all Firewire Surfboards:
www.boardshop....
5 окт 2024
