First, imagine the width of that tail... The tail of the Laird Puma Board.
Second, imagine trying to turn such a beast, with such a wide tail. Trying to release each rail as you turn on a wave....
Or at least try and imagine how the Laird Puma Board (or is it The Volvo Board??) would go sliding down the line at The Alley, Currumbin. With a really wide tail!
Note - it's not really designed as a BOP board. Just throwing it out there, for thoughts.... Obviously, bottom contours are very important too.
The Puma board was here - and pivot turning it was probably it's best asset. The rounded off rails lets it swing with ease.
Be fun to try, though I think it's 14 foot, so too long for BoP races. There was a 13' prototype, but haven't heard about a 12'6".
Plus it costs $6,500 (or $8,500 in Europe...). And for all that money and advanced construction, it's apparently still heavier than most 2012 race boards (around 16-17kg).
Either way, full credit for being innovative. And it does look pretty quick in this video...
in any bop race with a bit of surf you would never stay on the thing. even in tiny surf you would be off it.
the pressure of race paddling in surf is enormous. any tiny little bit of unbalanced work sees you in the drink.this board you can see that the guys are balancing in the flats.
kelly is one of the best in regards to staying on a board, but i couldn't even see him doing it
It's purely a marketing ploy - the board looks really good in pictures, not so much in real life. It's really unstable despite its width, the anti-slip doesn't work except give you cuts when you climb back on, it's not particularly quick, and the deck gives way under your weight which is quite unnerving - but it is pretty light, I'd say under 15 kg's.
