L41 St

I gave some initial impressions of this board in earlier post about small wave shapes, it's a L41 ST 7'6"x28"x4" 100L; big reason I went with this board is because I could pick dims - I have Infinity SUPs that I love, but their RNB in a 7-7 is 87L so close to 1.0 L/kg, and customs seemed expensive and backlogged. This was ~$1600 USD and maybe 6-7 weeks turn around (shipping would have been a dealbreaker though) -- much less expensive than other options I considered.

I really enjoy surfing this board. It's stable for it's size, especially when it's clean -- notably less work to balance and paddle around than my 100L Blurr V2, but maybe a tad bit slower. Relatively easy to catch waves on if you're not expecting to glide in early, first it's stable for volume so you're less likely to be bobbling, second if you do bobble or lean too far forward, the nose doesn't dive as easily as my Blurr. BUT, if you drop late into a steeper wave, the lack of rocker makes it hard, harder than my 9' New Deal, dunno if that's cause of rocker or because if you step back on longer board you can lift nose more. Steep waves are wasted on this board, at least with me piloting it.

But this board is insanely fun and I think it's because of how 3 things work together. It's short, it's fast, and it surfs well from the tail block. When you get on a wave, the tail is right there, step back just a little and you're on the block at the back of the pad -- it's really hard to not be far enough back. Perhaps because of the Controller quads and the tail shape, I can have my foot at the block without stalling or losing grip during a bottom turn - this is very different than on my other boards. And if the wave is running away (as usually does here) this thing flies pumping down the line. So the magic, for me, is that I can get all the maneuverability of being on a 7-6 at the tail block, but without losing speed and drive. Took me some sessions to get the hang of turns on the wide tailed board but now feels normal.

The downsides are that it doesn't do well in steep waves, and it doesn't do as well in whitewater compared to pulled in shape, when paddling out (don't care) but also when on a wave (which does matter for me). In ~ chest to head high, both my Blurr and the ST are super fun, in my mind the Blurr is more fun to do top turns and cuttbacks on if all else is equal, but in reality I'm more likely to make a section or come off the bottom with speed when I'm on the L41. So it's great to toggle between them -- can be a little tricky going back to the Blurr because I have to be more intentional about getting to the tail.

Two other notes, can't tell in pic but the board has step rails, the rails are maybe a tad thinner than my Blurr (which I find thin compared to other boards), but don't stay narrow for as far in toward stringer -- hard to compare. I've gotten a little over ambitious with paddling over whitewater or hitting closeouts and had some good paddle whacks, no dings so far, seems pretty tough. Have RSPRO tail but these rails don't seem to mark as much as my other boards.

Very tempted to get their Popdart model at some point in the future if it can do well in steeper waves while also having all the things I love in the ST.

Nice review. Hard to do it all with one board. For steep waves I think you would be better served by the Bruce Wayne rocker for a small to med. wave machine. If you look at the website outline it's still a pretty stubby board compared to the blurr allowing for shorter than normal length. Good point though on how it's harder to trim with the foot all the way back on a rockered board, thus the wide sup stance you sometimes see from advanced riders, can be kind of ugly though.

I've got a pop dart recently if you want any info