I have the 4’6 Amp and love it. Added the 5’8” to my quiver for DW and winter, but I went too big. Looking to swap with anyone that has a 5’0” and would rather have more board. I’ll can add pics and videos if someone is interested in a swap.
Hey Ross,
Not looking to swap rather picking your brains on your experience downwinding with the amp.
I have 4’2” and love it. Like you want to add a board for wing/parawing/downwind.
I’ve winged the 5’0” & 5’8”. Both incredibly easy to get up in light winds. I laughed when I used the 5’8” with a 3.6m wing in light winds. Pushed the boost button and got up and flying as the jet was still winding up. So easy!
I had one optimistic downwind attempt in poor conditions on 5’0” (one of those days on the downwind chat everyone was excited at the start of the day and bummed at the end as the wind didn’t deliver and there was a lot of paddling around). I haven’t tried downwind on 5’8”
I did manage a short downwinder on the 4’2” in super peaky big bumps with the 707 flux rare conditions for where I am though
Keen to hear of your successes and struggles downwinding with the 5’8”.
I know about weight and feel. So am most interested in conditions you got 5’8” going in and what you think possible with the 5’0”…..
Hi Chad,
I honestly haven’t done any real DW on either Amp here, just 1-2 km shore runners. The coast right where I’m at is full of peninsulas with lots of shore access challenges. There are certainly some runs that are probably excellent but all very committed. I’m planning to up my skills in a more friendly zone before attempting any big sends.
My initial plans for the 5’8” were ease of padding and chipping in for overhead surf in a 6/4 wetsuit. The big board certainly paddles out to the peak like a motorboat. However I found that I couldn’t catch waves as easy as the 4’6”. Maybe the technique needs to be quiet different. It seemed like pointy convex nose just pushed water and bogged. When on the flat nosed Amp S, 8 seemed to plane and or do water slaps much faster. When I caught waves obviously it was less responsive on foil. When I went back and read the Flight description of the 5’8” it doesn’t even list prone in the uses, and the 5’0” does, so would think it doesn’t have as much of a dw style nose.
Maybe I should just keep the 5’8” for Parawing, (based on your experience).and eventually DW. I can just dial up my paddle assist all the way up on the 4’6” for bigger surf since I catch non breaking peaks quite easily with it.
Nice to have the battery to help out with the paddle if downwind doesn’t go to plan. Know there’s fun ahead whether shore runners or more committed sends.
Rad to be hunting bigger waves on foil. Incredible how much more possible the Amp makes bigger waves. Such an earlier entry into the waves. The Amp has helped (actually enabled) me foil a bombie out the back of one of the points we foil when it’s big. For years we’ve talked about it but no one had ever done it until I go the Amp.
More volume does seem = more paddle. Trade off between paddle power vs ride feel. And yes being able to dial up the paddle assist during a session is great. If I’m part way through a session & have lots of battery left I will dial up the paddle assist during a session.
Having ridden all sizes of the Amp boards there is a difference between the Amp S (4’2” & 4’6”) & Amp M boards (5’0” & longer). The S & M have different bottom and rail shapes. Am not sure how different the bottom shapes of the 5’0” & 5’” are. I have found I needed to lie in different places on the boards due to this. Not a big adjustment, just an adjustment like with any two boards of different sizes and shapes.
Was talking to a guy with an Amp who had done some downwinders. He said he moved right forward on the board to the board he was nearly nosediving & that really helped the board plane to gain more speed and then get up downwinding. I haven’t tried it. Can imagine it would help generate more speed. So fun to do a hands free send.
I’m off for a wing today.
Fun deliberations 
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What’s the point of a smaller amp board? 90% of the weight is in the battery/motor jet setup, saving like 2% weight to go down like 10L volume doesn’t make sense to me. Same applies for riding 20L boards for foil drive compared to a 40L midlength
I’d actually ask the opposite question: what’s the point of larger AMP boards or 40L midlengths when you’re riding with assist? Once you have power, volume becomes largely irrelevant for getting up, so you might as well take advantage of the benefits of a smaller board.
I’m 90KG with winter rubber on. I’ve spent a lot of time on the AMP 4’2 and 5’0 (5’0 for wing), using the 4’2 in relation to the 5’0 for prone style riding is night and day difference in experience, the 4’2 feeling pretty close to prone, where the 5’0 feels like a longboard compared to the shortboard in surfing. I think there is around 2KG difference in the weight which is massive. I’ve also spent plenty of hours on Foil Drive across a wide range of boards it’s the same feeling there comparing little prone boards to midlengths. the 20ish liter prone boards are also weighing around 1kg+ lighter than 40L area boards. In my experience, assist frees you from needing volume for takeoff, which opens the door to shorter boards with less swing weight, quicker response, and a more surf-like feel.
The only real reasons I see for pairing assist with a 35L+ Normal board/midlength are if you’re a heavier rider, value maximum stability at rest, or don’t yet have the technique to consistently get up on a smaller board. For everyone else, going smaller makes sense—why carry extra length, thickness, weight and volume when the motor already does the work for you?
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I ride all the sizes. For waves I somewhat agree but different conditions, different sizes boards and volumes make all the difference. If it’s clean I can get onto anything with the 4’2. It also pumps the best. The 4’6 is much more forgiving when the conditions aren’t perfect and is easier to get onto fatter waves. Its probably the best balance between ride and easy take off. When it comes to downwind, parrawing and winging it is much easier to get the 5’0 going than say the 4’2 and yes rides more like a midlegth but I like that when I am downwinding. The 5’8 is another 20L so depending on your weight and skill is just a bigger 5’0.
Saying the batteries and jet is 90% of the weight (4’4kg) that would make the boards under 1kg. The batteries and jet are also perfectly ballanced over the front wing so when you go a larger board you are effecting swing weight. Try pumpng a 4’6amp around vs a 8ft sup which is in the ballpark of similar weight. The AMP is much easier to pump as you don’t have the swing weight.
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Hi Chris, I totally agree with what you said above. The 5’0 excels at wing, parawing and downwind and it’s great to have that in the quiver for those disciplines. 4’2/4’6 for prone at normal weights. My post was aimed at Meow’s statement, focusing on what most assist users do, which is catching waves ampjet prone or FD onto a wave. My experience I find Meow’s post incorrect regarding the size of boards and the weight statement. There seems to be a huge drive towards midlengths on foildrive, where I think a shape like Flitelab raw, which has flatter rocker, shorter, wider and thinner is so much better for most people, more stable on the popup, so much more reactive and better pump once you are on foil. I’m unsure why you’d want to lose all of that for slightly less drag on the launch?
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This is a great discussion. I mainly prone surf but wanted an amp for sending down winds. Riding or inlet that we have to parawing but gets really good and on bigger wave days. I have paddles prone into overhead waves but man I have also taken some beatings. When it’s a mushier spot and it’s a big playing field I ride my 5’2 x18 I shaped and fun beachy days I ride a 4’5 34 ltr. I am 180 and in my 40s good prone foiler bad cardio lol. Which size would you recommend? I heard the 5’0 is significantly heavier. That is what I wa thinking until I heard that and now have no clue
The 5’0 is 1kg heavier than the 4’6. It is obviously bigger plus has strap inserts adding to the weight. If you are mainly going to use it for downwind, Parra and big days days then I would go with the 5’0. You can certainly downwind on the 4’6 but it takes longer to learn and get the takeoff right and is less forgiving with the conditions. The 5’0 definitely doesn’t pump as well as the 4’6 but you can still definitly pump it around.
