Has anyone ridden both? I’m looking to get a new prone board, Amos is top choice, but Im not sure about the differences on some of their boards. If anyone has ridden both and can speak to why one might want one vs the other, that would be great. Obviously the Spitfire has tracks way forward, Raptor looks similar to most other prone boards.
Website descriptions both kind of say the same thing “high performance… carves” type of stuff. Looking at the 4’4 26L sizes. I’m using Axis foils (810, 899) if that makes any difference, but there’s a chance I will convert to Unifoil someday.
I have the raptor - custom size though with a little bit more literage but also 4’4". Buddy has the spitfire. Both super nice boards, spitfire has less volume in the tail, little more difficult to pop up on. If you get custom theyll put the tracks anywhere for you…
Anyway, spitfire is a bit more “high performance” flat bottom, raptor a bit more traditional shape. The raptor paddles amazingly well, i can get in to a ton of waves on it. I think personally i would choose the raptor just because its maybe a bit more forgiving of a shape if you touch down. And with the ability to choose custom dims, you can kind of change the little things if you want.
One thing i will say about the amos boards, they are the most solid boards i have ridden, super stiff and light, way more connected feel to the mast than other boards I have ridden thats for sure. Some of the best construction i have seen in a foil board.
I’ve had both. Raptor is an easier board to paddle and catches waves easier but the Spitfire feels way higher performance when you’re up and riding. You sacrifice wave catching ability a little but it’s worth it IMO. Both are great though and +1 on build quality.
Whats your weight, that made you go custom to get more volume on the 4’4? I’ve heard the same from the one person I’ve ever seen with an Amos in California, he said the construction was unreal compared to anything else he’d ever touched. I think you’ve convinced me to lean towards the Raptor now, I was initially leaning Spitfire
Maybe consider the Amos Nitro prone board. Mine is 4’6" and 31L. It also has super long tracks so will suit any mast placement. Really nice balance between performance and approachability. It’s also bomber strong and looks cool!
Anyone finding these <30L boards not worth the pain to paddle? I surf spots with maybe more paddling, and hesitant to go much below my current 32L. For reference I’m ~75kg and probably classified as a very strong paddler and swimmer and still not very keen to lose the paddle power.
For reference I live up the road from Tom Earl who is similar weight and he settled on 26L after going all the way down to 22L, but I think fair to say his local spots are more organised. My local closeouts mean I can only make so many links before getting shutdown and a long paddle to the takeoff.
Yeah, they told me they updated their website and all of their board specs to match what the market wanted. I think they were getting all custom orders for these dimensions with more volume and decided to update the stock specs.
Which board did you get in the end? I’m considering either the Raptor or Spitfire. I’ve heard conflicting views on which is the better paddler, guess it depends on if you like the volume further forward or back. Any feedback would be much appreciated, cheers
Iv got the spitfire at 24L and im about 155lbs. I find that it paddles underwater which is fine with me and catching waves is easy as long as you are decent at positioning. The foam under the chest and the built in baseplate shim pushes the nose up a lot allowing you to get stand up pretty early. The pump is a bit weird with that built in baseplate shim but it does surf better allowing the feeling of being right over top the foil when loaded up in turns instead of having to fight the back foot pressure to bring it around. Plus you could always shim it flat. Only thing negative I have to share is that my deck has already taken a beating, so if you custom order I recommend having them add some glass on top.
However, I find that normal paddling position vs. Paddling for waves, you really need to scootch up to catch a wave. Meaning, I’m not convinced it’s was well balanced.
I ended up getting a JS. Lighter, but also less resilient.
However, I really like how flat it is. The normal paddling position va. Paddling for waves is the same.
Both are great boards, just some small differences.
