OK. Now to the board review that nobody is asking for: The Average-Joe Chop tail board review:
A bit of background on reviewer - not paid, not sponsored, not young, paid full price. Been foiling 4 years - surfed 30 years previously. This review is after 6 sessions; ~250 waves.
I got a BE2 that is same volume as my JS Bennetts, which is same volume as my standard short board.
I have wrote this as I found nothing on the internet about these boards (apologies if this redundant information that I just wasnāt able to find). So here you go:
Paddling performance: I had the opportunity to test the padding performance yesterday by coming off foil way on the inside yesterday and had some long paddles - I see no noticeable difference in paddling with my JS Bennetts, same volume, 6ā shorter.
ā In terms of paddling for waves and popping up:
A. Iām not sure if paddling in terms of catching waves is affected. If anything, I would lean towards a very slight disadvantage- but Iād say itās mostly negligible, and highly dependent on my body position, and not being fully used to the board yet. Once I do so, I expect this to be a wash.
B. Body positioning when catching waves is super important- more so than with bigger board. It took me longer than I care to admit to get up on foil the first time. I am still learning to āunlearnā some of my checklist when paddling for waves, in terms of where the tailpad is with relation to my knees, where I put my hands, etc. One thing I learned previously is I should paddle for waves in a body position that feels unnaturally forward on a surfboard (like Iām gonna pearl)- and then one more little shuffle forward is optimal. The inverse is true for me on chop tail board; to be successful I had to be what feels unnaturally far back on the board. Add to this having 6ā less on the back end, and now my margin for error on establishing my back foot is really small. It took me probably about 3 sessions to figure this is out - and Iām still botching waves occasionally because of this (2 good ones yesterday tooš). I had no one to talk to help me solve this problem - Iād expect the learning curve for others, with this knowledge, to be much less.
Surfing: Disclaimer - I really like(d) my JS Bennetts board, and they are super similar in the way foam is distributed and balanced.
A. There is definitely less swing weight, which I feel like leads to more pitch stability. I think this equates to a more āflowyā smooth / surfy feeling.
B. I like surfing off the back of the board on the BE2. It does feel more like thruster surfing (off the tail), versus what I call midlength or twin fin surfing, with your feet more in the middle of the board. Some would probably describe this as āmore drive feeling.ā
C. While the difference between the Bennetts and BE2 isnāt huge, there is definitely a difference, and I like it (a lot), for the above reasons.
D. I have done a fair bit of thinking on what exactly feels better, and itās hard to put my finger on it. One thing that I do really like is have my foot back on the tail kicker / foot arch of the tail pad - it feels natural compared to thruster surfing and gives immediate feedback that the back foot is exactly in the right spot. I wonder if the similar could be achieved by ripping up the traction pad on my Bennetts, removing 6ā from the middle, and shifting the tail pad forward.
E. One thing I have heard people say is chop tails boards are better for foam bashes. I have just started working on this - fell on my first one yesterday, then probably did 8-10 before falling again. I did get to see some rippers do this recently in Hawaii - which honestly probably helped more than the board, but itās another data point.
F. Overall - not a HUGE difference in surfing - but I like the differences a lot - even if itās just placebo.
Pumping: The board is super stiff, with dual stringers (same as Bennetts). Feels super similar - although a possible slight increase in that initial pump coming off a wave - possibly to do with less swing weight. Difference is little/negligible/possibly placebo.
Last thing Iāll say - I was feeling like I was missing some of the initial excitement and thrill of learning and the learning process in foiling. For me, that second year of learning was AMAZING - and I think I missed that. I am very happy with my foil setup - so the board / BE2 seemed like an obvious place to tinker with. I feel like this board can give me the confidence to keep learning and progressing as a foiler. It was the right time for me, I think
I do expect that most prone guys will be on a version of these in the next 18 months. I would say that, as do all who sell these types of boards, it is for intermediate/ advanced audience.
Point of interest- on some podcast Zane Westwood spoke pretty disparagingly of the AMOS Nano and the chop tail concept generally (I was quite surprised how openly negative and frank he was, especially as a AMOS team rider). His last full length edit is him 100% on the Nano.
After 6 years prone Iāve come to the realization that stiffness is the only thing that matters and this always gives a freshie the feeling of being a āgame changerā over an old tired board.
If the construction is the same as the old black eagle this will be stiff for approx 3 months. At the end of the day this is a traditional surfboard manufacturer making the board in a traditional surfboard factory with regular surf parts(boxes, stringer, etc) and minimal modifications for foiling. Itās never going to hold up like a foil specific brand with more cutting edge constructuon(like Appletree or portal). Even freedoms boards are garbage(foiling marketing department still making the boards in a surfboard factory)
Iām currently riding a JS Bennetts and my mate recently got the BE2.
Both are outstanding boards IMO, neither are great paddling shapes but are some of the better boards Iāve ridden when it comes to stiffness/lightness and overall build.
Very happy with them and keen to give the BE2 a go but also not in a rush to get rid of my Bennetts.
@drc13 I agree with everything youāve said. And I hope that kind of comes across in my review. Itās not leaps and bounds better than the Bennetts.
It is something different, and while I think it is slightly better in some small ways, itās probably not worth buying if you have a board you like in good shape, and your surfing isnt getting stale.
On the topic of construction, I agree. My Bennetts has been really well used and not exactly well cared for (I leave in the car more than I should), and no box issues, delam issues, or stiffness issues for me. I donāt have any experience with the BE1.
What sort of bespoke parts are foil specific brands using that others are not? What sort of foil specific modifications are foil only brands making that others are not? I honestly donāt know, and am curious.
Iām not sure itās fair to compare use any companyās gen 1 boards as a benchmark for their current board quality - Iām sure most brands would fail that metric.
Alot of it is about the factories and the manufacturing processes theyāre plugging into. A standard surfboard factory is taking pre-stringered blanks from a supplier, machine shaping them, using standard futures boxes, and adding alot of carbon lamination to the shell - iāll give them the benefit of the doubt that theyāre vacuum laminating the carbon. Standard stringers are nowhere near enough reinforcement for foiling loads and futures boxes are definately a weak point. Freedom boards is in this category too and theyāre using an inadequate āfoil blankā from marko foam that has a 1" piece of high density foam in the foil tracks area. I donāt know if iād consider this any better than a standard stringer.
Futures boxes route into the board a specific way and its what standard surfboard laminators are used to. I personally prefer chinook boxes (from windsurfing) and i know a few brands use those. Many foil specific brands like appletree maketheir own boxes. Its hard to get a surfboard laminator to re-tool part of their factory for a different kind of box. Its a significant process change. Some elements are impossible to slot into that manufacturing process. Appletree also uses a PVC foam blank (so do i) wich i believe is incompatible with even the shaping machines used by a regular surfboard factory.
If iām repairing a board (i do alot of freedoms) I epoxy in alot of carbon and high density PVC foam reinforcement internally. Based on how well they hold up i SUSPECT this is what Portal is doing. This is a TON of extra tooling and steps for a surfboard factory and i canāt see it ever happening really.
Portal is making a stiff EPS board that really holds up - theyāre really quiet about whats inside and nobodyās broken one enough to sacrafice it to cut into to see whats in there. It seems like they have something special and are being quiet to maintain an advantage. I believe this because theyāre not plugged into the standard surfboard ecosystem. JS doesnāt tell us much besides ātwin stringerā but i have to assume its in the standard surfboard ecosystem. EPS blank, two LONG pieces of wood touching the futures boxes, ton of carbon to compensate.
Other factory/manufactuting things to notice - you can tell when things are made in the kiteboard exosystem because they are HEAVY and have 1000 strap inserts (looking at you North). All the windsurf manufacturers generally do a better job and use better parts because windsurfing has much higher fin loads - alot of the wing/DW/SUP stuff is coming out of the Kinetick factory or the COBRA factory (i believe in vietnam) both good windsurf factories - definately doing better work but charge accordingly. I feel like any time you see that sexy brused carbon finish like on the newer KT downwind stuff and on the Kalamas its coming from that high end windsurfing ecosystem which is lightyears ahead standard surf factories. Appletree definately has their own factory and is doing some special work but everyone else is plugged into a consolidated manufacturing operation (besides small operations like Portal). Portal has that āWhite Trashā hotcoat finish over the carbon which hides alot of ugly looking carbon layering wihch is great. Good carbon work is rarely āprettyā(lots of layers and patches and reinforcement are suposed to go over the full sheet to keep the full sheets flatter and prevent burning through the big continuous sheet sanding) and should be hidden with paint or some kind of hotcoat. Any time you see really sexy gloss clear carbon thats kind of a red flag to be honest.
Also, remember that boards go soft and show 0 visible damage on the outside. No cracks, no leaks, just box movement. To test this you need two people. One person stands on the bottom of the board and grabs the foil with both hands and pushes, twists, and moves it around. (The forces in actual foiling are way more intense than this - more similar to two people sitting on the front wing like a bench) The other person has hands on the bottom of the board around the foil base feeling for flex in the bottom. If thereās movement its easy to feel.
Yeah, this is exactly what Iām talking about. This is a good carbon work looks like. Itās not a clearcoated perfect sheet of woven bi-ax. You can see where every piece of laminate was placed to maximize strength and stiffness and just barely burned through the fairing compound!
@JuanJohn808 damn, your review just cost me some money today! The local JS Garage had the size I was interested in.
Iāve got the JS Mr. Bennetts, 4ā4"x17 1/2"x2 9/16"x 27L. I bought it to replace an Amundson Super model, 4ā4" 30L that was de-lamming. I really liked the JS 4ā4", but after 5 months I finally realized that 27L was too small for my paddling abilities at 59y/o. The JS 4ā4" is now my preferred dock start board.
For the past year or so, my go to prone board was the JS Mr. Bennetts Easy Glider, 4ā6"x 19.5" x 2.75" x 35L. The placement of the boxes of the easy glider seems too far back AND the boxes 1" shorter than the MB signature model I had to use a mast shim to get the Easy Glider to pump decently with the Lift 120HA and 150HAX.
At first I thought the Easy Glider was shit for pumping, but instead of getting a different board, I decided to improve my pump technique by learning how to dock start. Now that my pump technique improved, the 4-6 Easy Glider no longer feels like a dog, but the 4-4 JS MR Bennetts is definitely better for pumping.
I just picked up the 4ā1"x32.1L BE2. Iām hoping for improved paddle power over the JS 4ā4"x27L with at least the same pumpability. Iāll try it out later this afternoon.
At 140 lb, I havenāt noticed any of my foil boards getting worn out, except for the aforementioned Amundson. The JS boards have seemed pretty durable. I did ding the nose of the JS 4ā4" pretty good when I bashed it into the dock, but I wonāt hold that against JS.
I had to use a mast shim to get the Easy Glider to pump decently with the Lift 120HA and 150HAX.