Atlantic POD #1

     

Richard Woodcock. Putting the very first Atlantic POD through it’s paces in Ireland.

Lava EVO5 bonzer

6’10 cheek-tail Atlantic POD EVO5 in Lava tint and artwork on the deck by Sarah Goodfellow.

Photos by Hugh Goodfellow, (thanks Hugh).

  

Last shape of 2011

Hugh’s 6’10” Atlantic POD… Bernoulli concaves and cheeky tail. I LOVED shaping this board.

    

RED review - Atlantic POD EVO6

Last week I was lucky enough to surf RED at Way-Outs in overhead and clean. After a long paddle i have to say i enjoyed the board more than any other in a longtime… it paddled in early, and smoothly and was SO stable that i actually forgot about taking off all together, it was back to being instinctive… which it hasn’t been since my knee op really. Once up the board was amazing. The closest I can liken it to is skateboarding; i felt i had no limitations, i could carve such tight lines and every input not only resulted in a smooth turn but acceleration. I could really feel the back fins driving together projecting me into the next turn and running smoothly through flat spots.

The following day I had it at a rocky little number on the low tide. I got a nice little cover-up followed by a vert top turn; what was so impressive about this was that the whole first part of the wave as i dropped in and pulled in, I was riding from the middle as I got up too far forward, but the board still turned and drove beautifully. For me this has always been an important characteristic of riding bonzers, they are so forgiving and don’t have that narrow sweetspot like the thrusters I used to ride. 

So the 6’4” x 20 3/4” x 2 7/8” New Atlantic POD with Bernoulli concaves and dedicated EVO6 set up is officially my new favourite board.

Red

      

6’4 x 20 3/4” x 27/8” Atlantic POD, double pinlines, bonzer runners in American Ash, FCS EVO6 rear setup, cheek-flextail.

I set up this board as an EVO6 exclusively as my last Atlantic POD i rarely put a centre fin in to ride it as an EVO5… it surfed so much better as a 6 fin so this one is no compromise.

Review coming soon.

Atlantic POD

   

SOLD: Atlantic POD bonzer EVO5/6 – your flexible friend

Traditional bonzer EVO5 set-up:

For those who love the pivot and smooth rail to rail transition of the traditional bonzer set up. EVO5 features changes to the bonzer side fins for additional drive in slower lower energy waves typically found in the UK.  This set up is well suited to any size surf and will deliver the typical bonzer experience.

EVO6 bonzer set-up:

This is ideal for beach breaks where you want to get immediate drive mid face to get going down the line. Using FCS MR side fins to replace the single fin there is heaps of drive and hold. Suited to power surfers and those who like plenty of fin to push against.

 

Arc EVO6 bonzer for smaller waves:

This fin allows more easy rail to rail transitions than a conventional fins. The curved profiles have less resistance to go from rail to rail, and therefore it feels more like a single fin bonzer, but with the extra initial drive of the twin rear fins. Ideally suited to smaller, slower waves as the fins offer less resistance to turn.

ARC2 EVO6 bonzer for smaller waves:

Want the lower resistance but with increased stability, this set up utilises 2 of the rear G-CRV fins, providing a stable but more pivotal experience than the standard EVO6 set-up. Great in more hollow waves for late drops into the barrel and subtle adjustments in the pocket.

 

Other set-ups:

It really is a matter of personal taste and everyone who has ridden these boards tends to have a different favourite. Try using 2 symmetrical FCS G5 rears for easier turning than the conventional set up. Use Quad asymmetrical foil sides as your rears for more drive. That really is the beauty, experiment and find your favourite. What is proven is that by splitting the rear bonzer single fin effectively in two, and placing them out to the rails the board responds more quickly in terms of drive and that this makes them much more usable in fast beach breaks where you don’t always have the luxury of starting off with a nice bottom turn.

Atlantic POD bonzer EVO5/6

6’6” x 20 7/8” x 2 7/8” 

This board was inspired by my original POD from Malcolm Campbell. It is designed with an even gentle rocker, thoroughly modern rails, and a slightly narrower nose for easy duckdiving. Plenty of float and a forgiving plan-shape mean this board should be really user friendly and give a good wave count. It comes with a single fin box for the EVO5 set up and with FCS plugs for the EVO6 for maximum flexibility across a massive wave range. This should be great fun on the small days, and a stable confidence booster on the bigger ones. The fin set up is so flexible that it takes some explaining, so I'll do another post, another day…