Ive been looking at this Stretch f4 in my local surfbshop for a few weeks and its the perfect dims for me.
I have read nothing but great reviews and comments about these boards.
“best board ive ever ridden” or ou can ride these boards in any surf tiny or big…
Anyway these boards seem like a great transition into shortboards for me with the width and quad setup, as im used to riding twin keels etc.
However im curious as to whether they are hindered by the minimal flex tufflites/surftechs have.
Could it be a better board if i copied it precisely and had one made into a sunova?
Im curious as to mpre reports on these boards, how they paddle into waves, how much excelleration aswell as top speed they have, how they surf down the line etc…Any info would be great.
I’ve got a couple of boards with rail stringers - thrusters and a quad. The quad actually works best. The quad has the Mckee fin placement which has the back fins closer to the centre line than the Stretch set up so its a different type of board. I think Bert is not so keen in quads because he did a lot of experimentation in the eighties and couldn’t get them to work with his team riders.
f4s kick ass. i have a few and use one as my daily driver when the waves are good. i transitioned to one from a speed dialer setup and it was a smooth transition. i’m a huge fan - paddles well, super fast (faster than the speed dialer once you figure it out), great down the line, great turns.
the boards are meant for good waves. they’re not meant for crappy surf. stretch will you tell you the same thing. you don’t necessarily need size, but definitely shape.
i would suggest ordering one from stretch. not a fan of surftech boards.
Ive inspected the ST F4 TL2 youre asking about and have a very good understanding of the board and fin setup.
Looking at the Sunova quad posted by Huie, its far from it. I wouldnt set a quad that way. Maybe thats why BB doesnt like them. The shapes are also very different. The F4 has a cleaner faster shape, the Sunova is hippy. I wouldnt combine a hippy outline with a quad. Generally, a quad eliminates the need for pronounced hips.
I’d say its somewhat apples to oranges. The F4 TL2 is pretty hot…I couldnt recommend against it. But the stock Sunova thrusters are hot too.
EDIT: oops, the F4 comes both from Stretch and ST TL2. I saw the TL2. Proly the same dimensionally.
The width of the tails on our Magic carpet model means that if the side fins are closer to the rail as in what usually looks normal, you need a huge foot to rock it rail to rail. Basically, the fin positioning must still relate to the feet for leverage.
Fins too close to the rail…and this is my simplified version of the theory, will pull the rail deeper into the water, making it more difficult to pull it out without a bigger weight transition. That and a wide tail is a dodgy combo for quick reaction times. The Mckee set-up works somewhat more like a split finned thruster, if you like…
