Riding the Flyboy Prototype behind the Supreme V226
 

Finally got a decent video with my buddy's GoPro, wanted to share it with the world!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMeFSmQacbU

Riding on Saturday, had about 10mph winds blowing and just barely 70 degrees! Cannot express how stoked I am with my wave! Everything fills up in less than 5 minutes, there are NO sacks on the seat and the boat has much-less of a lean-on than my older V220.

We're running at 10.7 mph in the video, riding the prototype Flyboy that I'm testing out and providing feedback to Jeff Walker. This board is so fun...it's a little slower and "softer" than the production version of Inland Surfer Flyboy. It's also GREAT for the bigger kids (220+ lbs)...everyone that has riden this board behind my V226 has proclaimed to have "their best session EVER!" and I concur.

I kept overspinning my 3's, but feeling like I'm getting them dialed in more! A new boat + new wave + new board and I feel like I've had to re-learn half the sport!! The airs are getting BIGGER! The landings are SUPER smooth on this board...soft, squashed tail just lets you come down the wave so easy. All my weight is back...versus the front-heavy ride of boards like the Shred Stixx Hazen Custom (which I pulled out and rode ONE time over the weekend, but then put it back in the rack due to the love of the speed and ease of riding these Flyboy boards!).

Shout out to Jeff & James Walker for building some incredible fun boards! Thanks again guys for letting our crew be part of your testing process...hopefully our feedback helps shape future board design & technology!

For those that can't get their hands on a handmade version, DEFINITELY hit up the guys at Inland Surfer and pick up a Flyboy if you're looking to add a new smile to your face behind the boat!

You're killing it Greg and having fun, too! Thanks so much for all our help and kind words.

Wave looks great, nice video. You spun that 3 around fast, cool.

Thanks guys, still got some work to do to make the wave bigger...nothing a custom fatsac can't help with??? Next year...until then, we're looking at a few weekends of surfing left IF the weather stays above 70!

Greg, is the prototype Flyboy a little bigger than the inland surfer flyboy? It looks like a bigger board.

Nice vid and riding! What length is that board?

Brian & Timmy! - the board length of the proto is identical to the Inland Surfer Flyboy (both are 4'6")...the difference is the thickness, width and construction. Jeff could explain it better (and hoping he'll chime in) but the IS Flyboy is epoxy resin, whereas the proto is fiberglass. It's actually slightly heavier than the IS version. It's slightly wider but not by much, but it's definitely thicker and has more rocker to it. Overall, I feel like I can recover easier from nose dives because the nose is a bit thicker and you can drive it through the water, instead of pearling it. The rails are also a bit softer (the IS Flyboy's are carbon fiber) and doesn't 'bite' into the water as hard. All around, just a little more 'floaty' than the IS version!

Not to get personal, but what weight range are you in? All of the guys that ride on my boat are over 6'0 and in the 190 to 220 range, was hoping to hear that it would work great for us and pick one up next season.

@timmy, you should demo one first, great board, but expensive. Worth it if you love it. We will have some at our Polar Bear event on 10/15. Especially that height and weight, try one out.

Are you going to the Tige Owners Reunion @ Lake Mead?

@ Timmy - the 190 pound guys can ride it well the 220 pound guys, there are probably better options out there. The original board was tailored to James who is 5'8" and 155, those "dimension" are the best fit for that board. I ride it at 200.

The physical dimensions between the two boards are as Greg noted, the prototype is slightly wider with a tad more nose rocker and it's thicker across it's entire surface, resulting in the thicker rails and nose.

The construction of the two boards is similar. The differences include the carbon fiber tape on the rails, we've skipped that on this prototype, the internal layer of reinforcement is a tad heavier on the prototype and the materials used are specific to the country of manufacture. The skins of both versions are a cross linked PVC, but the one made in the USA is Divinycell and the one made in Thailand is Herex, I believe.

There is a little confusion about the fiberglass and epoxy. Epoxy is a resin and it's used in both boards, fiberglass is a reinforcement and it's also used in both boards. Both of the boards are of a composite sandwich construction, meaning they use a low density foam core to reduce weight and increase shear properties, and wrap that in high density skins comprised of two layers of fiberglass and a high density foam skin. That wrapping or sandwiching is where the composite sandwich name comes from.

The construction is exceptionally labor intensive, the core is shaped, then wrapped, then the final finished board is finished shaped and graphics applied. It takes about twice as long to manufacture this way. There are only two or three shops in the US that can build this way, that I know of. Retail for the board in the picture below is about $1,300 made in Santa Cruz, CA, so the Inland version is a relative bargain :) I believe the IS Flyboy retails for $800 which is comparable to other high end boards and about $500 cheaper than if you had a composite sandwich custom made here in the US.

Won't be at the Tige Owners Reunion...trying to figure out a way to get to the Polar Bear event though. I was just curious at this new version of the board. My problem is that I am 190 now, maybe even 185, but at the beginning of the summer I'm usually at 200... :o That 10 or 15lbs may not sound like much but it makes a huge difference on my old azz Inland that I have, beginning of the year I'm at the max end of the weight range for the board.

There will definitely be one at the polar bear event, and maybe at the TO reunion.