Watson Hybrid vs ................

I'm looking at possibly picking up a 2011 Watson Hybrid and had a few questions.

My previous boards are the original Watson and now a S4.

How does the new Watson shape ride compared to the original/classic?
How does the hybrid ride compared to the normal Watson?
What kind of flex difference is there between the normal and hybrid?

Any other info on the board would be great. Thanks for the help.

For behind boat or cable??

I have the Watson hybrid '11, Watson Classic '11 & Watson Classic '12.

Totally different feeling, hybrid def has alot more flex. Ive ridden the hybrid behind boat with fins of course and the landings were much softer. As you can tell I love my watsons! Our cable park is dominated with watson hybrids.

What is the original Watson? Like the first Watson ever made? Or some version of the Watson throughout the past 4 years?

I think the original watson he's referring to is the classic (the one they started making in 2006). From my memory, The classic rides smooth, pops well, but it's a little slow to roll on edge. The Watson hybrid is faster to roll on to edge, and releases a little sooner off the wake. Both good boards, but I like the faster response of the hybrid. Flex makes the board have more pop and land softer imo - worth the extra money.

It would be a combination of boat and cable. And yest the first Watson, 2006 model.

I'm not 100% sold on the flex boards for behind the boat yet. The only flex boards I've ridden are the Slingshot Recoil and Obrien Baker. They both felt like I got no pop. But I've only had one short set on each so I have not completly written off flex. They both also felt like riding plywood. Horrible tracking and edge control. I attribute that to the other person's bindings being to big, could be wrong though.

I've not ridden cable or rails much in the past. But I can see the advantage of the flex there. We've just had two open up close by so there should be a decent amount of cable riding in my future.

I like the harder pop of my S4 over the Watson classic off the wake. Does the Watson Hybrid have more pop than the Classic?

The hybrid has plenty of pop behind the boat. Watson rides his hybrid behind boat and has been since it came out in '11. Its an awesome cable board too for rails, kickers & air tricks.

Its going to ride totally different than ur 2006 board. Once you play with it, the hybrid will be lots of fun.

The hybrid isnt a true "flex" board. Atleast when compared to slingshot and boards like the ronix pheonix I believe. It still have carbon strips blended with a wood core making the board a perfect blend for boat and cable. I have noticed a lot of people calling the hybrid boards flex boards and while yes they flex more than the standard models, they are still totally different than the slighshot or other "true" flex boards. That's what I love most about though, you can take a morning set on the cable and head to the lake in the afternoon with the same board. I've put a beating on my shane hybrid and the grind base still looks just as solid as the day I bought it. Also, something to keep in mind is that on previous watson/shane models LF used to roll the edges in the center of the board and they got sharper towards the tip and tail. When riding flat the board was really loose and when on edge it would bite. I loved this about LF because it was a perfect blend. With the hybrids this is no longer the case as the edges appear (atleast to me) to be all the same due to the liquid rail for durability.

Picked up a 2011 Hybrid 143 after work today. For the leftover stock discount I would give it a go.

Now hopefully the weather stays nice enough I can ride it this weekend.

The hybrid IS by all means a true flex board. I'm not sure what that guy is talking about. Also the original Watson designed board was called the helix and it sucked.

Originally Posted by BamaLurker

The hybrid IS by all means a true flex board. I'm not sure what that guy is talking about. Also the original Watson designed board was called the helix and it sucked.

So the original Watson is different from the Classic is what you're saying right??

I would be willing to bet that my LF Deluxe Hybrid has more flex in it than some Slingshots...

I have a 2011 Watson Hybrid 139cm for sale if anyone is interested (pics in the classified section). Its only been ridden several times behind the boat, no cable (its in mint condition - 10 out of 10). Great board, I'm just trying to pair down my board collection and prefer my 2009 Watson Classic since its what I'm use to. Apologies for the hijack, just saw you guys talking about this particular board.