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OK...finally got this board into some good waves this morning and now have about 7-8 sessions on it in a pretty good range of conditions. Figured it's time to post up an actual official rider review, so here goes...
Rider: 6'3", 205ish lbs., 32 years old, and surf anywhere from 2-5 times per week, 90% of the time at local beachbreaks with the rest of the sessions usually at reef/beachbreaks south of here. Intermediate ability with plenty of kook moments mixed in with flashes of competence from time to time. Have surfed mostly fish and 'alternative' type designs over the past few years with the odd session on a 'shortboard' when the waves have some juice.
Background: This is the 6th board I've owned that has been designed by Sean Mattison, with the last three being customs ordered directly from him under this Von Sol label ( http://vonsolsurfboards.blogspot.com/ ). Every one of them has worked better for me than most other boards I've owned.
The Board: The 'Shadow' was designed by Mattison as a board that hopefully helps answer the question (in his words) of "What's next after the fish?". Basically you have the front half of a fish very similar to his other fish designs, with the rear half consisting of an elevated wing (e-wing) leading into a foiled-out rounded pin tail. Sean told me the e-wing was something he used to have on the bonzers he rode a while back, that he's always dug, providing somewhat of a release point during turns. This board is 6'2" x 20 7/8" x 2 5/8", EPS/Epoxy, which came out incredibly light, even for the amount of foam it packs. Went with a 5-fin setup and have found so far that I really dig it as a twin+trailer setup, which I'm sticking with for now.
The Ride: Simply put, I'm LOVING this board! The best way I can describe it is this...it has all of the biggest benefits of a 'fish', these being great paddling and wave-catching, early and immediate planing, speed right out of the gates, and ability to beat sections unlike a shortboard (for me), but the ability to really lay into sections and turns that is generally only found in a shortboard. In junky surf, it's fast and playful enough that you can throw it up off of sections for floaters, get around crumbly sections to find a face to turn, and generally have more fun than the surf would normally indicate. In good waves, which I found out about today, the thing handles steeper drops very comfortably, is faster than $hit, and LOVES to be turned HARD in the pocket. The board goes rail-to-rail really, really smoothly...moreso than any fish- type design I've ever tried, and wants to do full-rail wraparounds and S-turns with little to no loss of speed, in more critical parts of the wave than my past fishies. In the short time I've had the board, 2 people (one being the designer of the board, the other someone who has probably seen me surf more than anyone over the past couple of years) have told me I did the best turn they've ever seen me do. Today I had a couple of overhead clean lefts that I was able to do 3 straight hard and smooth gouges off of the top in a row, something unheard of for me. Backside, it goes just as well. Allows you to come off the bottom as hard as you want into a turn, or take a quick high-line pump just as well, all with more than enough SPEED. Quite simply, this board is continually putting a smile on my face, which is the point, right?
Highly, highly recommend this design as a very versatile and FUN shape for 90% of the waves you're likely to come across here in SoCal.
-------------------- "Surfing reminds us of how good life is."
Oceansliding
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rid
Gerry Lopez status
Reged: 11/20/08
Posts: 1070
Loc: Long Beach, CA
Compared to a BKQ (or Moonfish), I'd say the Shadow is more carvey and flowing, rather than skatey, although you still have that unmistakeable Mattison fish feel and the board still skates across the face. Whereas hard turns on the fish might feel a bit more 'flicky' and possibly get a bit loose and sketchy at times, I've yet to feel like this board has skipped/slipped/lost the grip of the wave face. I love the feel of both designs, but right now I'm really digging how solid and buttery smooth this one is feeling.
Pato, you will not be disappointed.
FYI...here's the fin setup that I'm really digging right now, plus a bit better outline pic. Haven't tried it as a thruster, but don't really want to mess with a good thing yet!
-------------------- "Surfing reminds us of how good life is."
Oceansliding
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Havoc
Tom Curren status
Reged: 09/10/07
Posts: 10001
Loc: The OC Life
Great review Joey Stoked you are loving the new board. I was checking one out with no fins installed and that thing has some tail rocker kicked out the back.
What fins are you using? what depth mains around 4.65" Is that a GX or G1000 in the back?
Har_ _ _ was SO FUN Today
What's next after a Fish.. Yep, that about sums it up
Nice review as always O-slide. It looks like the board to get! I thought that thing was meant to be surfed as a quad, but the big sides and a trailer stoking you out huh!!!
You still surfin the other Von Sol shapes? I'm still loving my BKQ for small stuff, but your reviews of the moonfish got me wishing I could order one.
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emissions
Nep status
Reged: 11/08/04
Posts: 835
Loc: NS
A concise review. Not to be a d1ck but who shaped/finished it? I get that Sean "designed" it with Max McDonald's / Malcolm's e-wing as inspiration but who's the guy that finished it? He deserves a shout out. Good color choice.
Mattison actually hand-shaped the first Shadow. Wanted to try something different...wasn't sure how it would end up... ended up being SUPER stoked on the board and now you have the 'Shadow' model. Glad he did. Not positive who finished this board, but I do believe Dave Brown, longtime local shaper, has had a hand in many of Mattison's designs and finishing. Props!
Got these fins from a friend, but I believe you can get them from Catalyst, as I found info about them on their site. Bottom is a single to pretty substantial double through the fins, much like most of Sean's other fish bottoms. For some reason though, this board doesn't seem quite as back- foot dependant as a BKQ, for example. You can pump forward and even trim from the middle through sections or soft spots.
-------------------- "Surfing reminds us of how good life is."
Oceansliding
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sdsurfrat
Billy Hamilton status
Reged: 06/02/08
Posts: 1588
Sorry...just got back into town. 1) To me, the tail doesn't really feel like it wants to get loose...more of a carving/arcing feel, although I've seen Mattison break it loose a bunch. 2) Not too familar with many Futures sets, although I'd think the VF 437 with hatchet trailer would work well?
-------------------- "Surfing reminds us of how good life is."
Oceansliding
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TRI FINS ARE DANGEROUS
Tom Curren status
Reged: 01/10/02
Posts: 13011
Loc: Pavement, CA USA
Sean dropped off 4 of these Shadow things at the factory today so if anyone is interested in a poly version feel free to contact me. We got a 5'8", 5'10". 6'0" and a 6'2"
Look forward to seeing the Moonlight-ed versions. Word has it you have a personal on the way too. Post up your thoughts when you have a chance to give it a go.
It's still pretty early for me, but so far I'm going to say that this is one of the best overall designs I've owned.
-------------------- "Surfing reminds us of how good life is."
Oceansliding
OK...been riding a shortboard for the past 6 sessions straight before today. Missed this board, so I surfed it this morning in low-tide, mostly closed out and often sucking-up drainers...not what you'd think would be ideal for this design. I had a blast! Realized from the first wave why I missed the board. Can get in early, handle a steep drop, hold well in the tube, or just haul arse across a bowly section. Bottom line is, it'll work in just about anything I'm going to come across locally, and work damn well. Favorite board, hands down.
-------------------- "Surfing reminds us of how good life is."
Oceansliding
Where you using the Twin Fin setup? with trailer? That's the set up that Sean has been using, and I got to put Fins in mine. I was going to use 7's up front and GX center to start.
Quote: Where you using the Twin Fin setup? with trailer? That's the set up that Sean has been using, and I got to put Fins in mine. I was going to use 7's up front and GX center to start.
I've been running the twin+trailer setup in the pics above, right on the shaper's dots (roughly centered in the boxes). If you can get your hands on a larger (5"+) set of twins and a small trailer, I'd recommend trying that. Been money for me and I really don't feel the need to fark with it, although at some point I'll try some quad setups.
-------------------- "Surfing reminds us of how good life is."
Oceansliding
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FishFace
Michael Peterson status
Reged: 08/07/09
Posts: 2944
Loc: Del Mar, CA
after checking out O'slides board and weighing my options I decided to go for an EPS Von Sol Shadow... It looks like a quiver killer to me. Stoked! I'm 6'0" / 185+.... Went with a 6'0 x 20.5 x 2.5 - 5 fins - light grey spray (which will look good with the red fins)... I could have gone smaller but I really like these dimensions on my small wave boards... JP at Moonlight has some poly versions of the shadow... Hit him up.
Nice! Surfed mine today in peaky and clean, but sorta fat-high- tidey waves and the board just ate that $hit up. Equally fun frontside and backside and I'm doing better turns (all relative, of course)than on just about any board ever.
-------------------- "Surfing reminds us of how good life is."
Oceansliding
Surfed this board the last two session with BKQ quad setup. Still fast as $hit, turns feel very solid, and feels like it would probably be a great setup for pushing the board in bigger and/or punchier conditions. Had one left that seemed to line up all the way down the beach, overhead, and I didn't think I had a chance to make it far. Did two high pumps and held onto my arse as I flew by 3 sections that threatened to close out on my head. Pretty blown away. I'll probably run it as the twin+trailer for most conditions, but nice to know it'll go great, with plenty of hold, when the waves have more juice.
If I was able to actually keep myself from wanting to try everything, I'd say this board is as close as I've ever had to a "quiver killer", especially with the option to go with multiple fin configs.
-------------------- "Surfing reminds us of how good life is."
Oceansliding
Thanks for the review . I am def getting something shaped similar. Can anyone compare this board to the firewire Dominator that is the other board ive been looking at? What size shadow would you recommend for me I'm 6'2" and 168 lbs. I'm an intermediate level surfer. I'm thinking the 5'11" but I dont know about the width 21"? and thickness 2 3/8"? Any suggestions thanks
I owned a 6'2" Dominator, and the Shadow blows it away, IMO, in all aspects. Faster, carves better, more range... Sizing depends on what you want from the board. As a general rule of thumb, you could size it exactly the same as you would your favorite fish. I chose to stretch mine out 2" in length and pulled in just a touch in width, and feel that allowed it to still work well in crap surf, and have more range in better waves. I can easily surf it (and actually reach for it) in overhead, good waves. Fuggingfantasticboard.
-------------------- "Surfing reminds us of how good life is."
Oceansliding
Ask Sean...he's not too tall or heavy and it's all I've seen him on recently. mattisonsurf@gmail.com Dudebro probably would be a good person to ask too.
-------------------- "Surfing reminds us of how good life is."
Oceansliding
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Racerx63
Nep status
Reged: 01/23/08
Posts: 637
Loc: San Diego
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