PYZEL POWER TIGER

At the start of this winter, John John Florence came to see me and asked for a board that would sit somewhere between the Red Tiger and his Ghost in terms of size and wave quality. John had already helped me develop the Red Tiger for high-performance surfing in smaller, softer waves, and we’ve all seen his incredible surfing on that board. In short, the new Power Tiger is an improved version of the Red Tiger, with design modifications made to better handle bigger, better-quality and more powerful waves

The Red Tiger remains John’s board of choice for slower, head-high and smaller waves, but the Power Tiger fits the bill perfectly as soon as the swell picks up a bit, especially when it becomes more powerful (hence its name).

The main and most obvious difference lies in the outline. We’ve narrowed both the nose and the tail, creating more curvature throughout the outline, which has a huge impact on the way the Power Tiger surfs.

The narrower tail will offer better speed stability when pushed hard through turns (no skidding), and the extra curve at the tail adds manoeuvrability in tighter sections.

The more tapered nose also allows the board to follow the curve of hollow, more ‘spoon-shaped’ waves without getting caught. The overall added curve to the outline makes the board easier to drive into the lip at high speed and keeps it ultra-responsive.

Another subtle but important change we’ve made is to thin out the rails on the Power Tiger, which helps you drive your rail deep into faster, more powerful waves without having to worry about excessive drag. The thinner rails also make it easier to get into tubes and hold your line during big carves.

Finally, I’ve made some minor adjustments to the hull’s rocker, specifically by adding an inch of curve to the last 45 centimetres of the tail. This frees up the board, helps it roll onto the rail at high speed and improves stability through turns.

We recommend using this board when your Red Tiger starts to feel a bit too small for the waves you want to ride, at the same length as your Red Tiger but with slightly less volume, or by increasing the length by an inch and making it slightly narrower. The standard dimensions of the Power Tiger are approximately an inch narrower and 1/16 of an inch thinner than those of the Red Tiger of the same length