Here is my report on a protoype of the interpretation of Tomo concepts by the Gong shaper, Patrice Guenole.
In a nutshell: compared to a Vanguard, this prototype has much more rocker at the nose and tail, more pulled in nose and tail, and a full mono concave on the whole length.
The dims: 7'6 x 29"1/8 x 4"1/16 105 liters, front OFO 19" 15/16, rear OFO 20" 9/16, total rocker: 10"9/16
First, some pics:
Official pics:
www.gong-galaxy.com/magazine/news/r-d-proto-7-6-tomo/ Forum topic:
www.gong-galaxy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=6791 In my quiver: From left to right a 6'8" 125l fish, a 6'10" 125l Simmons, this "Moto" (ah ah) prototype 7'6" 105l, and my "classic" 8'4" 125l. All with C-Drive fins, of course :-)
Then, the logic behind the shape:
Patrice Guenole said..
This was a style exercice: classic central rocker, accentuated tail&nose
rocker, somewhat curvy outline, a big concave.
The goal is to have a board that can tighten dramatically the turns while
maintaining the speed. I wanted to avoid the common "Tomo" SUP problem of the
tail pushing the nose in the water in turns, forcing the rider to be always
"on the brakes", which is quite ugly to look at.
This is not a problem with the prone Tomo shapes. Why? Because with
shortboars, the Tomo concept adds surface, notably at the ends, to boost the
forward drive. The gain is obvious for prone surfing, some videos having made
a huge, deserved, impact in the surfing world.
So why doesnt it work as well for SUPs? Because we have already too much
surface due to the large widths. So a Tomo shape, by adding more, will make
things "worse". Very efficient for fat waves, a godsend for SUPers afraid of
going short but wanting a modern shape, Tomos for SUPs didnt appeal to me up
to now.
[...]
It should be surfed in quad, with big fins, because the rider will have to
push a lot on the wide tail to sink the rail, so the fins must be big enough
to handle this pressure. I was thinking of the Harley Ingleby quad set, for
instance.
[...]
This shape will "want" to plane, and turn tight while keeping the plane.
My report: I had this board in time for my 2-weeks trip to Hossegor, where I could score 10 sessions with it.
First: the volume: I must say I was reluctant to take this board, thinking that a 105l board for my 98kg (107kg with all the gear) would be too little. I have in memory a 110l 7'5"x25" that was an absolute hell for me. But the wide nose & tail, plus the heavy rocker (for a "rocking chair" effect) mde it surprisingly stable! I actually quite enjoyed it, although it is definitely tiring and slow to paddle, it doesn't require the constant attention a narrow board requires from me.
Then, the length: I must say it is longer than what I am used to. But for Hossgegor, a beach break with shifting peaks, some length was good to chase the peaks. Punching through the whitewater is less efficient than a traditional design, the board is stopped more brutally by the mush (but you have a stabler platform to recover).
But, how does it ride? I was pleasantly surprised: I could use the parallel rail and flat rocker mid section to get speed and drive, and getting back on the tail allowed to turn smoothly due to the extra tail rocker ("lift") , without sinking due to the wide tail. The double-diamond tail is quite cool, you get the bite of a swallow mitigated with the smoothness of a diamond tail.
Not very fast on take off (a flatter rocker would enter the wave earlier), but extremely safe because of the wide upturned nose.
The concave helps a lot getting on the rail and driving the board on it, even at low speeds. And I had a hollow day where I saw that the board was handling the steepnesss fine (perhaps due to the low volume?), although it was clearly not the best board for these conditions, due to the the speed in the turns that was quite frightening. But the somewhat pulled-in tail was really enjoyable to handle the power.
In summary, a great board for medium waves, allowing to carve even on weak waves, but able to handle some juice. A very easy and user-friendly design, that can be ridden at low volume.
The video:
