Hi guys. I am trying to decide which board between the James Casey 8ft 9" or the Creek 8ft 10" for best stability on choppy, swirly water & large wave handling plus steep drops.
I am guessing the James Casey would hold better in large & steep drop waves. But the Creek may be faster to outrun a close out.
My natural back foot stance as soon as I go into surf stance is usually always forward of the kick pad. So nose rocker is important but so is paddle speed when catching a wave. I am not a wave shredder but more of a carver.
Decisions, decisions!
I have both in the sizes mentioned. Had the flash first and loved it as a quad, but there was a couple of times in larger stuff with a bit of water movement that i struggled. Thought i could fix the issue with the creek, few more litres in volume, bit more width in the tail and nose. To be honest didnt really notice that it was anymore stable than the flash, and i love the hold and the drive of the quads really gives me the confidence to take on anything. So i realized it was just me, now all i ride is the flash. Have gotten use to it, and cant see myself wanting to ride anything else. So have a flow and a creek that go unridden. Depending what you normally surf the outline of the flash might take a bit of getting use to but persevere its a good allround board and absolutely rips when the surf is pumping.
Thanks grumpycat.
My go to board is the Sunova Soul 8ft 3" 110 litres.
So am looking for something bigger for stability & better in steep drops & performance.
I have the Flash 8'6, does everything asked of it and more! Better the waves get the better it goes. Always feel confident on it as know it can take whatever comes along. Quickly become my go to unless the surf is junk
I found the flash able to handle any drop ..it takes some getting use to ,but it likes being in the pocket more than the creek ,
the nose on the creek has been widened to make it more user friendly ,it does catch waves easier than the flash ,
i also prefer the flash as a quad ,the creek i found needed a smaller rear fin to loosen it up a bit, but still a nice cruzie board ,
IF your gonna cut loose ,go the flash if you want a board the catches waves easy and has a speedy tail go the creek .
the flash can turn sharper ,the creek i found is more for carve turns ,but still lots of fun .I found the creek more stabile .less rocker .
hope that made sense ,
The Flash has become my go to Board in just about all conditions in Quad set up. Yes, will take getting use to but well worth it. It is a shred machine. Totally insane at late drops and speed/drive from the C-Drives just makes it the over weapon of choice. At 105kgs, most of the Board is under water
So with the Flash. I'm wondering what it is to get used to? Is it the rocker that may push more water whilst paddling therefore slowing it down some before it picks up on the drop & takes off. A bit like hitting a powerband. Then obviously as it hits a fatter section would slow down some unless you pump it just before. Or would it need to be turned very often to close to vertical to stay surfing in the pocket?
Hey sea juice ....it's a little bit more to do than just the rocker ...
It's the narrow pin tail and low volume in the tail ...but yes once going ,it loves been pushed .
I can only compare with a similar board my 9.1 acid and 8.7 flow .
the 9.1 acid has a wider tail so needs less of a wave to gather speed as does the 8.7 flow
how ever the flow likes been ridden on the tail all or most of the time to keep the nose from grabbing .
the acid and flash can be ridden Further up the board .the tail on the flash does sink a little been narrow
so that's why it likes the power .i brought the 9.0 ,but after riding the 8.9 ,I relies the 9 is to big for me at 95 kgs .
so I ride the acid @ 125 litres most big days .and flow on smaller days ..I also use my flash on big days ,quad set up .
you have to paddle the flash a little harder to get it on the wave ..but I have drooped down some that I would of been a gonna on the smaller 8.7 flow ,and the flash just shrugged it off like nothing happened ,it really is a high performance Sup .If you don't mind paddling a bit harder for waves you will love what the flash can do ,I didn't like it at first ,but once I found out what it could do ,I started to enjoy it ..it's is a little slower than the acid and flow because of the extra rocker and did find it hard getting the 9 flash around sections ...I'm a little greedy having 3 boards ,but ho hum .got another one coming 
You also could order a placid ...which James and crew has been experimenting with ...they seem to be shorter and wider ...
i like my 9,1 acid better than my 9.0 flash because its narrower and faster .
Ive found the 8'6 holds speed really well through flatter sections and as has been me tioned can be pumped from nearer the middle comfortably if needed to build speed before stepping back to the pad. I've come up in length so find it paddles easily and true with little row. Stand a touch further forward to allow for the lack of float at the back but push it in to a bottom turn and grin like an idiot before belting the top! Confidence inspiring in the drop for sure. One of those boards I took a punt on and struck gold. Definitely prefer as a quad, loads of grip and drive through turns. May try some smaller rears though.
Interesting to hear the feedback between the two designs.
I have never surfed a true Flash, so I can't comment on the differences on waves.
Stability:
I have paddled a 8'6 Flash at 112 liters, when I weighed 107 kg... on flat harbor water.
I was amazed how stable it was for a board that would sink to the bottom when I stopped paddling.
Easy to paddle, spin in circles.... it felt very stable for it's size.
In Thailand, I did pick-up a 9'0 custom Flash, same outline and dimensions, but it has almost no rocker.... so it isn't the same board at all.
But.... I find it very stable, and surfs so well that it was one of the 2 boards I chose to take to Portugal.
Sorry I can't add anything to the surf comparison, but stability wise, I may find the 9'0 Flat Flash slightly more stable than my 9'1 Creek.
Here's a "float" pic of 2 Creeks and the Custom Flash
ran into James at the recent Oz Sup titles. What a great guy, humble, personable, he had literally flown in from San fran and jumped into the action. Anyway he had three 'new' boards there. A very sweet looking 10" er, his comp board and a flash. The flash was new, it had what looked like a flow tail. When I asked him about it he said no not the flow tail just squashed !!!!
Select to expand quotebomberdave said..
ran into James at the recent Oz Sup titles. What a great guy, humble, personable, he had literally flown in from San fran and jumped into the action. Anyway he had three 'new' boards there. A very sweet looking 10" er, his comp board and a flash. The flash was new, it had what looked like a flow tail. When I asked him about it he said no not the flow tail just squashed !!!!
Id say that the squashed tail Flash would be used in less juicy steep waves on take off that will need the wider tail to keep the speed going to make sections.
But anyway. I am leaning towards the Flash which will be 10 litres more than my Soul & 1.5 inches wider for better stability & to keep paddle speed when catching a wave more so than a smaller board. The rest will be better performance & to handle steeper drops.
In the meantime before a purchase, still got to learn to get up on this wingsurfer thing. Haa!
