Early this winter John John Florence came to me asking for a board that would fit in between the Red Tiger and his Ghost as far as wave size and quality goes. John had already helped me to develop the Red Tiger for performance surfing in smaller and weaker types of waves and we have all seen his amazing surfing on that board. The short story here is that the new Power Tiger is a refined version of the Red Tiger with design changes made to help handle bigger, better, more powerful waves. The Red Tiger is still John’s go-to for slower waves in the head-high and below range, but the Power Tiger fits in perfectly once the surf gets a little bigger, especially when it gets more powerful (thus the name). The main and most obvious difference is in the outline. We pulled in both the nose and the tail which creates more curve in the whole outline which has a huge effect on the way the Power Tiger surfs. The narrower tail will hold better at speed while being pushed hard through turns (no sliding out off the bottom), and the extra curve through the tail adds looseness in tighter pockets. The pulled-in nose also allows the board to fit into the curve on hollow, more “cupped out” types of waves without getting caught up. The overall added outline curve makes the board easier to throw up into the lip at speed and keeps it ultra-responsive. Another subtle but important change we made is that we thinned out the rails on the Power Tiger, which helps let you sink your rail on speedier, more powerful waves without having to worry about too much pushback. The thinner rails also help in knifing into barrels and holding through big carves. Finally, I made some small adjustments to the bottom rocker, specifically added ⅛ ‘ of curve through the last 18’’ in the tail. This loosens up the board, helps it tip over onto the rail through at speed, and adds to the holding ability through turns. We recommend riding this board when your Red Tiger is starting to feel a little small for the waves you want to ride, at the same length as your Red Tiger but with a touch less volume, or going up an inch in length and going a touch narrower. Stock dims for the Power Tiger are about ¼’ narrower and 1/16 inch thinner than Red Tigers in the same lengths.
