Just had the longest ride of my life in windy sloppy erratic waves. Got to walk all the way up to the front and ride the wave til there was no wave. However I've been struggling on the drops in bigger surf. I realize now its a bad combo for the board geometry and my top-heavy build (big shoulders chicken legs). What happens is that due to extra volume in the duckbill nose, to level the board for paddling, you need to scoot up. But if you take off like that the nose buries under even 1cm of water (it is completely flat), you miss the wave or flip straight over the falls. There can be zero water on the nose at all, during the entire drop, and with the duckbill flat profile, it wants to dunk. So you have to make the wave, then pull the board forward (yourself backward) to keep the nose dry before the popup. Or if you're good you can chip in to the rail directly. I'm finding it more fun than I expected to be able to walk up end and stand on the nose, longboard style. But, I missed like 10 waves, one my biggest drop all the way to the bottom when the nose went in like 1"cm and goodbye. So, if I could do it over, I would probably get the 6'4" quiver killer or big Hydra for more stability and strong paddle power in heavier surf