“The Rocket9 is suited to your average waves like we find around California. It works great in beach breaks because it can be skatey when you want to generate that speed, but then you step back on that tail and you can absolutely hammer some vert wall. I also think that with the shorter nature of it, it fits really well in the tighter transitions of beach breaks. I have ridden it on big open walls of some point breaks in Morocco and it went well too, kind of like a little scalpel or snowboard, but I think the optimal range for this board would be 2 to 6 foot beach breaks.
The Rocket9 outline has the wide point forward a bit and the tail is pulled in making it super snappy and maneuverable. The swallow gives a great fast release as well. One of the major desires for this board was I wanted was to go fast and then turn hard when I wanted in waves ranging from super average California beach breaks all the way to grinding little tubes. It’s one of the most versatile boards I have ever ridden.
I like to ride my Rocket9 two inches shorter than my normal shortboard length. With the wider outline up front its able to hide a bit of volume under the chest to make the paddling still super easy even though you are on a shorter board. “ – Dane Gudauskas
