5'7 SLATER DESIGNS S BOSS 19 3/16 x 2 1/2 28.1L FUTURES

THE ORIGIN OF S BOSS

What was most interesting was the fact that he didn’t just explain the design elements, but also told me the history of the board. It dates back to 2020, when he and Kelly Slater were hanging out in the Firewire factory, which was empty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They started talking about board designs, and Kelly told Dan that he had an idea for a board. He wanted a shorter, “bullet-nosed” board with less swing weight and more parallel outline, because he wanted to be able to feel the board turn from the rails and not just the rocker. At the same time, he also wanted a unique bottom contour, with vee under the chest, giving way to a double barrel and then concave out the tail.

DESIGN ELEMENTS AND INNOVATIONS

Dan was pretty dubious when Slater first told him his ideas for the board. He was especially wary of the vee in the bottom contours, as he had always felt that vee created drag while going down the line, and essentially put a governor on how much speed the board could have. But when he put all of the elements together, he and Kelly both found that the board worked amazing. The double barrel near the fin cluster sort of broke the board into two and allowed them to surf what was essentially half of a shortened, lighter board, resulting in tons of speed, plus the ability to either draw turns out or make them quick and sharp in the pocket.

RIDING CHARACTERISTICS AND CONSTRUCTION

The S Boss is ridden a few inches shorter than your normal high-performance shortboard, and comes in Volcanic Ibolic construction, which makes it feel a little bit lighter and less dense in the water. It can be ridden as a quad or a thruster, although Dan, Kelly, and Kevin Schultz all tend to enjoy it a bit more as a quad. Dan also suggested that riders use a slightly smaller rear fin, whether with the thruster or the quad, as this compensates for the pulled in tail. Kelly, Dan, and other team riders have also messed around with 2+1 setups, such as large twin fins up front and a small stabilizer in the back.