The Vanguard and its Shaper

The Brand New Firewire Vanguard

The Future of Surfing

The Firewire White Rapidfire Vanguard. The MPH (Modern Planing Hull) represents a cutting edge change in the approach to high performance surfboard design, and the Vanguard model is the result of precise mathematical equations and geometry. The hydrodynamic makeup of the Vanguard opens the door to a boxfresh approach to surfboard design and the art of wave sliding. Inspired by the ridiculous feats of athleticism exhibited by today's top professional surfers, Daniel 'Tomo' Thomson has created a board that equips 21st century surfers with the tools to expand their abilities. Higher speeds, radical wave attack and huge aerial potential are all possible with this highly tuned machine.

Template: The outline of the Vanguard is the key to this highly innovative surfboard. Ultra parallel lines allow the board to be ridden smaller and narrower than previously thought useable. This is achieved by maintaining the correct rider volume with well distributed foam. The parallel outline reduces drag, thus increasing dynamic planing lift yielding more speed via less water resistance.

Q & A with Daniel Tomson

What's been your experience of surfers' reactions to the uniqueness of your designs both in appearance and how they ride?

For the most part people trip out. "Oh, what's that, a kite board?" "Is the nose snapped off?" I get that every day. And it kind of gets old. Once people ride the boards, they get it. Most of the time people have a positive curiosity. But it's not about the way a board looks. It's about how it feels and how it rides. That's been my driving force. I've just focused on that.

Core surfers who understand design on a certain level get it and say, "Okay, I see how the straighter rail line will allow you to draw powerful turns and make a board shorter." And, obviously, if you make a board shorter, you can have more control over it. There's a formula here. When I explain to people what it's about and get them on the boards, just about any level surfer can ride them and appreciate that they're fast and stable in the water. Not only are they functional to ride, they're actually quite comfortable.

What's your approach to fitting the essential amount of volume in such short boards without increasing thickness?

Well, there are different theories of hull design. When they refer to the hull on contemporary shortboards, it's usually short for displacement hull, sort of comparable to a boat hull, which has a domed surface under the water that's designed to displace water, to make water flow around a submerged object with little resistance. And that's traditional hull theory as applied to surfboard design. But I've been more interested in planing hull designs, which are flat objects meant to skim on top of the boundary layer of water.

Planing hulls are more traditionally known as towable crafts, water-skis-that kind of thing. When you design shapes that are ideally meant to reduce surface resistance in the water and almost take on an aerodynamic sense, they start to fly.

That is super interesting to me because that's the feeling I'm looking for: the least amount of resistance to the water so you're free of the wave and can just slide across it with more speed and freedom while still maintaining control. That's the kind of feeling I look for, basically mind-surfing-pure freedom and no drag. I've found that the planing hulls, multiple concave bottoms, and that technical aspect of planing hull design has really allowed me to achieve that.