Well I've had my new 2013 8'5" Pro for a few weeks now, but after being overseas when it arrived, i've been back at work most of the time since (and the surf hasn't been so great) so I hadn't had a chance to get it out in some good waves until this weekend.

When ordering the board, I was a little tentative about the volume... at 106L it's the lowest volume board I've ever owned (17L less than last years 8'5" Pro and 4L less than last years 8'0") and I wasn't sure whether i'd bitten off more than I could chew.

But I had no real reason to worry... although the volume is down, the stability feels just as good as last years model. I'm guessing due to the combination of the move to a square tail and flattening off the deck, but i'm sure someone with more technical expertise than me can explain this better!

As far as performance goes, i'm no expert on all the technical aspects of a board, so i'll keep it short. The board feels really stable when taking the drop, and turning feels faster and more responsive than last year's board. Not sure whether its the square tail or the difference in the stock centre fin or a bit of both? (I'm sure our resident fin expert, LL, can fill me in on this). The 2012 is an awesome and super-fun board to surf but I'm looking forward to seeing where the new 2013 model can take my surfing and really enjoying it already.

Anyway enough of the boring stuff about me, here's the difference in the specs and some pics of the 2 boards to follow.

First up here's the specs:

Length:
2012: 8'5" / 2013: 8'5"

Width:
2012: 29" / 2013: 29"

Thickness:
2012: 4.5" / 2013: 3.8"

Volume:
2012: 123L / 2013: 106L

Weight (Carbon, incl. stock fins):
2012: 7.1kg / 2013 6.7kg

Stock fins:
Side: 2012: m4.5's / 2013: m4.5's
Centre: 2012: 170cm / 2013: 140cm

And here's some pics: