The
Padillac has proven to be one of the best big wave designs of the past decade, but both Nathan Florence and Billy Kemper wanted a
big wave gun that would let them take off later and deeper, and be able to knife under the lip even easier, so Pyzel made some small yet significant changes.
Nathan has ridden his Puerto Padis on 2 waves that are considered to be at the top of the list of the very best tube rides in surfing history – both in Ireland – his 8’5″ on the crazy left at Mullaghmore, awarded ‘Ride of the Year’ at the 2022/23 Big Wave Challenge award ceremony, and the 7’0″ on his psycho backdoor of the right at Aileens. These waves along with his recent slab tour also led to Nathan being awarded the ‘Surfer of the Year’ at the 2022/23 Big Wave Challenge. The rest of the team also loves the Pyzel Puerto Padi in long, hollow reef breaks like Cloudbreak.
The biggest design changes are mostly evident in the front half of the board. To help the board to fit into stepper drops and thread deep barrels we narrowed the nose width by ½ an inch, added extra nose rocker and also thinned out the nose by close to ¼ inch. These changes help to free up the whole front end of the board in more critical situations and add sensitivity, while still packing a lot of paddle power into a board for its size.
The Puerto Padi also features a pulled in baby swallow tail which increases reaction time off the bottom enough to allow for fast adjustments under the lip.
The next thing you will notice about the Puerto Padi is that the stock fin configuration has changed from a Quad set on the
Pyzel Padillac to a Tri-fin setup. This is something that Nathan felt would give him more control over his speed and maximise performance in the hollow, slabby waves and different type of surfing in mind for the board. After their positive feedback it was decided to be a nice addition to the
Pyzel Gun family for everyone to access.
Sizing should be similar to the original
Padillac, but we recommend that you ride it a bit more narrow and just a hair thinner or the same thickness.
