Chilli Black Vulture surfboard 5ft 10 FCS II - White

The Chilli Black Vulture is another board in the crowded ‘utility board’ category but unlike some other boards we’ve been presented recently this one is a definite goer!

The Black Vulture isn't just another mid range board lazily churned out to make the shaper extra bucks, it’s a well thought out performance hybrid that anyone from a low intermediate surfer looking to improve all the way through to a pro level surfer can ride and have fun. It’ll suit the waves that most us surf on regular basis, waist to a bit overhead in all conditions from onshore and mushy to offshore and glassy.

Pair it up in your quiver with a full-on groveler like the Chilli Cherry Peppa and you’re covered for anything Neptune serves up!

So why do we like it? Simple its a good paddler, catches average waves without you having to absolutely exhaust yourself paddling, and once up and riding its fast and pretty stable, but when you put your foot down it responds. It has a fuller nose than a standard shortboard with more foam under the chest. It has a slightly wider outline than you might expect with the wide point a little further forward than something like the Chilli Rarebird which really improves paddling and early wave entry. The feature we like a lot is the hip in the rail that runs into the pulled in swallow tail. Chilli call this a bump swallow tail, what this does in practical terms is to help the board deal with choppy or mushy conditions, it stops the board being slowed up by effectively cutting through the chop, this is partly what helps it maintain its great speed. The board feels drivey too, you can drive it front footed because of the extra foam in the front part of the board. It features a single concave through the board and vee out through the tail to give it that speed and also allow it to release into turns a bit easier.

If you are an improving surfer who wants a board to help start to link turns better and maintain speed and generally improve it’s a good option, nudge the volume up a little and you’ll fly. It you are a decent surfer drop a litre or 2 and you’ll have a fast turning ripper.

Generally ride the Black Vulture at your normal mid range volume so a couple of litres less than your groveler and a couple more than your high performance shortboard, one of the guys here who is an intermediate surfer, 5’ 10 and 70kgs is on a stock 5’ 10 he’s loving it!

Boardshop prides itself on stocking the most sort after and desirable surfboard brands available, so it was inevitable that Chilli, which had been on our radar for a while would join the party. We'll be stocking the full range of Chilli surfboards and you'll be able to fine-tune or custom build any Chilli model via our "custom board builder".

Buying a new surfboard can be a big financial commitment, the team at Boardshop understand this and want to make sure your purchase is as simple and painless as possible. We offer an industry first "surfboard trade-in scheme" and a simple to set-up 0% finance deal (for full details go to the Boardshop.co.uk home page....Ride with Us.