The Rumors Are True

Over the past few months, some of you have seen Michel Bourez, Kelly Slater and Ross Williams riding surfboards that look different from the Firewire and Slater Designs boards that everyone is used to seeing.

The boards have looked white. And unadorned. And lacking the black rails / black lines / ‘techy’ looking stuff that has become so common over the past few years on the top and bottom of surfboards everywhere.

Helium surfboards have this new light and airy look for a reason.

Helium feels light underarm, light on a wave, and it compresses lightly underfoot. We love how these boards surf, and we don’t want to ‘dress them up’ just for looks. There is no need to. The real tech is inside.

Helium is the culmination of three years of research and testing. And it’s what many fans of Firewire have been requesting for years – the absolute best elements of FST and LFT combined into a single surfboard technology.

First, a Look Back

One of the reasons that FST has been so popular is that the balsa wood rails are extremely durable. And when FST first came out in 2006 it controlled surfboard flex in a brand-new way. The strength of FST also makes them last uncommonly long.

But the fanbase that loved LFT was different. These surfers enjoyed the LFT deckskin (on boards like the Evo, Omni and Sci-Fi) because it had some ‘give’ to it. It would compress gently beneath the surfer’s front foot and create the well-worn-in ‘nest’ feeling some surfers prefer.

So How Does Helium Surf?

Helium was engineered to create the lightest surfboard possible for quick maneuverability while maintaining just enough weight to generate inertia down the line.

We aimed for an intersection of perfection between these two variables.

We also intended to create the same expanded lifespan beyond traditional materials that many expect from FST, in addition to the gentle compression beneath your feet that keeps many others surfing on LFT.

The brand new Helium deckskin just feels like it’s got that magic ‘give’ to it.

The moment many surfers will fall in love with Helium will be the first time they pump rail to rail down the line as they generate speed, because of how quickly this technology responds to input from the person surfing it.

We can’t wait for everyone to feel it, and we’re anxious to see everyone trying Helium for the first time at demo days this year.

Helium on Hawaiian Sand

Each Helium surfboard is shaped from a lighter foam blank than we’ve ever used before. And we were able to quicken the response rate of Helium’s flex using some lessons we’ve learned from our Timbertek surfboards.

We crafted a brand new rail for Helium that combines both Paulownia wood from our Timbertek boards and balsa wood from our FST boards.

The resulting flex profile of this new blended rail has created additional strength benefits as well.

Three Helium Shapes At Surf Shops Now

In anticipation of Kelly Slaters Gamma this coming July – a shape he designed from start to finish as the sole designer – we’re giving everyone access to two of Firewire’s most popular shapes by Dan Mann – the Spitfire and the Dominator – both built in Helium technology.

Dan has also improved the shape of everyone’s favorite Mannkine design – The Sweet Potato – and given it a more thinned out foil that enables more precision on rail with the same skate you’d expect from the Sweet Potato. It’s titled; The Chumlee.

The Helium Dominator

It’s tempting to call the Dominator the most proven shape in Firewire’s entire arsenal.

The Dominator was first released in 2009 in FST and its new release in Helium marks this boards fifth and final build evolution at Firewire.

It’s been built every way – FST, Timbertek, LFT and others – including several build technologies that only happened behind the scenes at Firewire. Its new life in Helium has made it a favorite of a couple Firewire employees, partially because of how easily it pairs with the Chumlee.

We’ve found that both the Dominator and Chumlee in your trunk can stand ready for nearly any wave you find in California. They also allow for easy transitions between both shapes.

Both models are not just designed by Dan Mann – they’re also each different variants of the same shape: Round tail. Pointed nose. Moderate rocker. The difference is in the way they distribute width from nose to tail. And stepping from one board to the other across multiple sessions in a single week feels familiar, without the need to get re-acquainted with each shape after every switch.

The Helium Spitfire

The Spitfire is a re-mix of the Dominator shape that maintains similar details but features a tail designed for tighter arcs and tighter pivot.

The Dominator draws back into a rounded thumb of a tail. But the spitfire has a diamond tail. Foam is also removed from the rail of the Spitfire as it approaches the diamond shape. This creates increased sensitivity beneath your back foot as the Spitfire’s tail cuts more sharply into the face of the wave.

This creates increased sensitivity beneath your back foot as the Spitfire’s tail cuts more sharply into the face of the wave.

The Helium Chumlee

The Sweet Potato and Baked Potato put smiles on everyone’s faces for the same reasons: Fast. Easy. Effortless.

The Chumlee will look familiar if you’ve ever paid attention to the Sweet Potato. The difference is in the foil. The Thickness. The sense you get from holding the rail in your hand. You suspect you can shred it.

What the Chumlee has is the same outline that allowed the Sweet Potato to surf so easily in junk waves. But now it’s rippable. Thigh high waves are now accessible with the speed of a potato shape, and the turning ability of board much more narrow.

Lastly, surfers who prefer thrusters over quads will be excited to find that the Chumlee pairs well with thruster sets that have a lot of rake to them (the tip of the fin trailing far behind the base).

We and many others found that the Sweet and Baked Potato often required quad sets to control so much thickness on rail. But with the updated foil on the Chumlee, quads are no longer a necessity.

Want Dimensions?

The Chumlee:

5′ 1″ 20 1/4″ 2 3/16″ 26.0 5′ 3″ 20 1/2″ 2 5/16″ 28.7 5′ 5″ 20 3/4″ 2 7/16″ 31.7 5′ 7″ 21″ 2 7/16″ 32.8 5′ 9″ 21 1/4″ 2 1/2″ 35.2 5′ 11″ 21 1/2″ 2 5/8″ 38.4 6′ 1″ 21 3/4″ 2 3/4″ 42.0 6′ 3″ 22″ 2 3/4″ 44.0 6′ 5″ 22 1/4″ 2 7/8″ 47.7

The Spitfire:

5′ 2″ 19″ 2 1/8″ 23.3 5′ 4″ 19 1/4″ 2 1/4″ 27.7 5′ 6″ 19 3/4″ 2 3/8″ 28.3 5′ 8″ 20″ 2 3/8″ 31.0 5′ 10″ 20 1/4″ 2 1/2″ 33.5 6′ 0″ 20 1/2″ 2 1/2″ 34.9 6′ 2″ 20 3/4″ 2 5/8″ 38.0 6′ 4″ 21″ 2 3/4″ 41.5 6′ 6″ 21 1/4″ 2 7/8″ 45.0 6′ 8″ 21 3/4″ 3″ 48.7 6′ 10″ 22″ 3 1/4″ 55.4

The Dominator:

5′ 2″ 19″ 2 1/8″ 23.3 5′ 4″ 19 1/4″ 2 1/4″ 25.7 5′ 6″ 19 3/4″ 2 5/16″ 28.3 5′ 7″ 19 13/16″ 2 3/8″ 29.4 5′ 8″ 20″ 2 3/8″ 31.0 5′ 9″ 20 1/8″ 2 7/16″ 32.4 5′ 10″ 20 1/4″ 2 1/2″ 33.5 5′ 11″ 20 5/16″ 2 1/2″ 34.0 6′ 0″ 20 1/2″ 2 1/2″ 34.9 6′ 1″ 20 5/8″ 2 9/16″ 36.1 6′ 2″ 20 3/4″ 2 5/8″ 38.0 6′ 4″ 21″ 2 3/4″ 41.5 6′ 6″ 21 1/4″ 2 7/8″ 45.0 6′ 8″ 21 3/4″ 3″ 50.0 6′ 10″ 22″ 3 1/4″ 55.0

There Is More Coming…

We’ve got a lot planned for Helium in the coming 6 months.

Keep an eye on our demo schedule here.

We’ll see you this Summer.