kinda what I discussed with Casa about how feeling better on a small board doesnt always look better
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Board test for the every day surfer
- Thread starter trifish
- Start date
kinda what I discussed with Casa about how feeling better on a small board doesnt always look better
That was excellent.
Great idea bringing Stace onboard, and Kale is quite articulate.
Great idea bringing Stace onboard, and Kale is quite articulate.
Maybe just maybe Thomye is my favourite, mellow guy, surfs ok (yeah, better than me, but non too difficult to relate to), useful and simple advice. The boards he reviews are not on top of my list, though. Craig is also fun to watch, the boards are usually interesting, but yeah, difficult to tell when he doesn't like something.
A very enjoyable vid. Not much to learn other than Waterlogged's point about "feels good Vs looks good" and a reminder from Kale, that getting too serious about progression can spoil the enjoyment.
Kale says he is going to bring out his own board model by the end of the year. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with considering his demonstrated ability to assess boards. Will it be a HPSB based on the top boards in his test being the Sharpeye and Hayden Shapes or a stubbier board which he says he has mainly been riding.
What he liked/disliked in this test did surprise me. He liked and surfed the twin fins better than I thought considering he was comparing them to thrusters (a superior board in my view). The stubby thrusters - Lost Sub driver and Noa Deane Chlorine model went surprisingly bad. The Noa Deane model was even designed for the BSR wave pool. I think he should have taken them down the coast to give them a fair evaluation. Exception to the stubby thruster was the Flat Earth which he really liked.
The Neck Beard round tail did not look visually appealing to me - seemed to be sinking too low into the wave due to the the area reduction in the tail, thus giving the impression that it looked too small. It seemed to be performing though.
Today I surfed for the first time the board Kale used the most in the last two years or so, the Wraptor model by ozzie shaper Jason Rodd. Seems a super fun and friendly board, easy to generate speed with, but it's just the first surf, we will see. Besides I'm too much of a kook for give board advice to anyone. Basically it's a stubby thruster with some fish elements in it. Mine is a 6'0" x 36.3 liters (I'm 56 and a bit too stocky), but volume is exceptionally well hidden, rails are not chunky at all. That's the main thing that strikes me as original, the refined rails and nose/tail, given the volume. Kale and his buddy of "How to Rip" did a video where they considered this Wraptor thing one of the best, if not the best, board for average joes in average waves. All in all, I expect that Kale's model will be something along these lines, a board for the common people, like a Volksboard or something like that.
JR Surfboards - surfboard model details
JR Surfboards - surfboard model details
www.jrsurfboards.com.au
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Do you really think we're headed back to '90s-style thinner/longer boards? Seems like a step backwards to me. Kale was riding steeper/punchier waves in that video and his turns were more vertical but his surfing seemed - i dunno - choppier, kind of like the surfing you'd see from that era in SoCal/Newps videos. He seemed to struggle off the bottom though the board forced him to stay back in the pocket where he could hit the lip with a more vertical angle of attack rather than plane out towards the face like his widerboards.
Compare this to Dane's surfing on wider/stubbier boards versus his turns in the '90s/Early Aughts as a grom when he was riding longerboards. His surfing looks so much smoother later. Obviously he improved a lot as he grew but the boards seemed to reflect his surfing as well. Archer? Bow? IDK.
unless you are JKB*
It does carry much more foam to the nose and have a bit more volume while still maintaining HP rails and tail.
I think in small surf people will still surf grovelers and that is a win for 80 percent of surfers unless you are tiny rippah.
A good example of how I don't like the groveler trend is a pro like Yadin Nichol, he is on 5'3"-5'5" prototypes at Lowers and by all means ripping the bag out of it, but I think he would look 10 times better on something longer. on the other side of the coin we have Kerr surfing twins like a monsta
I am glad we are getting away from the huntington hop rocker, but my friends who grew up surfing big fat type stuff are so used to out of the gate speed they have a more difficult time learning to pump for speed. It is good to know how to do that, because you arent always going to be trimming high lines if you want to be able to maneuver vertically as well. I think we are in a good place of options right now, compared to when I was a grom you had fish, blade, log.
I also am a preacher of the less active boards at a time method as you can get dialed in more, although this will def have you overlapping days where you'd be better off on another board. But I am learning to enjoy swapping out, I just never feel dialed bouncing between drastic shape changes. no offense akura haha
I think a balance will be reached, for example the lost driver 2.0 I have is dims wise a HPSB
It does carry much more foam to the nose and have a bit more volume while still maintaining HP rails and tail.
I think in small surf people will still surf grovelers and that is a win for 80 percent of surfers unless you are tiny rippah.
A good example of how I don't like the groveler trend is a pro like Yadin Nichol, he is on 5'3"-5'5" prototypes at Lowers and by all means ripping the bag out of it, but I think he would look 10 times better on something longer. on the other side of the coin we have Kerr surfing twins like a monsta
I am glad we are getting away from the huntington hop rocker, but my friends who grew up surfing big fat type stuff are so used to out of the gate speed they have a more difficult time learning to pump for speed. It is good to know how to do that, because you arent always going to be trimming high lines if you want to be able to maneuver vertically as well. I think we are in a good place of options right now, compared to when I was a grom you had fish, blade, log.
I also am a preacher of the less active boards at a time method as you can get dialed in more, although this will def have you overlapping days where you'd be better off on another board. But I am learning to enjoy swapping out, I just never feel dialed bouncing between drastic shape changes. no offense akura haha
duuz i just added like a foot or two to all of my boars
more of his surf footage on the Inferno 72:
to my eye he surfed good on it, but might've looked better on a slightly bigger one
The board length issue is so personal.
Preference, surf zone, stance width, ability level, ect..... Some people like a board to push back hard, some like extremely responsive boards.
I absolutely see the value of riding longer boards in certain waves and conditions, but I can make the exact same argument for shorter boards too.
I ride whatever feels best to me. I give zero fvcks how it looks to anyone else.
Who are you surfing for?
Preference, surf zone, stance width, ability level, ect..... Some people like a board to push back hard, some like extremely responsive boards.
I absolutely see the value of riding longer boards in certain waves and conditions, but I can make the exact same argument for shorter boards too.
I ride whatever feels best to me. I give zero fvcks how it looks to anyone else.
Who are you surfing for?
Kale’s board model is going to be a Sunova surfboard, similar to their “Fang” model.
(i asked them a while ago when i first found his channel looking into Sunova boards)
“Daily driver” type board
(i asked them a while ago when i first found his channel looking into Sunova boards)
“Daily driver” type board
I had your giggle box in mind when talking about balance, modern 80s ftw powah carve
The Official Board Tester has a new review. 1 hour online and already 4 stupid questions in the comments.
according to the erbb he has ugly stink big style and maybe kook+ ability.