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Great review! My guess is that when you get it in good open face waves arcing carves will be amazing robotic. I had a 6"8" T/C shaped bt Craig that I grabbed out of the factory in maybe 91 (was custom for someone on E coast but flaked out or something) it had vee from nose to tail and was amazing in steep walls for burying the rail. in my top 5 board list. I really want to try the reverse V!I got a MC EEV Shorty through Real. I have only had three sessions on it and none in the kind of waves that Trip Foreman refers to. I also upped my volume on it. So far, it is much more 'friendly' than a Mermaid Mach 3 I had from Maurice. The Mermaid had very hard edges that were not tucked under like this EEV. That Mermaid gave some great speed and I came out of some turns much faster than I thought I came out of turns on other thrusters, but I also would catch rail and botch turns in very dramatic fashion. I am sure most of it was my doing. My EEV's hard edge is significantly less than the Mermaid's through the front 2/3 of the rail but more edge than any other shaper's rail I have owned. I have been able to ride mine (5'11x20x2 11/16 33.9L and I am 5'10 x 195) in grovel conditions (by east coast standards, not the video footage of guys surfing 'grovelers' in waist to chest high surf fun surf). It paddles well but feels like a shortboard and not some of the 'groveler' boards I have ridden at even less volume (e.g. Lost Motivator, CI Fred Stubble). There is more concave in the bottom than I thought and it does have fair amount of rocker, but its in the tail. If I had to guess I would say that it is 'staged' rocker with the exit adding the high performance dynamic with the bump squash. Mine also has a different fin placement than the standard 11" up from the tail. My side fins are at 10.75" from tail. I am pleased with it so far, but I have not had it in anything over chest high peak that tapered into thigh high faces.
In short, I think Nick Carroll's description is accurate to my experience while my EEV may have more concave than what he seems to be describing in his two EEV's. I would say it is it a fuller figured hspb with some friendliness sown into the design. Your mechanics require someone who knows how to surf a hpsb thruster but you don't have to be as athletic and nimble as you were in your late teens and early 20's. It seems to reward the surfer who does the where, when-and-how-to-lay-into-his-board-on-the-right-time-and-place-on-the-wave surfing, not the hoppy-jumpy-impatient-able-bodied-but-less-skilled-mind-younger-guys-get-away-with-but-looks-horrible-to-the-eye kind of surfing.
Craig Sugihara. You used to work there around that time, yes? If my memory serves I was told he didn't shape many at the time, maybe the vee nose to tail was something from the early 80's before rocker and concaves became dominant features?I had a 6"8" T/C shaped bt Craig that I grabbed out of the factory in maybe 91 (was custom for someone on E coast but flaked out or something) it had vee from nose to tail and was amazing in steep walls for burying the rail. in my top 5 board list.
? Craig
No, it was not your doing. You have discovered the reason why modern boards feature a tucked under rail edge. I discovered this in the early 80s when I made myself a board testing the theory of maximising planing area in a normal width board by bringing the flat planing surface very close to the rail perimeter with minimal tuck. It was a short twin fin, 5' 4" x 20" wide and quite difficult to surf, because it was prone to catching or accidentally sinking a real and I really had to concentrate to avoid this happening - a very unforgiving board. I know it is the lack of tuck that was the problem. From this I blame the lack of tuck for your Mermaid's lack of forgiveness - nothing to do with the hard edge, because my twin fin had what is best described as rounded corner - no hard edge forward of fins, but was still difficult to surf....The Mermaid had very hard edges that were not tucked under like this EEV. That Mermaid gave some great speed and I came out of some turns much faster than I thought I came out of turns on other thrusters, but I also would catch rail and botch turns in very dramatic fashion. I am sure most of it was my doing...