Pyzel Mini Ghost

j_mac

Legend (inyourownmind)
Aug 16, 2020
418
1,567
93
it's a fun boar but it's not a miracle worker!
LOL
Haha - this was the end of the session. Got a good 2hr window with shoulder high plus waves. Waves were pretty clean and then turned softer.

Fedex arrived, quick wax job, and out the door to surf it.

Board is fun. This is my lowest volume board @ 28L. It feels like more volume both in and out of the water. It paddles great, catches waves well. I am so glad I got the 5' 6". It feels a little chunky, a 5' 7" might have been too much. If anything - 5' 5" could be fun. I am happy at 5' 6" - it is a blast and very playful. It is a board you want to grab and be stupid.

Highlight - the board carries very good speed for its size and volume, better than some of my other boards that are wider and thicker. The speed was surprising, with still plenty of control.

Still getting used to surfing a thruster. Waves were all backside for me. I had a blast!
 

SixtyGrit

Gerry Lopez status
Oct 3, 2015
1,010
1,219
113
SD
Haha - this was the end of the session. Got a good 2hr window with shoulder high plus waves. Waves were pretty clean and then turned softer.

Fedex arrived, quick wax job, and out the door to surf it.

Board is fun. This is my lowest volume board @ 28L. It feels like more volume both in and out of the water. It paddles great, catches waves well. I am so glad I got the 5' 6". It feels a little chunky, a 5' 7" might have been too much. If anything - 5' 5" could be fun. I am happy at 5' 6" - it is a blast and very playful. It is a board you want to grab and be stupid.

Highlight - the board carries very good speed for its size and volume, better than some of my other boards that are wider and thicker. The speed was surprising, with still plenty of control.

Still getting used to surfing a thruster. Waves were all backside for me. I had a blast!
Re: chunkiness - I felt the same way. Now I don't. Just FYI.

Also, I like how you added the .5 after 5'8"

I'm going to do that after my 5'7".
 

tedshred5

Michael Peterson status
Aug 5, 2015
2,720
6,380
113
Haha - this was the end of the session. Got a good 2hr window with shoulder high plus waves. Waves were pretty clean and then turned softer.

Fedex arrived, quick wax job, and out the door to surf it.

Board is fun. This is my lowest volume board @ 28L. It feels like more volume both in and out of the water. It paddles great, catches waves well. I am so glad I got the 5' 6". It feels a little chunky, a 5' 7" might have been too much. If anything - 5' 5" could be fun. I am happy at 5' 6" - it is a blast and very playful. It is a board you want to grab and be stupid.

Highlight - the board carries very good speed for its size and volume, better than some of my other boards that are wider and thicker. The speed was surprising, with still plenty of control.

Still getting used to surfing a thruster. Waves were all backside for me. I had a blast!
Re: chunkiness - I felt the same way. Now I don't. Just FYI.

Also, I like how you added the .5 after 5'8"

I'm going to do that after my 5'7".
it's funny when I bought my MG - I felt it at the shop first and the 5'9 felt perfect to me under arm, but I went against that instinct and bought a 5'10 - which felt yuge at first. Now I'm glad I went up a size and don't much notice the extra chonk anymore. I'm 5'10 190-195. I'm also currently in a more-foam-is-your-friend phase, for my (crappy) ability level.

@j_mac where do you surf mostly?
 

j_mac

Legend (inyourownmind)
Aug 16, 2020
418
1,567
93
Re: chunkiness - I felt the same way. Now I don't. Just FYI.

Also, I like how you added the .5 after 5'8"

I'm going to do that after my 5'7".
I hear the extra 0.5" is very important;)!

The chunkiness isn't that bad as it lets you go shorter. Relative to my Album boards, this is slightly less or on par with rail chuckiness. The Goat rails are the best so far.

Have you tried it as a quad yet? I am leaning toward this set-up next owing to the wider tail. Again digging the quad feel on the Goat, dare I say even more than the twin.

@tedshred5 surf around Monterey - it is very sharky and cold, wouldn't recommend.
 

Swallow Tail

Billy Hamilton status
Oct 6, 2017
1,679
2,938
113
Your Mom’s House
@tedshred5 surf around Monterey - it is very sharky and cold, wouldn't recommend.
Def sharky

lineup got cleared out by a 10-12 footer at undisclosed spot in the the monterey bay Last week while I was out. Guy I see in the water occasionally had a Mick Fanning at Jbay type incident this winter in the bay and there are White sightings on the regular.
 

j_mac

Legend (inyourownmind)
Aug 16, 2020
418
1,567
93
The mini ghost has been fun. I remain undecided on the fin set-up (ie quad or thruster) as both work well. So however the mood strikes you, put fins to match! I have surfed the mini ghost in a range of conditions, and it works well. I believe part of the wide range, is related to the narrowness of the nose, while still maintaining volume. All of the elements, make it a playful board.

I hardly head out of town, but yesterday had an appointment so I swung by a few of the surf shops as I was able to compare different Mini Ghost sizes. I am glad that I YOLOed the 5' 6". The rails of the next size up are more beefy, almost feels like different model. I would definitely feel a few before purchasing. I lucked out. Since getting the squash tail, my interest is piqued for round tail, and was thinking a 5' 7" or bigger. After feeling the rails, I am sticking to the 5' 6".
 
Last edited:

SixtyGrit

Gerry Lopez status
Oct 3, 2015
1,010
1,219
113
SD
The mini ghost has been fun. I remain undecided on the fin set-up (ie quad or thruster) as both work well. So however the mood strikes you, put fins to match! I have surfed the mini ghost in a range of conditions, and it works well. I believe part of the wide range, is related to the narrowness of the nose, while still maintaining volume. All of the elements, make it a playful board.

I hardly head out of town, but yesterday had an appointment so I swung by a few of the surf shops as I was able to compare different Mini Ghost sizes. I am glad that I YOLOed the 5' 6". The rails of the next size up are more beefy, almost feels like different model. I would definitely feel a few before purchasing. I lucked out. Since getting the squash tail, my interest is piqued for round tail, and was thinking a 5' 7" or bigger. After feeling the rails, I am sticking to the 5' 6".
I've been thinking a lot about using the Mini Ghost custom template with Mr. Pyzel... thumb tail, no bump or less bump. same rocker, width. add 1-2 inches, shave thickness... maybe. Having a 5'8" MG thumbtail as a DD would be SOCK!

And I'd keep my stok 5'6".
 
  • Love
Reactions: j_mac and tedshred5
Apr 11, 2012
42
13
8
Coastal
What quad fin setup are you running? I got the mini ghost 5'10 varial foam. Ran the JJF front fins and HS rears same setup that I run in my Ghost and love, it didn't seem to be the right setup for the mini ghost. Any suggestions?
 

j_mac

Legend (inyourownmind)
Aug 16, 2020
418
1,567
93
What quad fin setup are you running? I got the mini ghost 5'10 varial foam. Ran the JJF front fins and HS rears same setup that I run in my Ghost and love, it didn't seem to be the right setup for the mini ghost. Any suggestions?
I recently went from Pyzel large (futures) and QD2 3.75" 80/20 to the AM2 front, Album NVS quad rears, and wow did it provide the board with some extra juice. FYI- lately I have primarily been surfing this in a very punchy beach break. The extra drive feels great for these conditions.

Since I am commenting, I really like this board, especially in the punchy break, it does work well in other conditions. I find it paddles really well. I know one review said it doesn't paddle well, I think it paddles great for its size. There are a lot of comments about finding the correct fins for this board (likely because of the wider squash tail). I think this is why I kept swapping back and forth between Pyzel/QD2 quad and Pyzel thruster, until my recent AM2/NVS setup.

This Varial board is withstanding surface pressure dings and I am beating the crap out of it. I asked Varial about this and they said their foam is denser toward the center so thinner/flatter boards are more resistant to pressures.

I have the 5' 6" and it works great, but the FOMO on a 5' 5" haha , so I YOLOed a 5' 5" Varial Mini Ghost the other day during their sale.
 
Last edited: