Stubby Shortboard

[Tomay]

Time for me to get a new board. Looking to go back to a stubby-ish HPSB for knee to slightly OH waves. I want it to sit above my twin for days when its a little steeper/faster, there's the odd small HH barrel on offer or its a bit choppy and bigger and you've got to navigate it to get that one section. I've had some success with stubby thrusters in the past but am open to trying a quad. Knee (with push) to Slightly OH. Bonus if it can get me in early or handle a late drop.

I'm deciding between the Mini Ghost, Inferno (maybe Quad?) and Happy Everyday at this stage so would love some input from people with those boards. Either that or I go to a local shaper and get him to make a 5'10 30L board with the wide point at centre, a hip to squash/round, low entry rocker with a late flip and moderate tail rocker?

There's probably lots of info here on those but the search function is sh!t and I've been out of action too long to track it all.

 

[oeste858]

I was in the same boat. MiniGhost should fit the bill, but I haven’t gotten enough waves on it to really give a fair endorsement.
Phantom has a different outline without a hip, but it also covers what you describe and Pyzel XL dims could make it even stubbier, if desired. Had a couple fun sessions on mine in punchy chest high surf, but I just don’t reach for a thruster very often these days. the right twins cover that range for me.
Twinsman works well CH-HH, and i bet Insanity quad could be a fun alt to thruster. Just sayin.

 

[JDJ]

DHD Utopia looks pretty money.

 

[tedshred5]

Mini Ghost has all of your criteria - just make sure to account for the thicccer foil towards the rail, and it has a slight beak nose. Mine is a 5-fin, so I can run it as a quad or thruster. It's worked best (for me) in more punchy/steeper waves in the chest-head high range.

Happy Everyday looks great to me too, but never tried one

 

[scooch]

Bobby Quad

 

[Pyzelsurfboards]

Mini Ghost, duh!

 

[smithgrind]

Stamps GX fits the bill.

 

[sdsrfr]

Stamps GX fits the bill.

Doesn’t hurt my 5’10 is about 30L… just can’t seem to replace it.

 

[Tomay]

Would totally get a Stamps if I could. When I come over that way next year I might put in an order.

DHD Utopia on the radar now too.

 

[Aruka]

if by inferno you mean the 72 it's probably the least stubby and most HP out of the 3 choices. quite a lot of rocker and not my first choice for knee high stuff but it does still have a good low end for a hpsb. great board. disco and disco cheater might be worth a consideration for something a little less tuned for an easier transition from your twin.

 

[claw87]

I love my happy everyday for those conditions. I'm 6'2 and on the stock 5'10. If I were to reorder I'd probably go a hair narrower. It goes alright in the knee high department, better than the mini ghost I'd assume. That being said I'm definitely on the pj pro if not even the sets are waist high

 

[waxurDyl]

I can’t stress enough how much a Chilli Churro(NOT Churro 2) fits the bill as well. I’m on my 5th one and will ALWAYS have one in the quiver for exactly the conditions you described. Slightly wider outline than normal thrusters and can get it with a swallow or round tail if you prefer.

 

[surfwhere]

You can also look at the Tormentor which sits between a Black Punt and WD2. Call Rob at the factory

 

[emmohl80]

Pyzalien 2
Thing just works. Not a groveler but can def surf it in small stuff especially if it has a bit of push. Easily goes on OH stuff. I have a 2nd on order. All I ride for 95% of east coast surf.

 

[tedshred5]

when you watch the breakdown the rocker curve of the Happy Everyday, it fits what you're describing as well (~4:45 in the video)

based on the ones I've seen in person, the Disco would have more nose rocker than both the Mini Ghost and Happy Everyday

 

[rowjimmytour]

6" below height
1/2" wider then hpsb
cft medium/dft
Sk8 deck
FU #2 quad/5 fin set
Email/Call Dylan dial dims
http://www.stretchboards.com/boards/surfboards/super-buzz/

 

[kool-aid]

I've ridden/had all those boards so you're welcome.

The Mini Ghost is really the only true stub IMHO of the bunch if that's really what you're looking for. It will fit the bill for the conditions you mentioned and in some ways has the most range of any of the boards in that bunch. It can be a great board in the right conditions but it's not a groveler IMO. Since you plan on using this board above the range of your twin then that's probably fine.

The Happy Everyday is a great board and I'd argue it's the most groveler focused of the bunch. I haven't tested the upper range on the board but the board carries a lot of width through the outline. If you order it narrow I think it would have a funne upper range but if you go wide I think it will redline very quickly. I absolutely love the Happy Everyday as a step-down shortboard but I'd only use it HH and under.

The Inferno 72 is also an amazing board but it's far and away the most refined and high-performance of the bunch. It will grovel if you force it to. And it will go in WH - SH waves but it requires more work than the other two. It has a pretty decent upper end as it's basically a HPSB. Wouldn't consider it a stub at all and I'd expect the Inferno FT is even more refined.

Both the Happy Everyday (5'10 x 19 3/9 x 2 9/16) and Inferno 72 (6'0 x 19 1/8 x 2 5/8 round tail) are staples in my quiver right now and they're awesome boards if you want to do high-performance surfing in average to good waves.

In some waves, I actually think the Mini Ghost is the easiest board to generate speed on but the board has a deceptive amount of rocker built into a small package. In my experience unless the waves have some push and curve to them the board can be a bit sluggish which may be an issue if you want to drop the board down to knee/waist-high range.

 

[Tomay]

Sweet that’s some good feedback. I’m on east coast OZ so Stamps and Stretch and some of the US shapers are out of the equation.

doesn’t sound like I can go wrong with any of them. It’s probably more like waste high + anyway I’m after, sometimes we get really punchy little swells which are fun on the stubbies.

The happy Everyday sounds a bit like the Sampler I loved, though it definitely had a top end. Been meaning to try a Pyzel though so probably between those two.

 

[billypilgrim]

I was looking at some mini ghosts but ended up going with a Maurice Cole reverse vee shortboard. Mostly because I couldn’t get a mini ghost with futures fin boxes at the time but i also did like the thinner rail of the MC. I’ve found it to be very versatile and would definitely recommend one.

 

[sdsrfr]

I've ridden/had all those boards so you're welcome.

The Mini Ghost is really the only true stub IMHO of the bunch if that's really what you're looking for. It will fit the bill for the conditions you mentioned and in some ways has the most range of any of the boards in that bunch. It can be a great board in the right conditions but it's not a groveler IMO. Since you plan on using this board above the range of your twin then that's probably fine.

The Happy Everyday is a great board and I'd argue it's the most groveler focused of the bunch. I haven't tested the upper range on the board but the board carries a lot of width through the outline. If you order it narrow I think it would have a funne upper range but if you go wide I think it will redline very quickly. I absolutely love the Happy Everyday as a step-down shortboard but I'd only use it HH and under.

The Inferno 72 is also an amazing board but it's far and away the most refined and high-performance of the bunch. It will grovel if you force it to. And it will go in WH - SH waves but it requires more work than the other two. It has a pretty decent upper end as it's basically a HPSB. Wouldn't consider it a stub at all and I'd expect the Inferno FT is even more refined.

Both the Happy Everyday (5'10 x 19 3/9 x 2 9/16) and Inferno 72 (6'0 x 19 1/8 x 2 5/8 round tail) are staples in my quiver right now and they're awesome boards if you want to do high-performance surfing in average to good waves.

In some waves, I actually think the Mini Ghost is the easiest board to generate speed on but the board has a deceptive amount of rocker built into a small package. In my experience unless the waves have some push and curve to them the board can be a bit sluggish which may be an issue if you want to drop the board down to knee/waist-high range.

Did you end up having a change of opinion on your MG? Curious how you ended up sizing since you sometimes iterate on dims.