What's your favorite board between a groveler and a shortboard?

teeroi

Miki Dora status
Oct 21, 2007
5,107
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eastside oahu
There’s a couple of guys that have been riding the Contemporary Fish from Akila at Bowls. They ride it from waist to a little overhead. I don’t think Bowls would be considered a grovel wave unless it’s small and really high tide. But at waist high it can still be very rippable. They surf good so it’s hard to tell but they say the boards just work.

Another shaper that has been coming up with great boards for small performance type waves is Daniel Jones. He was featured in the Stab EAST. Been seeing his quads under some friends that have been surfing really good on them.
 

oeste858

Phil Edwards status
Sep 11, 2017
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Yeah, that Contemporary fish is gonna be my next board order. Been eyeing it since the Salas review last year. Looks lightning fast and impressive tight turns in small waves. You know... for the SoCal grovel quiver

@Aruka maybe his Modern Fish or that Element 115 Fish (Sharkboy posted above) would be more what you're looking for?
 
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retodd

Duke status
Feb 23, 2009
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There’s a couple of guys that have been riding the Contemporary Fish from Akila at Bowls. They ride it from waist to a little overhead. I don’t think Bowls would be considered a grovel wave unless it’s small and really high tide. But at waist high it can still be very rippable. They surf good so it’s hard to tell but they say the boards just work.

Another shaper that has been coming up with great boards for small performance type waves is Daniel Jones. He was featured in the Stab EAST. Been seeing his quads under some friends that have been surfing really good on them.
http://instagr.am/p/BjsgNxzHbF6/
 

aldo

Nep status
Aug 13, 2012
639
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Bahamas
Not sure right now. This is my second Shadow In these dims and Sean also shaped a really nice Time Machine for me several years back. I’m thinking they were about $7-800 but I could be wrong. It’s been a while and the boards hold up very well.
The shadow has a very wide range. It can grovel almost as well as most purpose made grovellers and can hold its own in decent sized waves. Some might class it as a short board and others a hybrid. I grab it every time I’m not sure what I’m going to get and it never disappoints.
 

Aruka

Tom Curren status
Feb 23, 2010
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I rode my Rusty Twin yesterday for the first time in a while. It has a decent balance of fishy glide with a narrow enough tail to hold in on a steep face. I like this board and I've had good sessions both here and down in the weaker point waves of Baja. I still feel like every time I ride this board though I spend half the session figuring out where the sweet spot is. I think despite the full-ish nose and the twin fin configuration the sweet spot is a little more rearward than I expect. I want to paddle it from a little too far forward and then when I hop up and try to drive off the front foot the nose rocker bogs and the fins slide and it's not pretty. When I do get a rhythm going on this board it feels amazing. Like a thruster with the brakes off. I think if I rode it more often I could find that feeling more consistently but I am always changing things up even though I know it's probably bad for my overall performance. I love twin fins in clean, lined up waves but I question whether they are the pinnacle of versatility, especially in bumpy, crossed up beachbreak waves such as the ones I regularly surf.
 

trifish

Gerry Lopez status
Sep 23, 2009
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Shred City
I think despite the full-ish nose and the twin fin configuration the sweet spot is a little more rearward than I expect....
Do you find that to be the case on most the twins your on? I haven't been on a ton of twin fins, but the ones I've been on all liked me paddling far on the nose but than getting far back on the tail when riding/turning. I step on my leash where it connects to the plug constantly on my Xanadu to the point I have asked him for a resin loop instead to give me a little more room. Was wondering if this is a common thing on twins since i've never had that issue on thrusters.
 
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20W-50 and blood

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Feb 4, 2004
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Poor leash plug placement can be an issue with swallow tails.
WHY do people take a design that already limits your foot placement....then shove a stupid F()CKING leash plug way up the deck and further limit how far back you can foot your foot? SERIOUSLY. can someone just take a fUC()KING bat to a few of the repeat offenders?! Love swallow tails...but HATE this issue.
 

jkb

Tom Curren status
Feb 22, 2005
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Central California
I rode my Rusty Twin yesterday for the first time in a while. It has a decent balance of fishy glide with a narrow enough tail to hold in on a steep face. I like this board and I've had good sessions both here and down in the weaker point waves of Baja. I still feel like every time I ride this board though I spend half the session figuring out where the sweet spot is. I think despite the full-ish nose and the twin fin configuration the sweet spot is a little more rearward than I expect. I want to paddle it from a little too far forward and then when I hop up and try to drive off the front foot the nose rocker bogs and the fins slide and it's not pretty. When I do get a rhythm going on this board it feels amazing. Like a thruster with the brakes off. I think if I rode it more often I could find that feeling more consistently but I am always changing things up even though I know it's probably bad for my overall performance. I love twin fins in clean, lined up waves but I question whether they are the pinnacle of versatility, especially in bumpy, crossed up beachbreak waves such as the ones I regularly surf.
I wonder if it would be easier to surf as a twin w/ trailer or as a twinzer?

Have you ever ridden a twinzer Aruka? Curious to hear your feedback if you have.
 
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Aruka

Tom Curren status
Feb 23, 2010
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I wonder if it would be easier to surf as a twin w/ trailer or as a twinzer?

Have you ever ridden a twinzer Aruka? Curious to hear your feedback if you have.
Negative. I was eyeballing one recently on usedsurf from my main man Mr. Stamps but our resident fin savant Retodd talked some sense into me. He thought it was too short for my tall self and I'm sure he was right.

I still really want to try one though! I generally love twins but sometimes I do feel like I overpower them and whether or not the canard effect does what it is purported to do I think more fin could help with that.

Do you find that to be the case on most the twins your on? I haven't been on a ton of twin fins, but the ones I've been on all liked me paddling far on the nose but than getting far back on the tail when riding/turning. I step on my leash where it connects to the plug constantly on my Xanadu to the point I have asked him for a resin loop instead to give me a little more room. Was wondering if this is a common thing on twins since i've never had that issue on thrusters.
No, not all. My Banjo Fish is 5'7" which for me @ 6'3" is tiny but it makes finding the sweet spot very easy. Basically it feels like if my feet are on the board I am in the sweet spot which is one of the reasons I love that board so much. For longer boards there is more room for error. Foam flow becomes more important. The rusty twin isn't mega full nosed but it's really thinned out through the tail so in that sense it is a little unbalanced. I think if I had sized mine a little shorter I would have less issues. My 6'6" Album Townsend has a fairly full nose but carries foam through the midsection and somewhat into the tail so I seem to have less issues with that even though it's longer than the Rusty.

I don't think that issue is exclusive to Twins. It's more of an overall design "feature" that you have to adjust to.
 

Billy Ocean

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Jan 7, 2017
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I rode my Rusty Twin yesterday for the first time in a while. It has a decent balance of fishy glide with a narrow enough tail to hold in on a steep face. I like this board and I've had good sessions both here and down in the weaker point waves of Baja. I still feel like every time I ride this board though I spend half the session figuring out where the sweet spot is. I think despite the full-ish nose and the twin fin configuration the sweet spot is a little more rearward than I expect. I want to paddle it from a little too far forward and then when I hop up and try to drive off the front foot the nose rocker bogs and the fins slide and it's not pretty. When I do get a rhythm going on this board it feels amazing. Like a thruster with the brakes off. I think if I rode it more often I could find that feeling more consistently but I am always changing things up even though I know it's probably bad for my overall performance. I love twin fins in clean, lined up waves but I question whether they are the pinnacle of versatility, especially in bumpy, crossed up beachbreak waves such as the ones I regularly surf.
I have an R twin which is my main board for whenever waves are decent

Rear foot right on top of fins or just in front is where it’s at

I feel like this board is basically unlimited once you start figuring it out. I’m very kooky in general but I have moments on this board where I’m like holy sh!t

not really a grovel board but goes great in steep waves as long as youre not looking to go straight off the bottom up to the lip

when this one goes I will get another one. I wish R would make a dedicated step up twin fin model