.
I am just getting old. And every day, older. I was 58 a few years ago. Then 59, then 60, and maybe I skipped a year or something, but now I am 62. Sobering realization. And like many folks, I don’t want to be a burden on my family or friends. I want to look down the road and know that I have taken care of my future needs. I want to make arrangements for that sad day approaching when I can no longer ride a shortboard.
So, I have for the last few years been looking for that perfect board, well short of a longboard, but with enough foam to consistently catch waves. And yet, not so long that I can’t put it inside an SUV or my small hatchback. Maybe not too long for the airlines to deny. I decided 8-0 would be the magic number. Not a fan of mid lengths, but rolled the dice. Besides I have an 8-0 board bag.
My current sweetheart shortboard is a 6-4/6-2 Asymm that George Gall made for me about a year ago. I am a huge fan of the concept and George nailed it with that one. We were talking a while back (George, if you are reading this, yes it was a long time back, inside joke) and he told be about an 8-0/7-10 that he built for someone that turned out very special. Particularly fast, wave hog, and plenty loose. I pretty much decided then to order one, but held off until I knew I could actually pay for it. With American money. That my wife didn’t know I had.
Well, I rode it for three hours the other day in waist to HH 11 sec period chunky waves. It is all George said it would be. It is fast enough to get the attention of my buddies. One thing really stood out though; it is such a dream going backside. I mostly went backside so I could get a good feel for it. I am an average surfer, but it was so easy to drop in backside, climb up the face and do an off the top front side. Even with an 8 footer. I found I could pump it easily. This is new to me going backside.
Overall, I have to say that I will be riding this one every time I am not riding my Asymm 6-4/6-2.
Go build or buy yourself an Asymm and quit reading what others say. It is no gimmick, it is not new, it is very valid. Try one. Maybe call George and ask for a demo ride.
I couple of pics below. The first is of Maurice Cole fondling my board before George shipped it to me. A bottom shot and the outline. Notice the two rockers, the offset fin placement. And there is a lot going on with the bottom contours. I also asked him to put in rail channels to give me a better chance of hanging on when I either duck dived or turned turtle.
George, hope you are reading this. Thanks so much.
Hah, before I read the sentence I saw the top photo and was going to say that shoots dude, you look like Maurice Cole.
I’d like to try Bernie’s asymm in good waves. It felt good in small junky mush. You have to see one to appreciate how complex they are.
maurice will shape a few now
with reverse vee
and maybe in a fireball fish configuration , too ...for the aussie flavour , and for Mr. Style ... now , Where IS Tom , and that indo rightander , for another 'reunion search ' surf , for him ?
stoked you are enjoying it , George , Greg , [and Harry ...hi to bernie , too ! .... are you using any of my fins in your assym[s] , mr. sharky ? :) ]
cheers guys !
ben
Greg ,
can you show us the fin setups [bottom of board shot] , too, please ?
cheers
ben
That looks really cool! I’ve got an eight footer in the works. A “Player Hater” as my friend calls them, for those unruly crowded days that you can’t beat 'em so you join 'em. Wasn’t thinking asymmetrical, but you guys got the wheels turning! May have to rethink my plan.
Geez
I’m jealous now
just bought a used firewire 9’0" fireflight longboard for the same among other reasons.
plan on catching my first wave since september on new years day on it if i can get to the beach.
good on you GT
i may need to give George a call next year.
Poly or EPS?
weight?
I can’t carry anything heavy or strain my incision for a while.
Ben, I’ve been using some of your fins. I’ll need to shoot a photo. I have a set of the 747 style as the back fins on a 5-11 x 21 1/2 x 2 5/8 quad egg. I still have to get your box of goodies out. I will do it, promise.
good stuff Harry !
an assymetrical board , with assymetrical fin spacings , with assymetrical fins ... why NOT , eh !
Bernie , WHAT happened , mate ?!
the word 'incision' doesn't sound too pleasant ...hernia operation ??
get well soon mate , look forward to reading about your oceanic return !
....time out of the water with injuries sure SUCKS , eh ?!
It's only been four DAYS for me , so far .... but with 40 degree C days , at present [9 days in a row over 35-37 degrees C , forecast ...we are into our FOURTH , already ?! ] ....well, I'm quickly going NUTS !
I’m 52 and already poking around on mid lengths, usually when it’s crowded. It opens up the playing field. I miss a lot more waves when I’m on my 6-0 and then the frustration factor sets in.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to the look of asym boards. How does it feel, say, when you straighten out,or when you’re gliding into an early take off going straight? Does it pull in one direction or the other?
ps you say it’s a dream backside. Are you regular or goofy?
It rides like a normal board front side and goes straight without pulling either way. On backside it is just easier. The board goes both ways. See if you can try one some time.
to me it’s not the initial front side or back side turn but the second turn or cut back where it seems to work better.
goofy or regular your feet are usually angled towards the rail in a certain direction and your butt is usually hanging over or on top of the other side so both bottom turns are different in where the mass of your okole(butt) and opu (stomach) are driving the rail and how they need to recover for the top turn.
As you come off the bottom and are rotating your torso to move your big ass around the horn , the whip effect is way different front side versus backside unless your throwing around a 18" wide potato chip the pros use.
Max speed and efficiency are usually obtained when the second turn takes the thrust from the first turn and increases speed versus slashing it off like most second turns do. I think that’s why spongers don’t have the same problem coming off the top because of how their body is more evenly positioned over the board which also flexes instead of slashes which is just burning off momentum/speed.
The fin combination (thruster/twin), positioning, rail breaks and bottom contour seem to make the second and third turn more fluid with less effort than with a standard profile where you have to adjust allot more with body and foot positioning. But then if you have 13-15 size feet its not a big deal with a 6"-11" wide tail.
Its how it refines the second and third turn in a wave that I get the most benefit
linking turns to maximize the drive off the initial bottom turn is where the fun comes in as things get less herky jerky and smoothed out.
as far as going straight in the white water, it’d be similar to riding a 6 channel bottom, star fin or quad heading perpendicular to the white water behind you, kind of squirrelly. A thruster, gemini(quad thruster), or Griffs 5-fin, works best when you need to drive from behind the white water, all three pretty much act like a thruster in their own way.
don’t know if any of that makes any sense but its been my observation of why i like my assym, maybe GT can elaborate on his experience.
stoked for you! board looks nice too!
having resisted the asym thing, other than a few here and there, I can't seem to stay off mine at the moment. Definitely legit, and worth the effort.
However, they are truly custom. I mean, you can make goofy vs regular stock boards I suppose, but that would be a starting point for truly dialing them in. I for one, plan to make the majority of my personal boards this way from now on. Just makes sense after the 1st one...
thanks for the stoke!
Sweet board Greg. Thanks Oneula for those details, I’m still trying to get my head around how an asym would help me.
I’m a regular footer and I’m really good at setting up a big bottom turn (sometimes a two stage or pump) to vertical hack or turn, maybe slide the tail a bit, it’s my favorite. Dropping in backside however when I make my bottom turn and as I go up the face I find myself getting stuck in the lip and not executing that same turn I can do with ease frontside. Thinking about it now it seems after my backside bottom turn I don’t get the board back underneath me quick enough to transition to that top turn and blowing it sometimes. The shorter heel side rail may help me to square off the bottom turn quicker and easier to be back over the board ready for that top turn. Does this make sense lol?
I’m just wondering how it affects those heel side turns going frontside and especially during cutbacks, I don’t know if I’d like the shorter rail there. I like how Greg mentioned pumping backside, I’m great at doing it frontside to gain speed but not so great backside.
Lillibel, for me, mid lengths have always had 3 serious strikes: they are slow, stiff to turn, and don’t duck dive. I get 2 out 3 of these problems solved with this board. I’ll be riding it exclusively for 2 weeks in Ecuador in Feb. I’ll probably have a bit more to say after that. OK, not exclusively. I’ll have my 6-2/6-4 with me too.
-composed on a Palm Pre with a ridiculously small keyboard.
Which two?
I agree with you about one of the drawbacks. I always wish I was on a 6-2 when paddling through lines of soup. On mid lengths you can’t sink em and you get thrown for a loss every time. Speed? Never had problem with speed. Stiff to turn? I generally use mine when the waves are big enough to have enough face to carve, or when it’s so small that you can’t even get going on a shortboard and then the length gives you some glide.
Don’t mean to pester you, but are you a regular or goofy. It would help me visualize what’s going on if I can imagine your foot orientation on that board.
goofy. And proud of it. Ha
Most mid length " Fun Boards" are crap. They were put out there to attract people who think they are somehow going to make you a surfer. Every few shapers put much thought into they so called " Fun Board" Greg the board you presented here is the exception. For any size board it also looks exceptional.
I've been surfing mid length boards since 1996. I haven't looked back since. I won't go on a rampage here about the attributes...I could fill a book, but If you know how to surf one then that's all you end up surfing. 7'11 - 8"6" is my go to size all year long.
I might not be pretty, but I get it done.
Wow, very cool Greg. One of my best friends has a virtually identical A_Symm and seems pretty stoked by it, he went the “mid size” route as well, then later got a smaller one (opposite of the way you did it.) Same conclusions in every aspect. Some things I have found with the A_Symm boards: they paddle faster*, they surf faster, they turn well and without much foot shifting if any, they carry their speed for longer. The reasons might not be in the template only, but also the fact that the fins position and shape are asymmetric (all 3 fins in my boards are different.) I got a funny story about all this stuff, when I get a chance I’d like to put it on this thread.
George
*“seat of the pants” reckoning, no measurements to support the claims, but high degree of confidence they are correct…