Hello Guys,
What are the baseline requirements to be considered a High Performance Longboard? I ride a garage shaped performance nose rider longboard that just doesn't give me what I am looking for in a surfboard. I am interested in what designs are at the peak of performance and ridability curently... Has anyone looked at the LSW from Stewart? Seems to be a neat little setup for the future in longboard design...
Oh, and I surf the east of coast of florida...
I can't believe it took 17 posts to get to the Griffins.... Some serious hplb cred going on there.
If you wanna stay local Skip Hutchinson is a great choice, hplb's are his specialty.
If ya wanna perform…get a
sean ordonez makes the best longboard i have ridden. have ridden it to 3xoverhead and it performs flawless. 9.0 x 22.5x2.5 , has a thruster or quad setup, epoxy, super thin tail and rails. like .5inch tail. ive gotted triple barrels at honolua on that board and surfed outer reefs on it.
Have a look at the Town & Country 'K-star' model. They make it in a tufflite - one of the better boards i have spent some time - forget your classic moves though - you will be spending alot of time on the back foot hackin and turning like a shortboard. Byrne Surfboards do a great all round high performer in the tufflite as well. Just depends where your heading with high(er) performence. Jump on the K-star and your bound to cop a couple of why not ride a shortboard?....
Would work well in a normal glass board as well - jump onto the surftec website and have a look at the measurments.
A 13 foot future primative could be a contender.its been ridden at pipeline in good size. http://surf.co.nz/forum/surfing-chat/402/
just went through a town&country pro model thruster setup by tanaka. buckled in 5 spots over the course of two months. glassed way too light for big surf, but good for pros with unlimited board supply. my new one is epoxy with carbon rails, super strong and extremely flexible. i can stand on it upside down on the ground and flatten out the rocker no problem, rebounds nicely with the carbon rails. tuflites do not flex enough, ur board should flex like a fin so u can “feel” the wave. i rode a surftech hawaiian pro designs takayama “noah ka oi” all winter last season and it worked great but does not compare to my new one.
Thanks I'll take a look at the options...However locally everyone thinks I should switch from my 9'3x 23x2.5 to a 9'6" with the high performance characteristics needed... Currently at holiday weight I clock in at 230 lbs and would be probably 215-220 by summer...just looking to max the fun and change my surfing style... Being an intermediate surfer I am hesitant about switching to a shortboard..maybe someone could change my mind...remember I am only surf beach breaks in florida storm swell get maybe 2x overhead for the right location all the rest of the time its 2-3 with occ. + set...
are you riding a longboard because you think you need to given your dimensions?
biggest falacy…longer==easier, especially if you surf beach breaks.
all you need is a wider board with some more foam, do some push ups, attack the lip.
22" x 3"
maybe 22 1/2" x 3"…something with a fuller outline in the nose and tail
a 9’6" in beach breaks does not sound fun…but I don’t surf FLA so wtf do I know?
Well I started on a 7' 6" thruster and surfed fairly well..switched to a 9' 3" and have had more sucess with that board... Just looking for something that gives me a little more paddle ease and still able to become more manuverable than what i ride currently... I guess i am a little apprehensive to try out a shorter board and take away the float.. I guess I need to go talk to a LBS and have them set meup with the correct shape that is suited for me...
Thanks for all the help..
Hey Lead-Sled -
A longboard with some outline curve, boosted tail rocker and side bites (2+1) should work in just about anything within reason. The Harbour wingpin or one of the McTavish models comes to mind. A McTavish board I saw had particularly pronounced tail kick which might make sudden beach break drops more manageable.
How about something like the Rabbidge Hotrod in this review video:
http://www.australianlongboarding.com.au/boardtest/
Although at 8’ maybe it’s not what you guys would call a longboard, but looked fun to me.
I'm in N FL, east coast, 40 yrs old and weigh 225-230 lbs, 6 ft tall - if you like the hp longboard, I'd suggest talking to Skip Hutchison (http://www.rastaboard.com/)... I rode his hp longboards exclusively for over a decade in FL beachbreak of all sizes; he is not "well known" nor "in the spotlight" but his longboards are nuts, chined rails, super thin tails, rocker to spare; I've owned them in standard tri-fin set up and in 2 +1 setup; he shapes/glasses/sands it all by hand 100% in his backyard shaping bay in Melbourne
I came off his longboards and rode a twin keel CI standard fish, foam out to the rail (1st generation) at 6'6 x 22 x 2 11/16 (retail stock dims) and it was plenty of foam/float at 230 lbs, and worked my way down to a 6'0 Anderson quad physh at about 215 pounds
Back at 225 - 230 lbs and my current go to length is about 6'10 to 7 ft in a shorter board, and I can ride shorter but like the extra paddle power of more length/more foam
I own 2 boards, one an hp longboard by Eberly at 9'1 x 23 x 3.125 in 2 +1 fin set up; retail otr board, beautiful and I like it because it is slightly thicker and wider than what I would order if custom, meaning I can cruise real tiny waves in single fin if i feel like it... one of those boards you see when in a shop and i just couldn't resist buying it
Second board is 7'2 x 22.5 x 3 John Cherry SImm-21 (currently for sale..love that board but I have an insatiable desire to try new boards, and a very satiable amount of money); soon to be replaced by 7'0 x ? x ? Chris Christenson lunchbucket quad (I left dims up to Chris after discussing my wieght/height/style...yadda yadda)
All standard poly construction...I've tried handshaped eps/epoxy but I'm just an old poly guy... its too familiar...I always go back to it
So many great designs and great shapers... if your budget permits, there is nothing imo that says you cannot ride a shorter board, and I would start with the fish variety...they are a great step down coming off a longboard imo
you’re selling your Cherry for that?!
for shame, sir, for shame!
Lead_Sled…paddle power is in the beam…recapture your youth and go shorter…just keep it wide.
The above mentioned advice of a wider, fuller thicker board is correct. A 21/2" thick board for a guy your size is too thin in my opinion. 23/4" or 3" would be more like it. I weigh 200# and ride 9'0's and 9'3's in beackbreak. I can flip a 9'3x23"x3" inch around like an 8 footer and ride the nose on it too. A 9'3 or 9'4 at 221/2 or 23" x 23/4 or better yet 3" with a soft forgiving rail and a 2 plus 1 fin setup is the ticket. Even my personal shortboard(7') is 23/4" x 20
[quote="$1"]
you're selling your Cherry for that?!
for shame, sir, for shame!
[/quote]
we shall see....
tail between legs...
IMHO
9’6" Walden Magic Model - I’ve had 4 of these over the last 20 years - Ridden from 6" slop to TOH and hollow. The tail & bottom contours allow a full range of maneuvers - They draw nice lines, can be controlled from nearly anywhere on the board, holds really well in the barrel, LOVES late take offs (no paddles are easy on mine!), round house cutbacks, straight up vertical lip bashing, & aerials. Only real drawback (that most hi-performance longboards have) is that it isn’t the best nose rider. Riding as a single fin helps that somewhat, but overall I prefer small-ish side biters with a 8.5" Cutaway fin, pushed up in teh box for waves up to 1.5OH, back in the box when it gets bigger.
Thank for all the help guys… I will take a look at all my options and probably put my tax return to good use towards a new board…
Happy New Year and good waves for twenty ten…
I just finished a 8’ x 21" x 3" round pin with a full but pointed nose and lots of rocker. Look at this Downing Surf board. I made something with an outline that was in between this semi gun and a fun board. It paddles really well and feels good so far. I think this one will be
the board that works for everything from the smallest to the largest
waves I ride. I even added a lot of concave under the nose to help when I want to ride way up on the nose.
