Does anybody know about Boss surfboards? Do these flexi boards usually end up breaking in the tail/nose area?
i saw one on the 4th, and the guy was getting reeeeeeeeeally long noserides. the board was too weird looking, but I guess it worked. He could have just been really good on any board though.
OK I was hopeing someone eles would respond to this but it does not look like it. The BOSS boards are a little out of the norm. I for one like the idea. I have surfed San O and everyone that was riping it was on a BOSS, now that was a few years back so I don’t know what is going on now. In my mind the concept is sound. If the board is showing signs of cracking it just may be that it was hotcoated too hot. None of the BOSS boards that I have seen show stress cracks. Any board can have stress crack problems, all it takes is a little too much or to hot of a hotcoat. Volan tends to stress crack, because of the basting that most of the guys do on the lap. If the board surfs good ride it, if not sell it. From what I remember that board sell easy. Good luck.
Any board that is a stepdeck or flexer has the potential for stress-cracks perpendicular to the stringer. If it flexes it can crack. I’ve owned a few and still do . Most of them are stress-cracked across the stringer. It is only a logical conclusion that this would happen. I will tell you this; a stepdeck that flexes is usually a great nose-rider. McDing
Thanks for the input guys. It looks like I’ll be keeping it as Im not too worried about the cracks since I can just solarez them. I was only worried about alot of tail/nose snapping horror stories. It’s a really different longboard and beyond my abilities but Im having a blast learning how to ride it. It goes really fast even when riding towards the back of the board and it turns really loose.
could you post a pic cant find the boss website!
thanks
Here is a 10’0 boss that sold on ebay for $750 that pretty much looks exactly like mine. Who knows if the winning bidder actually picked up and paid for the board which is the problem with ebay bidding for surfboards. Oh yeah these boards have little glitter flakes for the guy that asked about them in another post and apparently these boards sell like hot cakes all over the world.
Boss’ boards and Polyester Pigs are very similar. I havn’t seen any Polyester Pigs the last couple of years. Can’t remember PPs Shapers name, but I heard they were glassed in San Pedro. The style of the glass job(glitter, tints etc.) always made me suspect that they were probably done by the same glasser. That stepped nose would definatly flex. I don’t know that there is any REAL advantage to a flex tail on a board of this type. When I’m shaping a step-deck, I usually just order extra rocker in the tail and then kick it hard the last six or seven inches. I’m not gonna start that whole thin tail thread again, but obviously this board has a glass-on fin for good reason. McDing
Boss surfboards are supposedly or atleast were at one time glassed by hydroglas in San Clemente.
Hey All-
Well, the surf gods must have been smiling on me because I got a Boss yesterday that
is in largely great condition for…yes…$100. One hundred measly semolians.
Yeah, it had some punctures and rail issues, but 24 hours later, the qcell has set, the
open wounds are closed and the volan and resin are curing on the rails. Not surprisingly,
the board was owned by a shortboarder who bought this board for a girlfriend who had
no idea what to do with it. I don’t blame her. And this guy clearly had no idea that a
new Boss, if you can find one (in 2007), costs about $1,500.
For those scoring at home, it is a 10’ 0" pintail with a pale yellow bottom/rails and a clear
deck with two 1/4" stringers spaced about 5/8" apart. The stringers have red glue lines;
a nice touch. It has the same large laminate on the front of the nose that the other
yellow board pictured also has, and one small, old-style “Boss Surfboards TM” lam on the
bottom.
Bob Kennedy (aka BobO) really likes this template…I mean really likes it. It’s exceptionally
rare to see a Boss in anything other than step-deck, step-tail, pintail with two stringers and
a gigantic–in this case, blue–shark fin style glass-on skeg. I think I’ve seen one square
tail Boss, once, but then again, I’m not 100% sure.
A few of my friends have Boss sticks and some are pretty hard core about them. One guy
I know has ONLY Boss boards and has, I think half a dozen. And yes, apparently they do
have a tendency to break. The rails in the nose and tail of Bob’s boards being so thin, it’s
almost hard to believe they don’t break more often. However, like most boards that get
badly damaged, it’s often from surfing without a kook rope and at places with dangerous
shorelines (oh, say Secos or Haggertys). As others have said in the below posts, I too
have seen Bosses that have the tell-tale stress fractures perpendicular to the stringer.
I just hope it doesn’t happen to this board.
For anyone looking for one, Just Longboards (next to ET in Hermosa) is about the only
place I’ve ever seen that regularly has a Boss–but usually only one–in stock. As of
a couple weeks ago (~Feb 20, 07) JL had a beautiful school-bus yellow Boss. I don’t
know what length it was, but I’d guess either 9’ 6" or 10’ 0".
If anyone knows how to get in touch with Bob, please give me a head’s up. I have a
couple questions about this particular board that I’d love to ask him about.
Cheers and aloha,
Eric
"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever
we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect."
-Chief Seattle
POlyester Pig
is John Francisco, Lives in long beach has a room to shape in his house, LArry at Fiberglass fin makes his fins and they are glassed just down the street in torrance.
I wanted to post a quick update for Boss enthusiasts (or potential Boss
enthusiasts). Now that I’ve had the board for 6 months and have learned
how to make the most of it’s potential, this has become my number one,
go-to board. It handles size (overhead+) beautifully. Best of all, it is
the best noserider I have owned. Last week (~Sept 21 '07) at Malibu,
I had the single longest uninterrupted noseride of my life. While the foil
and the outline of the board make look odd to the unintiated, it quite
simply works and it’s why BobO and Boss board have such a loyal following.
A friend has a rare Boss triple stringer in a light green that he’s going to
sell me and I can’t wait.
Aloha,
Eric
Here’s one I had. Even for a BOSS, it was incredibly thin. Too thin for me. Traded it to a buddy at Pleasure Point where its making the rounds of him & a couple other friends and gets wet just about every day. I’m 220#; this one is working well for guys 160-180. 10’0 round pin.
Maybe 3/4" thick in the front 2’. Nice foam t-band stringer, though. Glassed strong - spider cracks that look like in the gloss only, and a bunch of heel dents, but nothing else.
Benny: thanks for posting those pix. The board pictured is a nice representation
of a standard Boss outline and foil. This particular board, as Benny noted, seems to
be a tad even more extreme with the ultra-thin rails and tail. The rails in the nose
and tail are quite thin on my 10’0", but perhaps not quite as thin as the board Benny
described.
For those who’ve never ridden a stepdeck, when the rider is on the nose, the rocker
decreases and rather than a standard noserider with nose concave which stalls the
board, the Boss picks up speed, so you decide where you want to be on the wave.
Lastly, Bosses seem to like the steepest, trimmiest (creative English) part of the curl.
Stick that tail in there and you will noseride as long as the section holds up.
This has board has dramatically helped my noseriding.
Eric
I now own your board. All you say is true…not for heavier riders. I’m 155lbs and I have never experienced such great noserides or trim speed on a log. Totally unique! Great board. Thanks for getting rid of it.
Your reply was to ECB…but I’m assuming it was directed at me?
Glad to hear it. Glad it went to a good home. I’m 220# and believe me, it was not for me 
Did you get it from CW? Are you ND? If so, I heard from Ed you were killing it on that thing…
The other s-deck GP CW gave me for it, under the feet of one 50-year-old BoBoDex, won the Mendo Coldwater event 2 Saturdays ago. I heard he got the (only) wave of the day on it. And the price went up 
Everyone’s good. Glad you’re using the board. Keep me posted, if you can, CW knows how to find me…
Been off line and traveling. Yes I did get it from the one and only CW. He had the same experience…too much weight for such a thin board. I ended up splitting it with another good friend from the area and we have been really lovin’ the board. The board makes you think and ask questions…oh and noserides like no other board. Thanks for passing the baton! ED is too kind.
I had one of Bob O’s own boards I bought off of him used for i believe $650 in pretty good cond. It was an amazing board and definitely got riding it down to a t. I surfed it for about a year and a half and realized…I didnt like it anymore so I gave it to my buddy. Haha I dont know i would love to have one in my quiver, and I miss it, (i borrowed it for a wave at san o for old times sake, hung heels beautifully just to have me dumped in the water from the nose snapping off.)
I do plan on getting another crazy step deck some day wether its a boss or not, its a great board dont get me wrong, but it just doesnt give me the magic like other boards can these days…
RIP Big Green
I was definitely not impressed the glass job however.