I saw the 8’0 at Local Motion surfshop on Kalakaua today. I was looking at the think just scratching my head…would it really work? It seems so oversized and thick around the edges. Shallow concave to v-bottom with the future plugs for all three fins.
Anybody ever trust their life with something like it? Just updated my health insurance and I’m looking to push my boundaries some (which stand at a little less than 8’ sunset right now). Looking for a tried and true north shore design and even though it’s overpriced for what it is, Al’s popout seems like it would last a little longer and have a decent resale value.
He’s a great shaper for sure and his small wave boards sell really well here, but would you trust it for the North Shore season?
I’m assuming it is a hand shaped epoxy and not a Tuflite since you said the fin boxes were Futures not FCS, which is all I’ve seen on the Tuflites unless they’ve added Futures as an option. The Tuflite Merrick 8’0 is VERY corky. I know guys who use them on solid waves and they seem to slip unpredicatably on turns. For one friend who weighs 190, it often spins out weirdly on his first turn, throwing him over the nose of his board. Lots more wipeouts for him than on his poly board. In my viewing it looks to be completely related to the harder to sink rails due to the added bouyancy. Another guy who weighs 200 plus, surfs more conservatively (read goes straighter) and it goes fine for him. The 8’0 is quite wide and has lots of volume as it is, figure it is even more so than it looks. The 7’6 Tuflite is not as corky. I figure last thing I want at Sunset is something unpredictable.
If you are thinking of tackling winter waves this year, just drive up to Haliewa, visit the shops there, get yourself a nice new or used poly glass 8’ x 18.75 rounded pin from a reputable builder, glass on fins preferred, weight around 12-14lbs.
Since you are new to bigger waves, a brand new $550 board might not be the smartest investment.
And Tufflites are basically useless in real surf anyways, as they are Tuff against little kids with hammers, but super weak against big hollow waves breaking on it.
You don’t want a Pipe gun, you need a Sunset/Haliewa type gun…heavier, wider, stronger, less for tube riding, more for paddling and getting into waves early.
It was the tufflite version at the shop. I’m 6’1…weigh about 220 and am in pretty good shape (not quite ready for the ns season but working on it). The two times I went out to sunset I never saw any epoxy boards.
Cruising through Haleiwa I see a lot of reasonable used shapes, but my buddies tell me to stay away from the ones that look cherry because chances are they probably don’t work (the reason someone ditched them so early).
Checking out the merrick…yeah…it looked like it would be corky.