Describe your “Magic” board. Mine was a 9’6" Murphy noserider shaped by Dennis Murphy. Purchased at Ocean Hut in Lavallette, NJ circa 1995.
Lasted me for years and then I made some rooky repairs on the deck and she got too heavy. I then had a custom board made again from those specs 20 years later
but it wasnt the same. Im thinking me being 38 years old vs 18 years old may have had something to do with that! :0
The board in my profile pic may have that “Magic”…but i have to fix my vent first-------but I can’t do that until you all help me get POINTS!
My magic board was this 9 foot single fin based on a glider outline posted on Swaylocks by ACE surfboards. I liked his post, so I strove for the same general curves and plan shape just going by eye.
First iteration was an 8’4" which I still have and love, but which had different rails and bottom, almost hullish, pinched rails with belly in the nose and through the middle, to a down rail only in the very back. Then I did a 9 foot version with more standard rails and bottom (flat to V), which I liked but which didn’t last long because of a blank defect that caused the blank to suck in all over the place. So I did another 9 foot version, from US Blanks classic density foam, and I loved it so much I kinda stopped riding anything else, and I have a lot of boards.
It died recently from being stored outdoors in the hot sun too long, along with old age and wear and tear, which is probably good cuz now I will ride some of my other boards, which I should have been doing all along :-) I haven’t been surfing much in the past year because of health and other issues, but things are looking up, hoping to get some more water time this fall and winter before I have to go under the knife again!
Pics are the ACE board, my 8-4 version, the first 9’ version, and the final (blue) version which I have posted so much I’ve been told everyone is sick of seeing it, lol! And now its dead and I"m still posting it!!
Mine was a 6’6 Natural Art that I purchased in 1992. This was right before the Kelly Slater era when boards got thin, narrow and rockered out. What is really unique about this board is that it has a very heavy V running from nose to tail. This board worked in anything and I rode it til it died. This was a real one board quiver…a board that worked great in stomach high waves and waves that were heavy and well overhead. I still have it and have made several copies through the years.
Over the years I’ve had several ‘‘magic’’ surfboards. My first really magic surfboard, was my 1963 big wave gun. At 10’ 5’‘, and 38.5 pounds with a one inch thick foiled fin. It was not what you’d expect a magic board to be. But it was. I didn’t know it until I got it into some big waves on the North Shore. What an awakening! Both Tiger Espere, and Kealoha kiao, would frequently borrow my board when Sunset was up. My next quantum leap in magic boardcraft, was when I dropped down to a 7’ 10’’ x 21’’ at a mere 14 pounds. I was able to ride 3 foot La Jolla Shores, and 15 foot Sunset with the same board. It really was a one board quiver, in that sense. And yes, I also used a thick foiled fin on the 7’ 10’’ board too. The thick fin upped the board’s performance another notch. The common element of my magic board experiences was that the board seemed to respond to your thoughts, before you initiated any action, at a conscious level. It was like the damned thing was alive, and somehow was ‘‘wired’’ into your brain. It was effortless to ride, as a true magic surfboard should be.
