Here’s 2 pics of my first McCoy (a 6’2 I think) taken at Lambongan (just off Bali) in 1983.
I bought it second hand from a surfshop in Manly. It was originally owned by a pro surfer of the time, Kingsley Looker. Spent a year in Indo with it. Two finboxes were added to it in late '83 but I usually rode it as a single.
The shape is more like an early nugget. I think the 'bum" tail is ready to be recycled.
When I got back to Oz in early '84 I traded it for a 3 fin Lazor Zap (a 5’10 with the full zap spray), no photos unfortunately.
Have to apologise for the bright surf gear… but it was the 80s.
Thats what was thinking. I bought it in early '83 so it was probably from late '82.
The more I look at the shape the more I like it. It carries all the McCoy thickness, especially in the tail. I think the tail is a smoothed-out double flyer so that all there is of the first flyer is a bit of a hip and a tightening of the curve 6-7" from the swallow for the second one.
I think there's a new model McCoy there, something that would have much wider appeal than a lot of the current boards.
Its just made for someone like solosurfer to pick up and run with. Unfortunately I don't have any other pics of it.
looks pretty similar to the surftech zap http://www.yakwax.com/shop/surftech-surfboards/shortboards/surfboard-size/5390-53911/surfboard-shaper/mccoy-geoff-mccoy/11711-surftech-mccoy-53910-lazer-zap-tuflite-surfboard/, which is a great board as long as you swap out the plastic MC500s for some fibreglass futures (I use the Pancho ones).
very nice tombstone. dims? I’m very much loving my 5’10 zap, even if it is a surftech. Haven’t really ridden my 6’3 allround nugget since changing the fins in the zap
Yeah tombstone, nice board. Can definately see the family resemblance to the big brother 6’ 2. Also you can see how the flyers have been smoothed out on the 6’2
Its quite amazing that a nearly thirty year old design still has a contemporary look and feel.
Hey Loadeddome, that board was 6'4"x211/2"x3" quite a big board, had some good surf on it by too much board for me sold it to a friend, who is bigger than me and really digs it. I am the same as you really just enjoying the Lazor Zaps these days I now ride a 6'2"x201/2",i only keep one nugget these days and it rarely gets wet. Here is a little action on the Zap from last summer.
Hi Surfaddict, I got the thruster model, not such a purest, but really enjoying riding them. I guess I always wanted one back when you had yours in the early eighties. Had somethings similar but not the real thing, the shape always appealed to me, and I like the type of surfing it did, so when i saw them being made again, i decided to run with it , and glad i did.
You see I rode one back in 81-82 and then bought a thruster zap in 2010 and was suprised that the 30 year gap felt so small.
The board felt slow to react to my input and while this may suit some who’s reaction times are climbing as they age but I couldn’t accept it.
Not when I’ve been riding boards with technology that blows the performance of the zap back to the past and allows me to surf to my potential.
The zap is marketed as a board for high level surfers but I feel it’s only to be rated as such by those riding less manouvreable nugget shapes already.
Now before you crucify me I did swap a DVS twin keel poly/volane fish with a fellow Swaylockian for the zap. Both boards were virtually new.
I was totally unable to gell with the DVS and I’d be riding Dick’s carbon boards (fish as well) and found the poly/volane board a real dissapointment.
The zap felt better but still it was a board that was slow to react and it’s a shame the board will never get a better dose of technology in board building than a Surftech corkiness/stiffener treatment.
Just did a double ender for Mono surfer with a belly on the bottom and hard edges further up the board for more reaction. He seems to like it. Having surfed on them and sold that type of thing for awhile…it is not for everyone. In my opinion, the thruster Simon came up with actually accomplished for the average surfer what Geoff and Cheyne were attempting to accomplish for Cheyne on the tour. An easy to ride surfboard where you can stand on the tail do your thing. It’s too bad they lost what I think originally made them work…enough float. I still like the zap designs, but I find I like them better when I put on a few pounds. I definitely like belly more on singles. On thrusters and Quads I like more variety. When I lost a bunch of weight about a year ago I found myself playing around with some of my other boards and enjoying them. I still like them thicker and wider though. I think short and thick works. Cuttle have you tried a board shorter, thicker, but with a more reaction bottom on it? I got off thrusters a few years ago because they bored me to tears. For the most part they still do…but thrusters simply work and you know pretty much what to expect. Quads bore me now because I have them a good going over in the 80’s and 90’s and never found much a quad could do that a thrust could not. Twins…like them when they are shaped right. Best three twins I ever had were shaped by Bob Hurley, Ben Aipa, and Steve Forstall. GP also did me a really nice 6’4’’ a few years back.
I’d agree with solo, zaps (at least the single fin version) need to be shorter and thicker. My 5’11" is very fast and resposive in 3-5’ peaky beach break.
Beautiful surfboard. I am also not saying that Zaps are not proven, legitimate and good design for those who like them. I happen to like them. Some others don’t. On another note…having ridden much of what Geoff and GP have shaped…for me personally…I just do not think the Nugget an improvement on the Zap. In fact If you have a Lazor Zap and a wider double ender with a wider tail…I think you accomplish the same thing and have more vesatility. Though Must say…I do still like the Pot Belly outline still. I also think the boards Geoff was doing he called the modern Zap with three fins on them work better than your average thruster for those not wanting the doulbe flyers and just a thruster design. I’ll post a picture I took of one of Cheyne’s he had laying on the floor of his rental when I was in Hawaill back in 94. I always though that design would have worked for any pro.
Man I love that channel bottom nugget next to the zap. How do you like those channels. I have not considered the Channels to offset the veritical plan shape of the Spitfire before. Thanks for the heads up. Love that board’s looks.
The channel bottom board is really fun, took a few surfs to find the sweet spot for the fin placement. I didn’t plan on doing channels, threw them on after I cut the rocker, thought it would “look cool”.
mccoys eh? seems like you either love 'em or hate 'em. one man's stiff old dog is another's loose as a goose ripper. for what it's worth the 5'10 zap is the loosest board I've had in 26 yrs of surfing. it needs a fair bit of input, kind of like squirting a skateboard up a hill, but once you give it a kick it flies. i reckon that if you've got a working relationship with your back foot, the zap's certainly worth a try.
I agree that McCoys in general are a bit more sluggish than most boards in gutless surf. What else would you expect from a board with a heap of rolled vee and soft rails, not to mention the dome (I’m assuming here that the zap has the same bottom curves. Is that correct?).
I don’t bother riding my McCoys around Perth, but love them in Indo. When the surf starts to pump they are very loose and fast. In fact, unlike most bottom shapes, as the speed of the board across the water increases the board sits up higher on the dome and in consequence it gets progressively looser and faster as the drag decreases, also that big round rail begins to act like a foil and so holds the board into the wave face enabling high lines and even more speed when it gets hollow. Really an amazing design.
I guess if you are good, you can use that big tail to drive them even in weak surf. Cheyne has always said he makes them fly in those conditions but agrees that not everyone can make that happen.
Hey Cuttlefish, it sounded like you wanted a response to your post, and i would agree to an extent to what you said. If you are use to light weight boards, hard tucked under edge rails, Rails with less volume and concave bottoms. These boards definitely have a quicker reaction time and feel livelier to ride, and jumping on a McCoy would be an unusual experience nothing happens automaticly, feet placement can be quite critical as well as how you approach the wave.
I have ridden and still ride all types of boards, and my take on peoples opinions of these boards are some people like sensitive boards other dont, sensitive boards love fast manouvering but not often the whole wave, the ride from start to finish. The performance board loves a 2 or 3 great quick snappy verticle turns before something often goes wrong, bogs down, digs a rai,l the wave rolls on without the rider. McCoys are a more for giving ride, rounder more rolling turns off the domed bottom which when stood on the tail can turn as sharp an arc as you wish, but for me allow for longer more fliud rides linking more sections with a multiple array of turns and adjustment to make it happen.
Also if i lived and surfed on the sunshine coast and got to ride those beautiful crisp clean waves that you get, your board of choice is probably the right one for those waves, if you were back in Sydney where the waves are often marginal, the thinking may be different or maybe not.
By the way Goosh was ripping it up in Thailand one his single fin last year.
