I thought this might generate some interest. Small BZ (boogie board material) fish shape. Cold water. Surprising performance. I’m not saying absolute ripping, but definitely a fun trip.
Two video clips:
great music
At one of my local breaks there is a dude I think they call him Stand Up Stan. He ride a little blue BZ fish 5’-0" and a 5’-6" He just shreds the heck out of the place.
That footage definitely makes me think that the flex of the board is helping him out in those mushy little waves.
When I was a lifeguard, I ran the Junior Lifeguard program at my beach. We had some of those 8’ soft longboards (they looked more like a thin longboard than a fat mini-paddleboard). They were actually a blast to surf because it seemed like the board would flex downward over the hump of non-breaking swell (like during outside to inside connections) and pull the rider along. It literally felt like the board was sucking down on the bump of water and getting drafted along on top of it!
Last year, I asked you guys how that BZ board worked, as it could fit in the back of my g/f’s car. No answers then, maybe now I know.
They look super thick (good), stiff (OK), and only real question was the fins, which look mounted kinda cheesy. Sharp down rails.
I think you’d be better off making a fiberglass hand-shaped one with the same outline. Plus, those fins look like they do nothing. Maybe that’s why he does 360’s so easily?
JLW… no! keep it soft and rubbery … It’s the NO FEAR FACTOR of getting wacked and sliced is the factor here… the dude I see at Tamacrack (Mostly the unmakeable hollow left off the north jetty that he makes happen) does things on his that no surfer would do with out getting hurt.
Well, the guy in that video was riding waves of very little consequence, and it’s not like there’s much fear in those conditions to begin with.
Oh, and guys, that guy absolutely rips on a real board. There’s footage of him somewhere riding an epoxy funboard, absolutely tearing 8-foot beachbreak to pieces (who’da thought anyone could rip on a funboard). “Archer not the arrow” principle at work again.
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Oh, and guys, that guy absolutely rips on a real board. There’s footage of him somewhere riding an epoxy funboard, absolutely tearing 8-foot beachbreak to pieces (who’da thought anyone could rip on a funboard). “Archer not the arrow” principle at work again.
Here is that footage.
http://www.z-surf.com/Vid.html
He is riding a Surftech McCoy Nugget (I think… there is mention of him riding his “epoxy” board in the description). Not sure of the length of the board, but it is definitely much more “performance-y” than your run-of-the-mill “funboard”.
i know theres a way to install futures boxes into thos softboards.
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Plus, those fins look like they do nothing. Maybe that’s why he does 360’s so easily?
For most of those 360’s, he is popping the rail and fins free and horsing the board around. And few of them are more of the pocket, slidey type where you weight the front foot to lift the tail out and smoothly spin it forward. I’m not saying the small, flexible fins are not making it easier, but I have no problem doing basically the same maneuver in similar surf on my 5’8" with RedX TX-1’s and a small trailer- a much larger and stiffer fin-setup.
Plain and simple that guy is a good surfer. If I had that board and those waves I couldn’t surf like that.
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Plain and simple that guy is a good surfer. If I had that board and those waves I couldn’t surf like that.
That was the point I was trying to make.
I think that Surfco Hawaii[protek fins] makes a better fin that can be retro fitted to that type of thru the deck mounting. He did look like he was having a lot of fun on that thing.
I think our very own Tom (RedX) does a similar semi-soft/more performance fin for those boards too.