I’m looking for a light, manueverable, wave catching longboard. I’ve got a 9’6" RA WIR that catches waves real easy and is great for stylin’, but slashing is not in its lexicon. I also have a 9’2" tuflite HP board with a lot of rocker that is very light and turns great, but it’s such a lousy paddler that I quickly tire, start missing waves, and end my sessions early (or go back to the RA). So I’m on the hunt for a new board that’ll combine the paddling ease and stability of the RA with the quickness of my HP. I figure a version of my HP with less nose rocker, a little more volume, and a bit more width up front and center (say 18-19 and 22.5-23.5 respectively) would do it.
One that caught my eye was the 9’5" McTavish Gleave. Another is the 9’6" Wingnut Noserider. Also, the 9’3" Tak “in the pink”. If anyone has experience with these boards, I’d love to get your impressions. Based on the above, are there other inspired board suggestions? I should mention I’m 170 lbs, 6’ tall and I get out whenever there are waves of any kind here in the Northeast, so all conditions.
I’m your height and weight and find this board to be a good paddler and wave catcher for an HP board.
18" X 22-5/8" X 14-1/4" X 3"
His 9’6" “Banana” (single fin) with HP fin is also a great board. A little less rocker and a little more volume. A bit more “cruise”, but still no log.
17-15/16" X 22-1/2" X 14-1/2" X 3-1/4"
Both designs incorporate his “nose channels”, which provide great “two-steps-back-from-the-nose” trim acceleration. It’s sort of a concave nose but doesn’t bog or stall like some longboard concave noses do.
The H3 is a great suggestion. I ran across it online before I was looking and it didn’t register. Just took a second look and I think that could be it. Checking the LSS to see if they have one in 9’6". If it feels right, I’ll bite.
One thing that struck me about Harbour when I first saw their site is how earnest and informational it is. Any company that believes in their product that much and puts that much effort into helping their customers make wise decisions is worthy of my business.
It really depends on the surf that you ride; but, I really like the Ricky Carroll surfboards.
I have ridden both the Ricky Carroll JB Longboard and the Ricky Carroll Performance Longboard. They are both the best riding boards that I have ever ridden. They are very easy to paddle into a wave.
The performance longboard has the optional quad + 1 fin and double concave setup. Both are 9’4".
Beach break. Generally knee to shoulder, but I prefer it at the chest. The bottom is very gradual abd the waves take a long time to build. Often they come up early and lay back down. A good paddler is very helpful to get in position early and catch up. Little things like losing the side bites and leash make a big difference in my wave counts when conditions are like that.
I’ll have a look at the RC’s. I think my local shop has a 9’4" and a 9’6". My eye is also on the Takayama DT-2. Everyone seems to have great things to say about it.
I was going to mention the DT-2. I’ve got a Tak Joel Tudor Model (not the Model T) which I think is pretty much the DT-2. The sidebites are glassed on in mine though. Paddles well and is more manoevarable than the noserider models.
Ya, the Tak JT and DT-2 look pretty close, but I thought the JT was a single fin. Yours having side bites is pretty cool, but they being glassed in is kinda a bummer. With typical summer conditions around here, I ride without my sides more than I do with them.
I think I’m going to bide my time until a nice 9’4" DT-2 or 9’6" DT-3/4 comes along. The more I read about Takayamas, they more I want one. Great input from everyone.
Check out pearson arrow, the josh mohr model. The Takayamas are really expensive and I have had them and arrows. The arrows perform much better in my opinion.