"Magic Boards" - Do They Exist?

General Discussion
1

I've been surfing a long time and throughout my career, I've had some pretty nice boards made by local shapers, as well as some pretty awful boards that were just out and out dogs.  I've never owned the latest and greatest or the next big thing, mostly because I've never really surfed as much as I do these days, and really getting to know my equipment intimately.

I'm starting to wonder what I'm missing by not having the board everyone is raving about this year and sticking to riding stuff from small-time shapers (and the smallest-time shaper ever, ME!).  I feel like maybe I should drop the coin on one of these just to see what I'm missing, if anything.  Maybe my skills aren't honed enough to know the difference, or maybe that's just the reason why I *need* better equipment (if it really is better), to make up for my lack of skill.

Has anyone gotten that latest and greatest stick from the big name shaper and found that it made their surfing that much better?

 

2

Yes and no - Yes: I bought an 8’ Lightening Bolt semi-gun shaped by Bill Barnfield.

No: I borrowed a Wave Tools twin, and tri, and I did not like them.

You may try to borrow some, and see what you think.

3

i subscribe to the school of thought which teaches that “the next big thing” is the same as any other fad from any other group in our society (any of the other 20-somethings out there remember “pogs”??).  now that’s not to say, however, that an individual may not have his (or her) very own magic board, that by some mystical stroke of chance or fate or karma is just perfectly tuned in to the place where that person’s unique proportions and surfing style collide.  i’m just saying that your magic board is no more likely to be the latest fad than any other board (in fact, probably even less so).

 

i mostly ride singlefin logs, but the magic board in my quiver is a 5’8" bing twin keel fish, with glass-ons from Larry Allison.  i’ve ridden my share of twin- and quad-fin fishes, and not one of them rides nearly as well as this board does for me (like, not even in the same hemisphere).  call it what you will, but “magic board” sounds about right to me!

 

side note:  2 weeks after i got the board, i was out for a surf and passed it off for a couple waves to a local shaper and good friend … a few minutes later he hands it back to me grinning ear to ear and says “you need to bring this by the shop so i can make a template… this board is magic!”

4

"Magic" and "Bullet Proof".... overused marketing buzz words, neither of which is accurate.

5

Yes

6

Do magic boards exist?  Yes.   Is it in our heads or does it have something to do with the design you are riding?  Like the number of licks it takes to reach the center of a Tootsie Pop…the world may never know.

7

noleash,

if you get a chance read the Coil ride reports thread. i have been surfing for 18 years , 17 of those on regular pu/pe. Coil’s are magic for me, if you were going to drop some coin on a new stick i would highly recommend getting one.

i just ordered my third one :slight_smile:

8

The Natural Art in this picture is my magic board.  I rode this board till it started falling apart then stuck it in the crawl space under my house where it remained for over 10 years.  This fall I pulled it out from under the house and surfed it in some solid hurricane surf and all of the magic was still there.  Easily had my best session in at least 5 years.  Rode that old board up til christmas when I painstakingly copied it........actually it took me two boards to produce one that had the same feel under my feet.  No doubt about it this Natural Art is a magic board.

 

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v456/mako224/100_2000.jpg[/IMG]

9

I’m sure everybody has had a few boards over the years that worked exceptionally well for them.  Some of my most memorable boards have been:

•9’4" G&S that I custom ordered in 1963.   I had previously ridden a Dave Sweet and a Weber pig shape but my surfing didn’t really take off til I got on that G&S.  Other guys who borrowed it from me to ride a few waves also raved about it.  Wish I’d hung onto it: I’d like to have it cloned to see how it would stand up to my current favorites.

•W.A.V.E. Hollow 6’6" swallow tail (til the rail seams cracked!)

•6’10" Bing Bonzer

•7’4" Joey Thomas single fin diamond tail winter gun

•7’4" Joey Thomas Stinger

•6’6" Joey Thomas slug

•6’6" Haut Thruster

•6’10" Haut thruster

7’4" Chuck Vinson thruster

•8’6" Pearson mini long board (single)

•9’0" Harbour Simms Diamond Tail

•9’6" Harbour Banana

 

Let’s not talk about the dogs: I’d rather forget 'em…

 

10

Yes, For me at 6’1" and 190lb’s

I have made a 8’10" magicLB and have copied it 3x’s.An 7’2" that I made for a girlfriend in the 90’s, still have the board and surf it.

If you want an off the shelf board that is magic I would recomend the Surftech (Gasp)M13 minigun from AI.

Right now I am on my fourth Surftech M13 and have gotten them all used from Craigslist for $350-375. All my bigger friends who have tried it love it.

I am a big fan of letting my friends buy the big name boards and swapping them for a few waves.

Hee, anybody got a Lost rocket or Griffin I can try?

11

Its all in your head! Go for a custom board, build up a relationship with a shaper, and then use his experience too. I find that customs are a lot better from my local shaper, who even has had somewhat of a bad reputation then high performance mass produced models.

 

Order the custom, wait the 6 weeks, ride it only when its right for the board, thats how you get a magic board.

 

 

12

Not literally, of course.  If someone tells you they will make you a magic board it’s marketing hype, like John said.   I can think of 2.  A Santa Cruz Surfboard shaped by  ? and rejected by Harbor Bill(I was told) and a 7-2 ACE Zing Thing swallowtail.  Surfed them both until they were roached then gave them to friends.  I’ve never surfed better on those 2 boards.  Mike

13

One man’s magic is another man’s poison.

What makes for a magic board is entirely personal coming from your perspective and needs, not anyone else’s.

I have made and ridden many boards over the decades, and whether I made the board or someone else did, all of them possessed one important criteria common to all of them. On any given day the boards perfectly matched the way I approached surfing at my highest level.

Since everyone has different approaches to how they surf in many different waves situations, one has to decide how they apply the term magic. Maybe my 7’0" roundtail is magic in overhead Rincon but not so in 3 ft. windswell.

It’s ridiculous to stamp magic on a board because a "big name’ shaper created it. Case in point, eons ago a famous shaper created a board for Curren. He was THE MAN of the era. That board was taken and MOLDED because TC said it was his magic board. They even molded the dents in the deck from where HE turned and createdthe dents.

Was it a worldwide success?

Did you see these boards in droves at beaches worldwide?

No.

Why?

Different body types, stances, individual approaches to wave riding. We just aren’t all the same.

I rode a Bonzer when they were all the rage and although it worked well for what it was, it wasn’t my ideal surfing. It delivered too much control for me. I was into Gerry Lopez inspired controlled slideslips and freefalls for fun and stalling purposes. My best surfing has always been those days when I am surfing more by instinct than anything else… on the fine edge of going out of control, but just a thread exists. That’s when exciting things happen. I pulled a full carving 360 turn back in 1972, (at Jalama), and it was quite by accident…I was actually whipping a super hard frontside kickout when I came around further than I thought I would, and the lip did the rest for me.

Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised (and got all the credit instead of Mother Nature, from onlookers).

Did that make my board “magic”?

Hardly.

I’d have to say a board that can ‘read your mind’ so to speak, and take you exactly where you want to go on any wave on any given day, is as magic as they come.

Give that board a hug, and the shaper who created it a big thank you.

14

"Magic Boards" - Do They Exist?

 

Sure. I make them all the time.

 

 

Kidding.

15

“One man’s magic is another man’s poison”

And todays magic can seem like a total DOG tomorrow.  I had a 6’10" stinger that I liked so much that I stuffed it in the rafters instead of selling it to help finance my next board.  After riding shorter twins and thrusters for the next couple years, I decided to revisit my “magic” stinger one day.  Wow: where’d the magic go?  After a single go out, I gave it away to a friend who needed a board.  That really made me realize that we constantly adjust/adapt our style and expectations (sometimes drastically) to what we are riding at the moment.  Over time (and a number of boards) that can amount to some substantial change. 

What’s the cliche?  “You can never really go ‘back home’”…

16

.

17

after approximately 15 yrs of making my own boards I got my first magic shape from a well respected but not famous shaper from west Vicco, Aus. I had 3 boards from him altogether, only one was magic.These were custom boards. I have had good, but not magic customs since. Since then all magic came from famous shapers with a proven model eg the Flyer II. I had two of these and then my surfing moved on.

I did learn more from the custom boards from the dialog with the shaper. I learned even more from my own shapes. Right now surfing is more important to me than learning, so that means trying proven shapes. However its all a lottery. Magic is not an absolute necessity, its just nice to have.

18

The most magic boards I've ridden were not magic on the first surf, had to learn to ride them, then they turned to magic.

The boards that went good on first surf got boring pretty quick.

Maybe it's just me and my approach. Anyway, just my opinion.

19

I own a Magic Surfboard....

No Pro in their right mind would call this board Magic....90% of internet posters would not like this board...

....I don't give a care....

It works for me and I made it!

Hot wire / stringer glue up /  shape / spackle / paint / glass and sand / fin install.....

Fun fact....it's board  #13 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

# 27 and #28 are ready to glass........fun...fun...fun.....Magic too!

 

Ray

 

20

One magic board I've ridden was a 9' Bic.  It was the first time I paddled into a kneeslapper, stood up, and was actually angling across the face and not riding whitewater.  Incredible speed and control.  Thousands of waves later, I still remember that one.  That magic board later became a dog, of course.  Probably in some landfill by now.

I'll put a resin pinline on the next magic board today....7'10" x 25.5" x 3.5" pointy nosed pintail singlefin.  That should finish it off, can't wait to see how it does.