Hi, Can anybody give me some feed back on the McCoy surftechs, particularly the 7’11’‘. How do they compare to McCoys custom nuggets? I’m just an average surfer, 39 years old, average fitness, 90kg, surf mostly beach breaks in a wide variety of conditions. The most boards I’ve ever owned at one time is 2, so this board will need to be an all rounder. I’d like somthing that can take a steep drop without nose diving. main board at the moment is a Wayne Deane 9’1 1/2’’ x 23’’ x 19’’ x 14 1/2’’ x 2 7/8’’ with a 2+1 fin setup. It goes well in everything except late takeoffs and steep drops.
Hello Thomo. do a search for a thread called “McCoy’s Wide Tails” and you’ll find a lot of feedback on the nuggets. Seem to recall a poster named solosurfer who seemed familar with them.
I have a 6’6" ST Nugget and nothing to compare it with but I think the main difference between the ST and poly versions is that the STs are a lot floatier, in fact maybe too much so. I’m 150lbs. My neighbor is 205lbs and has a 7’ ST nugget that floats and paddles for him. Both are more difficult then a poly board to duck-dive but have no problems on step drops.
The 7’11" is a single fin if I recall correctly and may be a little long given your weight.
Best bet is to email McCoy and ask about size vs weight or check the weight guidlines on his website.
I did read the wide tails post and gained a lot of info, but there were a couple of guys that posted saying they were just starting to surf the nuggets. I was hoping they might have some more comments to make. I think you may be right about the 7’11 being too floaty for me. I like the look of the 7’2 poly “Big Guy Nugget” on Geoff’s website but when I spoke to Geoff last year, he advised me too go for the 8’ poly. I didn’t ask him about surftech though.
Bear in mind…thicker tails accentuate the bob factor, the bouyant, corky feel, you would get with a tufflite construction board. Would be much tougher to surf on onshore wind days, high tides, or warbled swell days.
Length depends on your preferences, and the dif between 8’ and 7’2" is HUGE!
Leed is right there will be a big difference between the 7’ and the 7’11". Keep in mind also that the origial nuggets were made to be single fined apparently, while all the STs except the 7’11" are tri fins. I would be interested to find out what G. Mc thinks ares the best fins to use with the board set up as a tri.
I own the 7’11" and I absolutely love it far. I even bought some additional McCoy fins from Solosurfer who is the US rep for McCoy(florida I believe).
Anyway single fin is the only way to go with these things and the McCoy Gullwings and Horan Starfins only enhance the experience.
I was riding a Australian epoxy Bamboo 9’6" MAL (sold) as well as a 9’4" poly Parmenter. Both were good boards but the Surftech 7’11" out paddles them both and is much more high performance with it’s weird bottom and short length. Prior to this I rode the 8’ French Hybrid with CRVs but the rails would always catch on cutbacks. The McCoy is very loose, fast and paddles in early which is a big help nowadays.
Solo says the poly’s are the way to go and I’ll have to defer to his experience. There’s a guy Tanner who owns and loves a 6’8" yellow poly he’s shown us.
For me the 7’11" is a good compromise being light, loose, fairly tough, and also out paddles all the other wave grabbing longboarders in the lineup. It’s also the greatest backside longboard I’ve owned to date.
For me 5’9" 195-205lbs 49 years old its a very high performance longboard. For someone around 225-240lbs it could be a great high performance short board. For my weight if I wanted a short board version I’d go with surftech 6"6" but only as a single fin with this bottom.
Oneula, does your 7’11" have a standard fins unlimited box? I’d like to try my 6’6" as a single but have to find a usable fin that would fit in the Futures box. Have a starfin promised to me as soon as it can be found in someones storage garage so maybe I can adapt that.
Been thinking about a 7’11’ as a long board but waiting to see what they come out with this next model year as I’m not to keen on the current blue/red scheme.
Waaahoo, I have one of the surftech nuggets that came with the dumb tri-fin /thruster setup . I had a pro install a full size box … now I can go single fin or tri if I want … It was’nt too hard I was told. he just had to do something to stop the board from "sucking in " the epoxy . think he told me he took it outside to heat it up then brought it back in to the A/C which stoped the board from inhaling the epoxy…
waaahoo,I have the 8’ 2" Nuggett . I’m 49…200lbs. surfing since 14 … Here in So. Fla. I feel like it’s a better choice for me … any single fims work well for me but I mostly use a pretty big one …9in … i will try to post a picture of the board after the “surgery”
P.S. Heard all the tri-fin surftech nuggetts were that idiot Randy French’s idea …not McCoy … Aloha
ugh!!! could’nt upload the pic …file too big … sorry …e-mail me if you want to see it
Thomo, conduct a search of the archives for info on the Surftech McCoys. I have a 7-11 that I , and others, have commented on. I also have a custom poly/poly 8-0 “real” McCoy that I have yet to try out. Noel W., aka Solosurfer(.com) brought it in for me. The “real” is a stunning, workmanship “10” custom, and much more refined in shape than the compromised/generic S-T. My experience tells me it’s going to have a bit wider performance envelope than the S-T but won’t begin to excel 'til conditions go to head and +. And +. We’ll see.
Be advised that Solosurfer is located in Pensacola, Fl, 'bout ground zero for 'cane Ivan. I haven’t heard from him since just before the “strike”. Good guy, he’s become a “bud”. I pray all’s well.
I tried the Ames Greenough Paddlefin which I use in my Parmenter with no success. I also tried the big red harbour flex fin with no success. Both worked well on my other conventional tankers.
I’ve used the Starfin but you can’t really use a lease even the floating ones, as they get caught to easily. Love to try a starfin on a 6’6" and am debating grinding down an old red one with a broken tab I have to fit in the future box on my Brewer retro stinger/fish. That would be more like the experience Cheyne did with his little zaps and nuggets.
I love my 7’11" it probably floats me too much but as long as it turns as easily as it does it’s not a problem. Having 3-4 feet of nose in front of me than 5-7 feet of board from a 10 footer for the same float is priceless when things get vertical or you’re being pounded by the whitewater trying to come around the hook into the clear.
Personally I don’t understand this design with it’s wide butt, thick foil, and rounded bottom, it should’t work at all… hey but for me it does.
If I was putting togethor a Surftech quiver it’d be:
Thanks for all the feedback, really good info. The 7’11 ST is looking good. I’m about the same dimensions as you oneula and you’re obviously rapt with the board. All evidence that the “real” McCoys are better than the ST’s is circumstantial at this stage. My feeling is that they probably are, as somebody posted, but I’m not convinced the difference, to a weekend warrior like me, will outweigh the benefits of the ST eg lighter & harder to ding.
Waaahoo, I too dislike the red/blue colour scheme but the 7’11 ST I saw at my local (Gold Coast, Australia) was a white/blue/yellow colour scheme, much more pleasing too my eye.
Well hopefully I’ll have a starfin soon to experiment with on my 6’6". I’ll keep you posted. That’s why I have been thinking about the 7’11". I live a half block from the beach.(east coast) So always surfing beach break and when it’s closing out I’m looking at 300 yds of white water to get through to something surfable outside. Tough to get through with my longboard but I’m thinking the 7’11" will be small enough to paddle out with but big enough to catch the unbroken swells further out.
T. Yeah that’s the color scheme I have. easier to touch up white rails at the end of the year vs something colored.
I have a 7’0" Surftech Nugget. Were it not for (i) my positive experience on this Surftech, which is much easier to get here in the US than a real Nugget and (ii) the discourse here on Swaylocks on the topic of McCoys, I would not have become as intrigued by the Nugget as I have become. I bought the board in FL earlier this summer and have had an absolute BLAST with it. I have now ordered a 6’4" and 6’8" through solosurfer. Solo has been a tremendous help and excellent source of information on custom Nuggets. I last spoke with solosurfer the day Ivan began reaping havoc in Pensacola and, like Laconic1 said in a previous post, I hope and pray he came through allright.
As an aside, the first time I saw a Nugget (on Surftech’s website) I did a double-take because it looked more like a scaled down windsurfer shape than a surfboard shape. (I came back into surfing after years of windsurfing.) I then went to McCoy’s website to learn more. It was his website that got me interested enough to try the board out.
He also said they are much easier to get in the US as a Surftech version.
I’ve been wanting a McCoy for years and will probably order on in the next year from Geoff. There is a hollow, tinnie Surftech model just down the street from my house that I won’t even look at anymore. It’s just wrong. I also saw my very first McCoy in Florida last year, SurfTech model. This is after wanting one since the early 80’s.
Distribution is a big factor with McCoys or other unique boards from overseas.
The exposure the Surftech Nugget is giving McCoy in the US has heightened the awareness of McCoy and the Nugget - just take a look at the lengthy and emotionally charged threads on the topic here on Swaylocks - and will, in all likelihood, result in more custom orders for McCoy because of the exposure (e.g. my order for two ‘real’ McCoys). What’s wrong with that?
Another example…The first fish I rode was a Surftech Randy French- I know, I know, sacrilege to many here. The positive experience with that board led me to order a custom fish from Michael Zippi. Now my son gets the Surftech to bang around in the shore break and I get to ride a genuine piece of art.