I am looking for a longboard but first want opinions on what to look for as far as specifics go. I am 5’8" and weigh about 180LBS. in my wetsuit. My favorite spot to surf is located in Ventura County, north of C street but south of Rincon and the waves there are generally soft and weak, peaking but never really breaking until close to shore or earlier on a low tide. It is a point break and at times will setup with nice shoulders but rarely does it break fast and hollow, only crumbling from top to bottom. It will get a couple feet overhead on the right swell but this is rare and even than its still relatively weak and you really have to work your ass of to get into the wave and to stay into it. Im looking for something that paddles very well and gets into waves early. Something that trims well and I can step forward on without petering out. Long smooth turns are my favorite and cruising up and down the face in wide smooth turns does it for me…pretty retro and conservative, what can I say, Im an old fart. My current board is a Walden Magic model, 9’6" with a rounded pin. 223/4 wide, 19 in the nose and am not sure the tail width. Thickness is 2 3/4. This board works well in a faster wave such as C street or the cove at Rincon but not too well on small, weak waist high waves.
What length, rails and thickness should I look at? I really want something retro, in a single fin and a good glass job is imperative.
Cant lose 10 lbs. because the body fat is less than 5%. Surf somewhere else? I surf all over, not just the mushy break but it is my favorte spot, the quality of wave is not as good as other places but the attitudes at some of the other local breaks are getting nasty and I dont care for it.
I totally understand your position. If you know what you like and dislike about your current board you’re on the right track, take these into account when you decide on your new one. You are the only one who’s going to ride it…
If I could lose 10lbs maybe 20lbs I would be able to ride my 20 year old Mike Davis thruster… but you get that as you get older. Your body starts to resemble a barrel…
haha! your right on with that one! Things just dont work as quick or long anymore and everything is rounder come to think of it… Paddle battles with the youngsters Ive given up long ago, hurts too much. I have pictures of myself back in the early 70s with a Beatty twin fin rocket fish…cant imagine how I ever rode that thing…
with the thickness of my current board only being 2 3/4 and the rails being very hard…curious if thicker and more of a fifty fifty rail and wider tail would help.
I remember a long time ago (20 years or so) someone developed a board with a small impellor jet motor attached to the deck at the tail… that would solve the paddle wars, first on the wave every time.
I’d be going for something a little wider from your description of how you surf. Not so much rail to rail surfing but more of a crusing style, playing it safe, not getting hurt, no straining of inflexible muscles.
Go see Hap Jacobs of Lance Carson. Either of them can make you exactly what you want. It’ll be the sweetest cruzer you could ever want.
Attached is my 9’10 Hap. It’s a beautiful thing and it rides like a Bentley. The Lance Carson I have has great lines too but I don’t have any photos of it. He has a grand web-site where you can see his boards.
a yater spoon might be a good option (meant for santa barbra point breaks). or a nice traditional noserider might be in order (check out gregg hunt’s new dimension www.huntcustoms.com)
From what I can tell from the picture, thats a beuatiful board…theres an expo at the Ventura fairgrounds this saturday, I heard there will be a jacobs rep there…I`ll check it out, thanks for the tips…Ill check out lances website today…
Spike, Don’t discount the Hydro-Hull bottom (like on the Walden Magic). The Waldens have so much nose and tail rocker. though, that they are slow in mushy conditions like you said. But Bill Stewart makes a Hydro Hull that’s flatter and more all-around. It’s his biggest seller, so he must have done something right.
I like Hydro Hulls because they plane well, and they can be maneuvered from the center of the board: little ankle movements and they flow up and down the wave. Kind of like fluid dancing.
5’8" 180 with 5% body fat…leads me to beleive that you are in damn fine shape.
I’d say to you that you should add volume to tail and midsection of the board. Extra volume under the chest will help paddling. A lower rockered board will also do that. A wider thicker tail catch waves a little bit better than what you are on right now. You could go up to 10’ if you like, but to be honest you really aren’t all that big, so i’d add thickness and not length. Alo a heavier board than the Walden will also be a plus for that type of wave.
we have a mushy beach break much like the one you described and have built a few boards and refined them as we build them for it we came up with a light epoxy board 10’6" long 24" wide and 3.5" thick flat rocker definite nose rocker and less tail rocker (even and tapered through the tail rocker) round 50/50 thick rails seem to suit mushier conditions better as are less catchy but we have also tried hard rails through the tail and 70/30 rails this is fast aand tracks high in slightly bigger steeper surf (head high and over) these boards on average weigh about 9kg the lightest at 8kg and the heaviest at 11kg i like the lightboards feel better and they paddle better, the bottom shape is flat or slight concave through the nose into a fairly mild rolled vee through the tail. The finbox is set a fairly long way forward and we generally use a springy fatboy fin about 9 inches long and small sidefins. Everyone who rides these boards seems to be stoked as they are wave catching machines and paddle like a dream, they are also very fast and seem to make almost any section.
I totally agree with the suggestion to go see Hap Jacobs. I had him do a customer “summer” board for me and it is an amazing board. I’m 6’1" 215 and the board is 10’4" x 24 x 3.5. It is a single fin and has a real classic shape - 50/50 rails, wide through the nose and drawn in toward the tail. My original goal was just to catch small waves and cruise, which this board does better than anything I’ve ever been on (I literally line up 10-20 feet outside the rest of the lineup), but this board also turns on a dime.
I’m thinking about having him make a smaller version for the winter.
I’ve never ridden one, but have always admired the Lance Carson boards, they look like a classic cruiser. Another thought might be a Dewey Weber board. His sons are doing a nice job and they make some quality boards. The philosophy there is a little different in that the boards are really heavy - if you have enough momentum, you should catch everything. Lots of paddling power required though. Rich Harbour also has a strong, loyal following. His Banana model, San-O model or 19 might work for you.
Afternoon, two years ago everyone offered valuable input when I went to purchase 9’2” pintail. Later you gave me insight as to the “sweet spot, turning, etc.” While I like andwalk the board more, maneuvering still isn’t my strong point.
So, the idea of turning via shifting weight from toes to heel intrigues me. Any more boards/styles/ designs that fit that description?
Tino, The best longboard I’ve ever used that had the ability to maneuver using subltle ankle movements was a Hydro-Hull. The Hydro-Hull bottom is no great mystery. I’ve seen it on several boards by different shapers. Namely Bill Stewart, Walden, and John Kies.
In simple terms, the hydro hull has a single concave starting at the nose and continuing toward the back to cover approximately 65% to 70% of the length of the board. Then it splits into a double concave from there to the tail. The concaves are about 1/16th inch deep, or a hair more. The most unusual feature is the chined rails. The chine is a flat area on the bottom traveling the length of the board, at the rail, and about 2 1/2 inches to 3 inches wide.
So you have the single and double concaves going the length of the board, and as they extend out toward the rails they sort of “swoop up” about 2"-3" from the rail. From there, the flat area, or the chine, tips at an angle and heads down to the tucked under edge of the rail. The chine will drop about 1/8" or less as it travels toward the outside edge of the board. (more toward the middle of the board, less at the tail and nose)
Everything is very subtle.
The sensitivity to ankle and foot movement comes largely from the fact that the board planes on the surface of the water very well. The chine gives it lots of forgiveness. My last board was a hydro hull with an Aipa style Stinger tail, and it’s absolutely the most fun board I’ve ridden so far. Doug
One of the best boards I ever rode at the spot you described is a 10’0" roundtail x 23.25" wide x 3.75" thick. It has roughly 3/4" of hull in the bottom and an all around rocker, can be surfed from 6" Rincon to 6’ plus C-Street. It took a grand total of 2 waves, and moving the fin one time for that board to be one of the finest boards I surfed from 1994-2002, the go to board 90% of the time. I shaped one similar, 24" wide, that still haunts Inside Point on a regular basis. If you’re interested…
Indeed Spencer shapes some fine boards! Some nice examples in Ventura surf shop right now. Check out the ones up on the wall too.
Spence-
Do the roundtails you mention cut back better than the pintails common to boards of that size? I’ve been tempted by big boards like that but seems they would jam down the line in small or poor conditions but not be very maneuverable/agile when conditions are better. Thanks.