Need help figuring out why a board sucks +(new pics)

General Discussion
1

hallo everyone,

recently I got myself a HP longboard , It’s a McTavish F4 EPS.

it has almost everything needed to make it a good HP long but it lacks of nose and tail rockes.

it’s suppa light, thin , hard edged tail, quad+1 , narrow and mostly - SEXY!

when I was checking it at the shop , I measured the nose and tail rockers and they seemed quite low for this kind of board.

if I remember good they were 3 1/8 tail and just under 4 nose.

slight V bottom from 2/3 and through the tail , no concaves at all ( nither nose or in the V … nothing ! )

since I was an idiot, I couldn’t wait until I finish shaping my own HP ( which is in progress) and took the MCTavish home.

I tried it at 1-4ft beachbreaks, and my impression is that this board is really hard to surf.

backside surfing is hell , steep drops are also hell and the board tends to catch the rails and nose during

sharp rail2rail changes.

I have to admit that when I get a good wave , I rip! but mostly I’m having a really hard time with this board

and I don’t enjoy surfing.

do you think I can blame the low rocker for this behavior?

if I had more tail rocker I could lift the nose more while hard/quick turning and not burrying the nose/rails.

Another thing is that Mctavish claims in their F4 introdution seen at youtube that the this model

has both nose concave and a concaved V … which turns out to be false. It’s FLAT with V

please help me find out what is the reason for such behavior .

thanks,

Lee

btw,

I tried the quad setup and I really don’t like the feeling . I put on a 2+1 and it feels

much more natural .

links to the F4 model-

http://www.surfindustries.com/…s/mctavish_f4SLX.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjojInSMf28

2

It’s a high performance longboard. it’s thin, it’s narrow, and it’s a quad. if your surfing it in meager surf, it’s not going to surf as easy as an older school long board.

Take that board out on a better day and you’ll see what it can do. Surf it in head high to overhead surf.

You said it did better on the better waves…see that’s what you want. This board is designed for the guy that surfs a long board all the time, this is the board the classic longboarder goes to when he want to go high performance on the wave.

If your a shortboarder thats looking for something to surf when it’s a small beach break soft shoulder day, the your going to be disapointed with this board. This board is only 2 1/4 to 2 5/8 and has a 14 in pin tail, that’s a pretty high performance log. It would be a blast in slightly bigger surf.

It’s not the board thats wrong, I think the board is fine. Sorry to say this…but it’s either the conditions, or the surfer.

3

The rocker you describe, is classic ‘‘natural’’ rocker. In smaller surf, try it as a single fin, set well forward in the box. It may well change your opinion of the board. Resinhead, (the SEAL LOVER) is correct in his observations. With lower rocker in the tail, you will have to step/move back a little farther to the tail, to elevate the nose in turns, and then move forward to re-trim.

4

It is obvious

that you neglected to get the whole package.

Check the promotional material closely.

The availiable accessories Do make a diffrence.

The underground only availiability

of the most success

promoting add ons

is kinda like a covert op.

but anyway , the t- shirt rashguard wetsuit hat boardshorts

sticker book board game deck of cards pen set take it only part of the way,

your coordinated back pack ,with the waterproof partition and hot/cold

lunch catchment,sticker collection- reversable fins - radio ,with world wide tide and forcast settings,watch ,with depth finder and gps refrenced speedometer

windshield shade beach chait umbrella beach ball…

and most important,

blow up beach bunny with the all important

set alarm and wave hooting features

activated by the signature chip

embeded in the gold sticker on the nose of the

executive model,

the only mcy to even consider.

…ambrose…

dont forget the color coordinated

water hat with optional mouse ears.

even though black is the best color

especially at low key point breaks.

5
Quote:

Resinhead, (the SEAL LOVER)

It is now more of a seal fettish, almost perverse in a small way?

6

Some of my all time favorite boards were so hard to ride when I first got on them. But it was like the boards were trying me out to see if I was man enough to tame them. When i finally had a breakthrough as to how to surf them, they became unreal.

I shaped boards for Dale Dobson and he would paddle for one wave and come in to tell me he just did like them.

One of those boards, after my ,urging to give it a better try, won 3,000.00 dollars in a pro noseriding event on it.

With a low tail rocker you need to be standing closer to the tail with more weight on your rear foot and on small waves do a shorter length turn

7

thanks Bill and resinhead,

I surf on everything , mostly longboards and short fish.

I surf longboards way better than I surf shorts and that was the reason I went

for a HP .

winter is coming in so I hope surf gets bigger and I’ll get the chance to ride it in good conditions.

thanks again for replying.

Ambrose , Amrose, Ambrose , Ambrose… I never get what your trying to say… thanks anyway :slight_smile:

Lee

8

Jim , you ARE a genius.

what you wrote is exactlly what I was telling myself at the beggining until

I decided that if there is no flow between me and the board , it probably wasn’t meant to be.

anyway, your words cheer me up and I promise to give the board another try B4 judging it.

thanks,

Lee

9

…3 1/8 is not a low tail rocker

but may be it has low rocker at 1´and 2´from tail and that s very important

you should check the outline in the last 1/3

what type of curve there? some are intended to turn some are intended to project

10

Chucknorris once rode a Hp longboard

he wasnt much for it so he baught a Dano

11

With four inches of nose rocker I’m sure steep drops are hell. I think you would want at least five inches of rocker in the nose for a performance longboard.

12

not enough nose rocker for HP longboard imo

13

narrow longboards suck.

alot of it depends where the hips are at

but if itss too narrow for the length

it’s going to catch edges and not “flow” as much in the curvature of the face of the wave.

I had a 9’0" x 21 with minimal rocker that always bit and edge in a turn on the face even my 8’ french hybrid did the same

The outline curves and rocker are really important as you increase the length.

pulling the hips way back makes a big difference.

but then again I don’t know anything design wise

I just ride’em and ride as many as I can.

Thats what’s happened to me riding skinny longboards

9’0" by 22.5" or 23" seems to fit a better outline curve

14
Quote:

It is obvious

that you neglected to get the whole package.

Check the promotional material closely.

The availiable accessories Do make a diffrence.

The underground only availiability

of the most success

promoting add ons

is kinda like a covert op.

but anyway , the t- shirt rashguard wetsuit hat boardshorts

sticker book board game deck of cards pen set take it only part of the way,

your coordinated back pack ,with the waterproof partition and hot/cold

lunch catchment,sticker collection- reversable fins - radio ,with world wide tide and forcast settings,watch ,with depth finder and gps refrenced speedometer

windshield shade beach chait umbrella beach ball…

and most important,

blow up beach bunny with the all important

set alarm and wave hooting features

activated by the signature chip

embeded in the gold sticker on the nose of the

executive model,

the only mcy to even consider.

…ambrose…

dont forget the color coordinated

water hat with optional mouse ears.

even though black is the best color

especially at low key point breaks.

Beautifully illustrated Ambrose, poetic even. Reminds me of Kerouac or William S. Burroughs.

15

Lee

The F4 is a HP more suited to solid surf, just look at it, no nose concave with a V bottom and a semi-gun longboard outline.

Take it out in some bigger surf and you might change your mind.

I had the opportunity to ride one at a Global trial day yesterday but passed on it because of the small conditions and rode the EPS Fireball instead which I found was a decent all-rounder very responsive and noseride friendly.

Got to agree with you for a popout they do look a bit sexy.

Cheers

Mooneemick

16

Reverb- You sure know better than me what’s considered “low rocker” , but I thought it’s considered

low after measuring the rockers

of both Stewart “colin pro” ( 4 1/8 nose and 4 1\8 tail) and the Town&country HP tuflite long which had somthing

around 4.5 tail and over 5" nose.

back to the mctavish-

tail rocker at the tip is 3 1/6 "

at 1’ from tail it’s 1 3/4" and width is 13 3\4 "

at 2’ from tail it’s 1". and width is 18 3\4" .

AGdesigens- I know , I know… Chuck noris could even ride retro twin fish at Mavericks … :slight_smile: ( It sure was a good thread)

Dean and Paul- for my sake I hope you’re both wrong, anyhow, I’m shaping myself a very similar board with tons of rocker.

then I can say which is better.

Oneula- refer to the measurments and pic’s above… I’d like to hear your opinion.

Badhoudini- I’m glad you enjoyed , I couldn’t understand a word :slight_smile:

Moonemick- thanks for the advise, I hope the coming winter will provide me the waves I need.

Thrailkill- here’s the pic of the fins 8.5" + sidebites

17

Do as Bill said, and take out the sidebites. Keep the fin you’ve got all the way forward. The board will get a lot looser.

The tail on that board leans heavily toward gun. As resenhead says, it’s meant for bigger faster surf.

Single, faster waves, step back to turn, time on the board… should make things better. Give it a few tries like that, and if it still doesn’t feel right… trade it in.

18

Hey Lee,looking at the board,I bet it rocks in good size juicy surf,head high and above.not small summer waves.Keep it for the big days,get another one for the smaller days:)

19

Change your fins for ones that pull the tail into the water more. I’ve done this on low rockered/insufficient tail kick boards and they work to hold the nose up and stop it catching through cutties.

As been said above, though - ride a high performance board in crap and you’ve got to expect a few catches.

Doctor Red

20

guys, thanks a lot you’ve been really helpfull and supportive.

Red-boards, what type of fins do you mean? somt’ with inner foil like the Fcs “strech” series ?

or maybe bigger fins?