After a long , lengthy process I finally got my hands on a custom Malcolm Campbell Bonzer 5 7’0"…this is something I’ve been dreaming about for a long time.
I got it made for G-land and OH+ pointbreaks…I wanted to feel the “fifth gear effect” and knew I had the waves in my backyard for it.
First thought were that the thing looked radical and pointy…extreme even, with lower volume rails than I’m used to , a very pulled in pintail, and radical concaves.
It looked like a temperamental and very precise machine that would work only under very certain conditions, and with very precise riding.
Fortunately, less than a week after I got it we were blessed with a 5 day swell that ranged from the very good to the sublimely perfect…OH to DOH the whole time.
From the first wave I could tell that my initial impression had been very overstated: the board was easy riding, it wanted to run , riding in the top third of the wave it almost felt on tracks…a beautiful feeling of effortless speed.
Put on a rail at high speed it ran a true line back to the base of the wave with no speed washout…joining the dots on a series of highlines, before a high speed cutdown seemed as natural as rolling out of bed.
For anyone venturing into “down the line” territory a bonzer 5 has that " no top speed in a straight line" feeling of a single-fin with a bit more hold like a thruster. An insane feeling.
Anyway here’s a few pics of the swell and a couple of happy snaps of the board in action.
[/img]
[/img]
[/img]
[/img]
[/img]
cant seem to post pics