The strong offshores in NJ when it is good, are a huge factor. Also is the ripping longshore current.
One of my fondest memories of a surf session was an early 90’s clean mid winter NE swell with a steady 30MPH offshore wind with 45mph gusts, air temp 30’s water temp low 40’s. The current was ripping around the Jetty, and me and my bud watched a few shortboarders get to the end of the jetty, get pounded by sets, then quickly swept down the beach and some never even made it outside. It was only slightly overhead.
We decided to take out our pre '67 Longbooards, his an almost rockerless Bing, me a Greg Noll.
With all the extra rail line and paddle power we squeezed out past the jetty and were easily able to maintian the fight against the current ripping around its tip.
With such strong offshores, and long rails, we were able to get in early at an angle, and also paddle half way down the face before standing up in an aerodynamic tuck, waiting for the right time to bottom turn, and then it was left sand bottom point break barrell joy fest.
A few shortboarders tried to join us, and the few that made it ouside were quickly swept away by the ripping longshore current, whereas we’d paddle back further outside against the current and easily make it back to the peak and be able maintain position at the peak without having to constantly paddle at 85% speed. For a solid 2.5 hours we had the sand bottom pointbreak to ourselves as it rifled away. We saw lots of guys checking it, but only a small handful decided to try it and were quickly swept out of view. The few who caught waves at the peak had to watch the wave reel off without them.
I’ve been 200+ Lbs since the early 90’s, and while I swapped boards with others to as low as a 6’4" My size range has been 6’8" tpo 7’0" for a shortboard and 9’3"+ for a longboard since my late teens. The only boards in between that length are semiguns at 7’7" range.
I despised the hyperrockered potato chips of the 90’s. And the flatter wider shorter acceptance more recently is kind of similar, in that it seems to have been pushed to the extreme, by people who think they can ride what the pros can ride, when most can’t, not well anyway
I’ll ride what i feel I will have the most fun on, and it will not be dictated by what size board I can lock in my vehicle, or what style board is being ridden by the pros. I will not ride my longboard when surfing with my friends on Shortboards, out of consideration for them, but strangers at a primarily longboard break on shortboards, even grovelers, will no doubt hate me.
We’ve had fairly considerable swell here the last two days. I had lots of fun on my 6’11" x 22 x 3 round pin, but if I had my gunny pintail 9’3"x22x3, I would have been able to get into a lot more memorable rogue set bombs.
Jersey gets a lot of coverage these days. When its good it is world class. I always got irritated when people would say an east coast board had to be made for mushier waves, when NJ is a hollow barrell fest when conditions come together.
Riding the semiguns in anything, works for many, but from my selfish crowded wavecount measure, i am glad that many have decided that shorter wider flatter is their goto board. it is a bit irritating to be an observer and see them miss a wave when more railline would have allowed them entry. A wider nose and stiff offshores can hold one up in the lip on the drop, a semigunny shape will do so to a much lesser extent.
Surfing is about joy. If a surfboard has to fit a certain look to be appreciated, well as others said, if you cant catch the wave, then what’s the point?
Ride what gives you joy, and if you find yourself with an exteme paddlng advantage over the crowd, don’t be a hog. Give some away and you will usually be rewarded with an even better one, and everybody remains happier.
One greedy douchebag with a lot of railline, can ruin it for everybody.
