My take, don’t overthink it. Try a gunnier board and see how it works for you. Results don’t lie, if you have fun and get the waves you want and feel comfortable on the board ride it.
I think we’ve all got sucked into the “what’s hot now” trap at some point or another. Interesting I had a similar realization the other day in dumpy NC beachbreak. Solid surf, but I was missing waves I should have caught because I was riding the same 5’8" I ride in summer in baggies with a 5/4 hood/booties. A longer board would have done me well and I would’ve gotten/made more waves. Humility is a virtue sometimes. I actually love riding my 6’10" minigun in solid surf for just the reasons you mention. It gets in so early, when everyone else is riding their normal boards and struggling just to scratch in super late. I need to do it more often.
Hi M-224. Here’s my 2 centavos: I think you should try to get something exactly like that dude is riding; it really does look like the right tool for the job
it looks closer to 8’0" to me; I had a 7 foot Charlie Smith back in the day. It was made for Pipe or Honolua, super thick, wide point just a little forward and a slight flip in the nose. I bought it and surfed it all winter in the islands, around 1990 or so, then used it for a few years at OB SF, and it really did the job of in early, stable and down the line, which is what you need for “those days”.
Also, sometimes we get an idea in our head from seeing a photo or watching a guy surf a certain board, and it just really clicks… You kind of just know it’ll work, just like what was said about Mason Ho. You can just see that his boards are dialed!
Maybe if your lucky you could even pick up a used 90s Island gun on craigslist or something, it’d be a good place to start. I wish I had mine still!!!
What up fellas. Mako- I saw this posted and read the entire thing start to finish. So much goodness from everyone sharing ideas and sparked my interest in a board design that will jive with what you are describing. I have AKU for home builders and I use it to visualize and design boards (print outlines and templates)… then I go outside in my backyard and build everything by hand.
Anywho, I immediately took some of my TOMO style designs and started stretching them and moving the wide points mid-forward and narrowing out the tails. Sometimes I cant help myself and have to work through the process on an idea. I understand your dilemma of punchy breaks on the east coast. I was stationed in NC (Camp Lejeune) for years.
What’s my point? Basically I’m wondering if an adapted Tomo-esq style board would give you the pulled in tail and nose clearance and “feel” of the bigger board i.e. paddle power under chest but still allow you to keep the board in a decent range with volume and not have all of the swing weight out front. Like a lot of the fellas posting I’m a bit older and I’m in the “over 200Lbs” category.
These are just a few of the initial ideas I started sketching through. I kept the initial concept board at 6’8" x 20.5" x 2.65" x 41 Ltrs, just because it fit what I was invasion, but obviously could be easily scaled to length/vol/width. To me the rocker and foil on this design would be absolutely critical to fit your wave and do what you wanted it to do (I know this sounds obvious but this isn’t just a regular little thruster).
Anyway- Mako great pics and ideas being kicked around. I hope everyone keeps the discussion alive and an interesting board gets built. This is why I still check on Sways. Keeps me stoked!
So we used to always ask; Did he make it??? I’ve got a Brewer shaped 9’ gun/semi and have thought many times that reduced to eight foot or less would make a great overhead wave board.
Aw… I’m in NJ and I missed all the good surf because work and adult stuff… It looks like he was able to roll in and then stall for a tube, rather than sliding in and under from the drop. I guess that’s the benefit of a larger board.
I feel like there could be a specialized Jersey tube riding board. When it’s larger you’re dealing with waves sucking up very quickly, where you need to shove yourself under the lip and slide in quick or pay the price. Then you need to move quickly down the line. Or find the less common one like this guy, where you can come around then stall under it. And they’re fast waves, if it’s not a two block long closeout. Slow motion doesn’t communicate that. You’re also wearing a 5mm most of the time it’s like this. So it does get intense. I once saw a guy go away in ambulance because he got tossed off the top of the wave and slammed into the sand with potential neck injuries.
I haven’t found a board I like in waves like this yet, and it’s been hurting my confidence in going out in the juice. I’m 5’5" and used to really small boards and skateboards, so I just can’t do longer boards in waves like this. But I’m also 25 so I’m not suffering from age related issues, so I can shove myself under the lip on a shorter one. All my boards are short and wide and I think that’s appropriate for maneuver based waves, but they don’t knife takeoffs well and slowing them down is “interesting”. A little bit of length and tail rocker to go with it would be nice. Wide, short and thick (especially wide tails) rises up quickly in the wave, then you’re sitting on top instead of under it, where a skinnier, thinner and longer board would put you. That’s my experience. Then you get tossed, take the rest of the set on your head and it’s too cold and you hate your life…
Jason Bennett/Chemistry’s Chem Zen or Zenagain boards look like something I’d be into. Wide enough, but not overly bloated and pinny enough to have control. I like the looks of these little pintail tube rider shortboards with the wide point a bit forward.
now 68, a 7’10 has pretty much been my primary ‘short board’ for the past 20 years. Prefer 5 fins, ride it thruster when peaky or average, go to quad set-up when jacking down the line for the extra gear. 7’10 x 14 x 21 1/4 x 14 x 3, single to double. Just got it back in the water after my longest post-injury/surgery rehab ever.
