Hi,
Last weekend, a special competion took place before the finals in the State Pro tour (Santa Catarina/Brazil). Organized in a Tag-Team format, the pros had to surf using the same single-fin model. Click on the link below and enjoy the party:
the link didnt work for me
How dare they have fun with a goofy event…
Looked like a good time.
That’s ghastly most of them have no idea how to ride those boards, they are just aimlessly flapping and the music sucks but if they say it’s retro then retro it is.
Maybe
There were a couple of nice rides though
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Try again. I checked and it’s ok. Maybe the site was out for while when you tried…
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That’s ghastly most of them have no idea how to ride those boards, they are just aimlessly flapping and the music sucks but if they say it’s retro then retro it is.
Maybe
There were a couple of nice rides though
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I am glad they had fun and boards looked nice…but overall…I agree with you Roy. Horrible flapping style for those nice boards. Singles don’t ride like thrusters.
100 % agreed. One guy almost got into trim on that shoulder high wave when he tucked into the barrel, but overall they lacked any style.
It is cool though
one does not pump and thrash on a single. It is all about smooth rail carves and barrels. but then again aside from noseriders, isn’t that what it is all about?
Mostly reminded me of watching someone trying to pound in a nail using the head of a screw driver.
That first wave in the clip I thought, “flailing” and almost turned it off. There were some ok waves but I think the Brazil nuts have lost the plot. Thanks for posting it though.
Hi everybody,
I have to say that I liked all the comments. This competition happened in very bad conditions. I’d like to see them riding those boards in better waves. But, it’s fun to observe how those pros hadn’t the feeling to ride singles. And more interesting is to understand why. In my opinion, it’s caused by a lack of historical background. Surf in Brazil was born in the 60’s, but the real boom happened in the 80’s. Beeing so, Brazilians have a lack of at least 30 years of surfing history and it can be observed in the brazilian surfing style. We grew up having the ancient IPS and later ASP tours as our main goal. Even longboarders here are very young people who started surfing without any legend to influence them. For us, these Fish/Single fashion are just another commercial trend. I’m always learning from the surfing history, but in general people don’t care about. It’s a pity because it could help Brazilians to stop complaining about judgment and judges in the surfing contests. I like to compare the development of surfing in Brazil with the soccer, in which we are considered to be the best ones. Soccer arrived here around the end of the 19th century. After a “natural selection” through several generations, we developed our own style and grace of playing. In surfing, I guess it will take a little. Although some surfers have gained a place among the best in the pro circuits (the last World Longboard Champion is a Brazilian), we are far of producing a Slater, Machado, Carrol, Curren, just to name some of the best. But I know it’s just a matter of TIME.
I enjoyed watching and the fact you guys had a good time. Good fun on a standard board, although an older design by the look, and I don’t mean just the fin.
The style most of those guys were riding with is definitely pure thruster, but give them a break. They’re pros, it’s probably what they do all day on thrusters, and it’s probably all they know and grew up on. Perhaps they don’t know or even care that other people think they should ride a board a certain way because of a preconceived idea of how a certain board should be ridden. (edit: Jefferson, you beat me to the local surfing history thing by a few seconds. Very relevant.)
Just catch a wave, ride it how you want, and have fun, and all those guys seemed to be having fun to me.
There was one guy who rode and performed really well. Put him on a modern shape (I didn’t say thruster) and I bet he would rip even more!
(For posts on a forum which enjoys and shares the love of boards and surfing there are a lot of critics here.)
its not about how good you ride its about how much fun you have
other wise why surf if your not having fun
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I enjoyed watching and the fact you guys had a good time. Good fun on a standard board, although an older design by the look, and I don’t mean just the fin.
The style most of those guys were riding with is definitely pure thruster, but give them a break. They’re pros, it’s probably what they do all day on thrusters, and it’s probably all they know and grew up on. Perhaps they don’t know or even care that other people think they should ride a board a certain way because of a preconceived idea of how a certain board should be ridden. (edit: Jefferson, you beat me to the local surfing history thing by a few seconds. Very relevant.)
Just catch a wave, ride it how you want, and have fun, and all those guys seemed to be having fun to me.
There was one guy who rode and performed really well. Put him on a modern shape (I didn’t say thruster) and I bet he would rip even more!
(For posts on a forum which enjoys and shares the love of boards and surfing there are a lot of critics here.)
No criticism really. I am glad they had fun. Some surfers surf better than others and we all know who they are in the line up naturally. Not that it matters…but they are who others surfers copy and they get the most waves in the pecking order usually. These guys were thruster surfers attempting half turn single fins which require a real bottom turn. Not one of them had an ounce of style IMO and I doubt anyone will be copying their style. Nothing but an observation.
Still I enjoyed watching it. I liked their stoke and they probably surf better than most of us anyway.
Hi again,
I agree with you on the bottom-turn aspect. It’s a long time observed criticism I have in relation to brasilians in general. Once again, I believe this is a result of this “historical background”. For instance, when I was learning to surf (1978) my first board was a 6’7’’ single fin. But soon the twins came and then the thrusters. All in a short period of time. To a nation without the knowledge of how to ride well or how to read a wave perfectly, it caused a lot of confusion. Even championships were complicated because there wasn’t a standard for judging surfers. I remember when I was younger that our view of surfing was concentrated on the top of the wave maneuvers. We didn’t consider the bottom-turn as the most important maneuver, as said once Shawn Tomson. Now, we have surfing schools spreaded along the Brazilian coastline, and teachers with the necessary knowledge to influence the new generations. The “natural selection” can already be seen in 8, 9, or 10 years old kids. They are growing up with a different approach from the previous generations. It can be noticed their emphasis on the bottom-turns and on the rails work opposite to the tail/fins approach of the older surfers.
Quote:
Hi again,
I agree with you on the bottom-turn aspect. It’s a long time observed criticism I have in relation to brasilians in general. Once again, I believe this is a result of this “historical background”. For instance, when I was learning to surf (1978) my first board was a 6’7’’ single fin. But soon the twins came and then the thrusters. All in a short period of time. To a nation without the knowledge of how to ride well or how to read a wave perfectly, it caused a lot of confusion. Even championships were complicated because there wasn’t a standard for judging surfers. I remember when I was younger that our view of surfing was concentrated on the top of the wave maneuvers. We didn’t consider the bottom-turn as the most important maneuver, as said once Shawn Tomson. Now, we have surfing schools spreaded along the Brazilian coastline, and teachers with the necessary knowledge to influence the new generations. The “natural selection” can already be seen in 8, 9, or 10 years old kids. They are growing up with a different approach from the previous generations. It can be noticed their emphasis on the bottom-turns and on the rails work opposite to the tail/fins approach of the older surfers.
Seems like I remember something about Martin Potter training on a single the year he won the title? They teach you to use your rails better because you can’t surf them right without using your rails. I think they smooth your surfing out as well. The Brazilians rip get some of their top pros on singles for awhile and see what happens…ha ha. Good observations Jeff. We live in interesting times in surfing. Good ones in many ways because anything goes.
About those boards, is there a modern short singlefin surfboard? Like a board that is under 6’6" not a fish and not a thruster, but also not a direct copy of a MOTE board or others from that era.
For instance, what if I got a JS Combat and retrofitted a box onto it and rode it as a single? I have ridden a 6’1" Merrick Sashimi with only the rear fin and it was fun enough.
Would the CI nugget be fun as a single, or that SC Biscuit? Are the only short singlefins going to be Compact discs or Magic Carpets?
Must the wide points always be 3 to 8 inches up from center?
Just a few ?s
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About those boards, is there a modern short singlefin surfboard? Like a board that is under 6’6" not a fish and not a thruster, but also not a direct copy of a MOTE board or others from that era.
For instance, what if I got a JS Combat and retrofitted a box onto it and rode it as a single? I have ridden a 6’1" Merrick Sashimi with only the rear fin and it was fun enough.
Would the CI nugget be fun as a single, or that SC Biscuit? Are the only short singlefins going to be Compact discs or Magic Carpets?
Must the wide points always be 3 to 8 inches up from center?
Just a few ?s
There is no such thing as a CI Nugget. Mccoy showed how to shape a performance single fin and not much has changed. They still work. Cheyne also. Depends on how you like to ride. If you want to surf more like a thruster style…a lazor zap or like styles would be the board.
Interesting isn’t it, the modern shortboard was derived from single fin experimentation. Pointy nose, bit of width in the tail, wide point around centre. (Check out McCoys Horan boards around the time of thruster introduction. Still more modern looking (and designed) than some of todays boards.)
But the thruster came along, took advantage of all that, and now people seem to think single fins don’t work on modern shapes. It’s mainly because no-one makes them any more, and this is mainly due to the ease of use of three fins for the average (and above) surfer. They turn easy yet controllable, feel fast, and make lots of spray off that useless outside fin.
The centre fin principle definitely needs to be ridden the correct way, use of rails etc, but if you work on and get organised with that (in other words get some real surfing style), the performance you can get out of this set-up easily exceeds designs with side fins. It hasn’t been given a modern chance yet, but it will.
I guess this starts to become another thread again, sorry.
Yes !!
Centrally mounted fins, fore and aft mounted fins and in line fins rule . . . . their performance advantages are already there: speed !
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