Alright, a couple years ago I am out surfing a reef on a waste high day. Long rides.
Anyway I pick off a wave and am almost to the beach when a guy on a longboard comes out of the whitewater and I nearly hit him as I was cutting back. This was a long ride so he must have been way behind the whole ride and finally caught up. He was a kook, but did does he have a case?
i think you had the right of way, if you caught it way on the outside it was your wave long before it was his. and he would have had to have seen you on the wave when he decided to go for. thats just my opinion though
As he caught up with you, he should have let you know he was there. You could of then pulled out and let him through. He may have been a kook but he was moving faster than you!!
Roger
I believe the old rule is that you should be looking to the inside of you when taking off. if there wasn’t any one there even way down the line, its your wave. the guy either snaked you or caught the whitewater later.
if you did “drop in” then you are due the full consequences… be that board in your head, up your butt, a ding, a yell, or someone punching you lights out like at pipe.
everyone deserves at least a warning, education or what ever. after that getting run over should be expected…
this goes for hotdogs, grems, groms and chicks as well who think they somehow have a legit reason to drop in without looking or drop in anyway after seeing you come down the line.
In Hawaii there’s a saying that if you take care, you’ll be taken care of (in waves that is)…
I’ve come to the conclusion that being the “first up” rule should not apply if you are on a huge longboard and catch the wave before the wave is steep enough for a shortboard to catch it. If you do catch one of these swells, and the shortboarder ends up taking off behind you once the wave is actually a wave, and therefore he is behind you, you gotta bail out.
(however, if the other surfer took off in the soup, then it’s still the front guys wave: but if he took off still before the wave broke, in the way god intended, then it’s his wave no matter how long the longboarder has been already standing up).
In other words, sitting further out and paddling a million times does not give you priority - you gotta earn it by taking off in the most critical part of the wave.
BTW, I surf a longboard more often than short but still think this is the fairest way.
my opinion on the if you ride a longboard you should duck out and let the short boarder take the wave becasue its actually a wave. I think if you payed the extra money for a longboard you should get a couple more waves, if the shortboarder gets pissed becasue you where up 20 yards before he was, then that guy should trade in the short board and upgrade to a longboard. Thats just my opinion though as a long boarder.
" if you did “drop in” then you are due the full consequences… be that board in your head, up your butt, a ding, a yell, or someone punching you lights out like at pipe."
You don’t consciously hit anyone ever. Yelling maybe.
And in an apparent attempt to out-do the previous example…
“I think if you payed the extra money for a longboard you should get a couple more waves”
So, Cooperfish owners deserve more waves than Haut owners? Does a Brom 5’10" fish owner who paid $800 deserve more waves than someone who bought a used longboard for $400? Are we going to have to bring receipts out in the water with us? Hummer owners can take two parking places and get 10 free red-light violations? Let me guess who you’re voting for - if you even vote.
The wave belongs to the guy that is closest to the curl, no matter who caught it first!
The wave belongs to the guy that is closest to the curl, no matter who caught it first!
That’s a perfect way to put it!
as long boarders are mostly sitting way out side and i find myself riding more often than them…most of the time i laugh and say its funny that ,hey me and you are riding way more waves than the fucking longboarders,and where on bigger waves also ofcourse…what was this about?..oh yeah,longboarders stealing waves?..most of the time, i see longboarders as unnder skiled of overaged,and let them have a couple…but if i turm around and see them sitting right behind me …yeah im gonna call em out…long board guys have a habit of lookin stupid and tryin to catch your wave way before anybody not riding a boat could…i think they need to move outta my spot…i rode a longboard about twice and it still sits in the backyard…worthless pieceof crap…if i ,well im sick of typing. so thats it
Nah, I don’t think anyone should have to bail out if they actually caught the wave as it was peaking and someone, somehow sneaks in behind them later on in the wave. Around here we don’t have those super long point waves so we probably don’t have that situation like you describe quite as often.
But it’s not cool to be sitting on a peak, having a longboard grab it as a bump further outside, proceed to go like 30 meters to my right way out on the shoulder. What should I do? Not turn around and catch the best part of the wave, just because some guy is way down on the shoulder on a longboard?
I surf a 9’0" probably 70% of the time but I’m too lazy to like paddling so I sit almost with the shortboarders and prefer to just turn around and take a few strokes and then drop in.
After a fruitless search for waves that started at Big Rock/Windansea and included a long walk down to Black’s, I and a fellow kneeboarder (call him John) ended up out at Table Tops, the reef just south of Seaside reef. It was a pleasant enough day, with clouds giving way to some sunshine, a few decent waves coming through here and there and, aside from the two of us, maybe eight or so other people out in the water. Although it wasn’t spectacular, there were a few nice head high outside set waves occasionally coming through and plenty of smaller ones on the inside. Everyone seemed to be catching something.
The crowd included 3 long boarders who, as usual, were able to paddle into waves as they first formed on the outside reef. The rest were short boarders who, of course, had to sit a bit more inside and wait until the waves had reached a more critical stage. I happened to notice one of the short boarders who was very aggressive and, although good, you could tell just by the way he surfed that he a had an “attitude”.
A set came through and one of the long boarders, who all seemed to be friends, caught a nice one. The short boarder with the attitude also caught one more on the inside. As he was paddling back towards the other short boarders, who also seemed to be friends, I heard him complaining to them about the long boarders “hogging the waves” and “not letting anything come through”. The tension was now palpable and rising.
As the long boarder who had caught the outside wave paddled back out past the short boarders, the one with the attitude said, “Hey man, why don’t you let a few set waves come through” with a sort of sneer.
“What do you mean,” he replied, “there’s plenty of waves.”
The short boarder with the attitude turned to his friends. “Am I wrong,” he asked. “I am the only one who thinks that these guys (referring to the group of long boarders) are hogging all the set waves?”.
The rest of the short boarders all nodded in a sort of half-hearted agreement, but I could tell they weren’t really into causing a scene. John and I remained silent but the long boarders all jumped quickly into the mix, coming to the defense of both their friend and themselves.
A full-blown argument soon developed. The short boarder with the attitude claimed that he had politely asked them to let a few outside waves come through (of course he really hadn’t) and that lie in and of itself had set the tone for the ensuing debate over who was right and who was wrong. Fortunately, although a lot of heated words and accusations were exchanged, it went no further than that.
At one point the short boarders tried to tell the long boarders where to sit in the line-up. They were mad because the long boarders would “paddle around them” to get back outside. The long boarders, of course, insisted that they had the “right to sit anywhere we please”!
This rather unpleasant confrontation had a most depressing effect on the rest of the session as the atmosphere was now poisoned. Even those who had not taken part in the argument were left feeling a bit uneasy. The one long boarder who had been the target of the short boarder with the attitude’s initial hostility eventually paddled out even beyond even the farthest outside wave and sat all alone, thinking to himself who knows what. Soon the wind came up, the waves turned to crap, and people made their way in to shore.
Ironically enough, even though it was true that the long boarders were catching most of the outside waves, the shortboarder who had started the argument and turned what had been a fun and pleasant session into an unnecessary confrontation filled with tension and hostility was the very person who was actually “hogging” the waves! He was very aggressive, paddling into more waves than anyone else and, although a good surfer, I could tell that he thought he was “hot shit” (however, get him in some 10 foot barrels over shallow coral reefs and he would probably be singing a different tune).
I’ve often noticed that short boarders in general seem to feel that they have some sort of exclusive rights to the waves and everyone else (long boarders, kneeboarders, body boarders, surf kayaks,etc.) don’t belong in the water and/or should give way to them.
The real question is: Who has the right to sit where in the line-up?
In my book no one “owns” the ocean and so really anyone has the right to sit wherever the hell the please (whether inside, outside or wherever), especially at a place such as Table Tops, where no one can claim to be a “local” this holds true. So my feeling is that the long boarders were right in this regard.
Having said that, however, it is also paramount that those riding surf craft that gives them an inherent advantage in catching waves be sensitive and courteous to others in the water. Just as they have the right to sit wherever they choose, they also have the responsibility to make sure that they respect the rights of others out in the water and not “hog” all the waves merely due to the advantage their equipment gives them. Although the long boarders that day weren’t hogging ALL of the waves, they definitely were taking most of the outside set waves.
On the other hand, if the place is heavily localized then obviously other factors come into play!
Why do’nt the surfboard manufacturers just put a big laminate under the glass job of each board with the suggested retail price, that way everyone would know his rightful place in the pecking order? Same could go for wetsuits, trunks, etc, although maybe a better idea is to tally up the cost of all the gear and write it on a T-shirt to cut down on calculation in the lineup. And of course the higher priced vehicles would get the prime parking spots…
I did’t realize that Donald Trump had started surfing and was posting here.
Bet this whole problem does’nt come up at Teahopuu or The Box.
Whoever stands first is usually King…
i wasnt being a hundred percent serious when i suggested that longboarders pay more for there boards and then should get more waves. i will admit i sit on the outside real deep some times and pick off a lot of waves but every lonboarder is guilty of that. we as surfers in a whole long or short need to let everyone have a fair shair of waves. i think if your on the wave first you deserve that wave even if you caught it way on the outside, but its important to let some waves pass through to the people on the inside.
Hi on a point break I use the 3 second rule If you were on your feet for 3 seconds irrespectave of where the other guy is, it’s yours. If you are both paddling for the wave then the guy on your inside is king or if you are on someones inside you are king.
I almost got injured this AM by someone who took off on the shoulder of a set wave at Malibu. He did not heed my verbal holler and then went straight. He mumbled something about being up first as I swam for my board. First guy up does not necessarily establish priority epecially on a point wave.
Roger
In my opinion: Whether a person catches their wave way outside, inside, further from the curl, closer to the curl, point, peak, etc - Up first has possesion. Also what type of surfcraft the other person is riding doesn’t enter my decision factor either - Whether their on a LB, SB, BB, or mat - Up first has possesion.
In my book, dropping in on a occupied wave is disrespectful - I don’t do it.
Best,
HerbB
the way things are around here now, i am beginning to question my sanity.
it appears that the more incompetent one is, the more right they have to the wave.
that is, the newbies with the brand new surftechs sitting on the inside seem to have the right to drop in at any time. it is the more experienced rider’s responsibility to recognize the newbies ENTITLEMENT to the wave and to get off the nose or out of the pocket, and by god, let them in.
was recently advised that picking up the nose of said newbie’s board as i rode by and giving said newbie a few well thought over epitaphs, was grounds for me to take myself somewhere else to surf. rejected that advice. interesting days we live in.
as for the situation originally stated. longboarder should have let you know he was back there. you should have either gotten off the wave or, made sure there was enuff room for him behind you. so you didn’t know he was back there. so he either snaked you or took off behind the peak and came around. either way, he should have let you know he was there.
see earlier stated information regarding newbie, etc…
Only goes to prove that Miki Dora had some good ideas. I doubt very many kooks droppped in on him twice.