There is a glut of imported boards on the market now so I was able to pick up a Global Surf Industries Webber " Fatburner" model cheap ( 299.00 ). I thought it would be good for our part of the East Coast when conditions get marginal. The board is made in Thailand at the Cobra factory. I have seen various rants concerning imported surfboards on Swaylocks but people wearing asian made flip flops and trunks should be careful about throwing stones. Anyway, I checked out the construction carefully and even though the glasser probably doesn’t surf he must have spent a lot of time glassing. Clean job, no pin air, pretty nice. The shaping is CNC like most off the rack boards. Greg Webber did a really good job of designing a fun to ride board. I have surfed it in East Coast ( US ) waves this year and had a blast on it. It paddles easily, pulls into waves early and responds nicely. Mine is 6’6" and I am 5’10" so it’s like a funboard in disguise when I’m riding it. It was a little stiff with the stock fin setup so I modified a smaller honeycomb glass on fin to fit the trailing FCS plug and that loosened it up ( plus I have always liked the way those honeycomb core colored fins looked). I think there will always be a place for the custom made piece of functional art you can get from a talented board builder and it’s fun to build your own board even if you have no talent. But if you’re looking at an off the rack board made by … Lost or a similar outfit where they use CNC machines and you don’t know the guy who finished it ( and maybe you wouldn’t like him if you did know him ) the Webber boards are a viable alternative. Caveat; I say this based on my experience with this one board.
at 5’10" unless you are like 200lbs a 6’6" on the east coast is a funboard(step ups for those rare days which are sizeable are exceptions)
right now i am riding a canyon 6’4 modern fish. i cannot say ive had as great a turn out as you. this is also a cnc board but from china i beleive, i could be wrong.
i went of the falls and have two dents on the bottom where my knees hit it. i dont think i hit it that hard and it seems like it was glassed very light on the bottom.
on top around the fin placement i am starting to get fish eyes all over it. looks almost like someone was throwing marbles at it.
other then that it rides pretty well and was a great step up from my 7’4 funshape. and cheap too. 300 for a brand new board, instead of 500+ for the shops style.
i’ve got a global surf industries “walden cd”. clearly states on the bottom it’s thailand heritage. the board’s finishing is very nice, looks quality until you start riding it. i can distinctly recall my first backside bottom turn, feeling the glass crunch under my back heel. no biggie, on the deck, covered by wax, so i did not mind. then started coming the incidental little pressure dings on the bottom and i take great care of my sticks, keeping all my boards in a padded day bag, don’t throw them around at all. they seemed to multiply before my very eyes, so after a few sessions, the board looked more like 5 years old than 3 sessions old. it rode well, but i have since donated it to my two groms…too bad i paid full price of 5 hundy at the time…but my kids have gotten the money’s worth out of it, so it has worked out alright. i will not buy another gsi board again though…
You are correct. In my post I described it as a “funboard in disguise”. I said that because it is on the short end of the spectrum for funboards and it isn’t shaped like something from a cartoon. As I said it was purchased for marginal EC conditions where a performance shortboard is near useless. I had it out after Hanna at Va Beach and during a decent swell at Rodanthe in August and had fun on it though.
As far as crunching decks and fisheyes described in the other posts, I haven’t experienced any of that. Maybe I got lucky. As I said I only have experience with this one board made by GSI. By the way I am 55 and have been surfing since I was 16. There have been a few boards over the duration.
I had a GSI 7’3’’ super fish xl for a while, PU/PE. The glass job on the bottom wasn;t too bad, and the deck was quite strong. I thought it was pretty good. .
I got rid of mine because for the length, it was way too flat, i was used to surfing a 6’2’’ x 22’’ fish, so a 7’3’’ x 22’’ fish just kept catching. When the nose didn’t catch it wasn’t a bad board. I got it as a replacement for my old minimal, but it was nowhere near as good as my old minimal, so i sold it for my aussie made 6’10’’ egg, much better!!!
Well,whilst we’re on subject,read this and weep…
http://www.realsurf.com/2008/10/aloha-surfboards-goes-global/
aloha,Aloha…
In keeping to forum rules I’ll decline to enter my opinions on Mr Kelly and Mr Lovett…
There is a glut of imported boards on the market now so I was able to pick up a Global Surf Industries Webber " Fatburner" model cheap ( 299.00 ). I thought it would be good for our part of the East Coast when conditions get marginal. The board is made in Thailand at the Cobra factory. I have seen various rants concerning imported surfboards on Swaylocks but people wearing asian made flip flops and trunks should be careful about throwing stones. Anyway, I checked out the construction carefully and even though the glasser probably doesn’t surf he must have spent a lot of time glassing. Clean job, no pin air, pretty nice. The shaping is CNC like most off the rack boards. Greg Webber did a really good job of designing a fun to ride board. I have surfed it in East Coast ( US ) waves this year and had a blast on it. It paddles easily, pulls into waves early and responds nicely. Mine is 6’6" and I am 5’10" so it’s like a funboard in disguise when I’m riding it. It was a little stiff with the stock fin setup so I modified a smaller honeycomb glass on fin to fit the trailing FCS plug and that loosened it up ( plus I have always liked the way those honeycomb core colored fins looked). I think there will always be a place for the custom made piece of functional art you can get from a talented board builder and it’s fun to build your own board even if you have no talent. But if you’re looking at an off the rack board made by … Lost or a similar outfit where they use CNC machines and you don’t know the guy who finished it ( and maybe you wouldn’t like him if you did know him ) the Webber boards are a viable alternative. Caveat; I say this based on my experience with this one board.
I have the same board,6’6 webber fat burner, 2 3/4 thick.Im 5’11 ish 185 to 195 and it has become my go to board on florida east coast waves.I boosted close to an 8’ air the other day on that board and it freaked me out a little because the surf was only head high.I’m thinking about making mine a quad.
I have the same board,6’6 webber fat burner, 2 3/4 thick.Im 5’11 ish 185 to 195 and it has become my go to board on florida east coast waves.I boosted close to an 8’ air the other day on that board and it freaked me out a little because the surf was only head high.I’m thinking about making mine a quad.
Jesus
I read somewhere you can walk on water and now you tell us you can fly too !!
Freakin awesome.
Cheers
mooneemick
Luckily for me its patriotic to a certain extent to buy a board made in Thailand since my wife and both our daughters were born there. Our new boy will be a dual citizen as well so I’m outnumbered by Thai nationals in our little family unit.
The GSI boards that I’ve been happy with are their three phase epoxy models of which I’ve had a few.
Narrowed it down to a Bonga 7’6" and a 9’2" Timpone Kalama to cover most conditions.
Cleaned the wax off the trusty Bonga 7’6" a while back and it still looks like a new board after almost a year of riding it as my go to board in all size waves.
I have no issues with its performance, weight, buoyancy, feel or durability.
Wish I could say the same about many of my handshaped poly boards made in Australia (durability wise).
There’s also a good reason to ride boards with strength where I live because the learners and newbies are filling up the line-up and when its small its plain hazardous so a strong board that can take some knocks is a must.
Alex and Jesus,presumably you’re talking about the new Webbers with the deep dble concave bottom ?
Works out well as I’ve been meaning to post asking for reviews of them.Webber does a good job of explaining his ideas on Youtube, but can you guys maybe articulate a bit more how that bottom shape feels to ride ?
I’ve seen them in the flesh and they certainly look nice.
I would like to know about the newer models as well. I bought mine last winter and it was sold well below list because it was a leftover previous year’s model. The Fatburner has since been changed with the nose pulled in a little and much more pronounced concaves on the bottom. I have some interest in the new Webber performance models. The construction is called XTR, hand laminated epoxy on EPS construction with an interesting higher density foam donut surrounding the FCS plugs for added anchoring strength and really pronounced concaves to the point of looking a little odd. If anyone has any experience riding one of these I would like to hear what you think.
You meant to say “SLX”.
XTR is a whole 'nother beast.
right now i am riding a canyon 6’4 modern fish. i cannot say ive had as great a turn out as you. this is also a cnc board but from china i beleive, i could be wrong.
You are correct. It is a fake “Canyon” made in China at the same factory as the fake Surfboards Australia, Natural Progression, Surfer’s Alliance and other boards being imported by Tom “Sleazeball” Sena of Long Island ,NY.
I would be embarrassed to own any one of those fakes.
yeah that i am. but money was tight so it was the best i could afford for now. till i start making my own.
once it gets replaced, ill sell it cheap
yeah that i am. but money was tight so it was the best i could afford for now. till i start making my own.
once it gets replaced, ill sell it cheap
Shoulda looked for a used REAL board. Live and learn…
Would you like to buy one of my “Rip a Quik Bong” t-shirts.
You can triple your brand recognition in one t-shirt.
Printed in Australia no less.
The big 3 have their’s made completely in the third world.
I’d be embaressed to wear one of them 
i’ve only been surfing for 3 years and I still have trouble landing.
Guy’s this scab gets picked every few months. I will use the webber as an example . I priced a 6’6 yesterday , $750au.I can get a custom whatever I wan’t for $100 a foot. I just saved $100 …don’t mention it.
Personally I like all things handcrafted but can’t afford a Rolls royce. so the mazda will have to do . Made in Thialand.who’d have thought.
What I get at is ,It is your money spend it how you see fit. But remember when the local handcrafter goes broke and moves away ,(and this covers furniture, surfboards, clothes , hamburgers, fruit and veges ) we have to look at ourselves and say it is our fault.
Shop local think global. put back into the local community and it can grow and thus creates jobs for our kids ,wives.
i've only been surfing for 3 years and I still have trouble landing.
Hey Jesus
I’ve been surfing 40yrs and I still can’t land em.
Keep trying.
Cheers
Mooneemick