Will longboarding ever disappear again as it did in the late 1960`s?
No. Too many recreational and adult surfers. In those days 95% of all surfers were under 25 years old. Today that is much different.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they were abandoned for the latest thing at some point in the future - trends come and go - but if it does go underground I think there will always be a few people, young or old, who want the feeling of walking on water and gliding on the tip of their stick, the essence of longboard surfing. Will they disappear in our lifetime? Unlikely.
I cant see another shortboard revolution taking place like it did in 1968. Surfing has advanced to a stage where a well rounded surfer takes advantage of all types of surfcraft. Id say any surfer who doesnt have a longboard in his quiver is missing out on one of the most primal feelings of riding a surfboard…the glide.
longboards will never die the death they did in the 60’s. they are such a fun and useful tool for small waves that i would never consider not having one available to use. i surf the points at noosa every week and you do not ride short boards at noosa until it is about 4ft. good longboarders are basically just good surfers, and like all surfers they will want to ride deeper, turn sharper and faster and get more vertical. to do this they will need shorter boards. in waves that have a bit of power, a 7’6’ x 21’ midlength board that has a longboard style outline has far superior surfing ability than a high performance 9ft longboard will ever have. no one can argue that fact. the only advantage longboards have is that you get into the wave early. i dont think there would be many diehard longboarders left these days. when hypo log riding first went big in the 90’s it was a novelty, everyone’s like wow you can ride a longboard in hollow waves and do inferior versions of shortboard style tricks. we are living in the age of the quiver. if a surfer only rides one style of surfboard, 9ft longboard, 6’1 shortboard, he or she is missing out on a hell of a lot. i have found that angry young men who ride shortboards (and there is a massive number of them around) are far less likely to try a range of other boards like longboards and midlengths. but that is partly due to peer pressure and their segment of the industry preaching that those boards are for kooks and old fat bastards. this is their loss, its better they stick to their 6’1 x 19 x 2.25 small wave boards, cause if they get on a longboard they will be the ones who just paddled up the inside of you and called you off that last set even though you had just waited 10 minutes by yourself on the peak for it.
…