Gotta agree here. People that call Roy’s boards ships and furniture seemed screwed in a little to tightly. If, let’s see, Stretch decided to make some cruisers for inside Pleasure Point that were identical to Roys stuff, a lot of these same people would be clapping their hands.
Roy’s manners aside, the boards appear beautifully made and work quite well for the surf Roy rides and in the style he likes. Roy’s main intrest is length of ride, not the number of turns he can make so he makes boards that do that well.
I’ll utter the ultimate blasphemy…Stewart and Simmons are two peas in a pod. Both rode boards few understood or liked, using construction that no one else was using at the time. Both of their boards had to be ridden in a specific manner to work as intended. And both of them were ego-centric know-it-alls with little if any social skills. Only time will tell if Roy’s stuff ultimately influences boards or surfing in the future as much as Simmons appears to have.
I’m anxious to surf this thing. Am I expecting it to be the “best” board I’ve ever ridden? Uh… not expecting to pull 360s or slashing cutbacks, that’s for sure. But knowing that it’s just down the street and available to try is too much to pass up. I figure I’ll try it out somewhere tame like BoBo or Lindonesia before paddling out in barreling OB. What’s the worst thing that can happen… I’ll have some fun on a water toy. Even my favorite Brewer is just a toy. I surf to have fun. I’m expecting to have fun on this.
I’ve given the nameless one my fair share of shit… of course he invited it on himself. I started out thinking he was a total kook… but here’s a guy out in the middle of nowhere, making crazy craft with even crazier claims… and even though he’s been banned from here, threads about him still generate the most responses. While not everyone’s cup of tea, you’ve got to admit he’s done an impressive job of making himself famous (infamous). While we may not all appreciate his technique, I can’t think of anyone in any field that’s done a better job of following the “any publicity is good publicity” mindset.
If he just podded along doing his thing without the drama, none of us would know anything about him. He could just biss out on his organic farm and play on his “inventions” by himself with no fanfare. If we found out about him on our own without the banter, most of us would probably think he was cool, regardless of what we think about his designs. It’s his polorizing personality (understatement?) that sets us off. I know of few people who have such firm defenders (few) or detractors (many) as he does.
When I was still a young surf-stoked grom, I tried riding almost anything imaginable - mats, foam pool toys, inner tubes, etc. As an old jaded crusty geezer, I’ve become way more selective with what I ride. My nearly fifty years of surfing experience has honed my quiver choices to a fairly narrow field. I’ve got a garage full of boards that ride great. I know what I like and stock up accordingly. Here’s a chance for me to look (way) outside the box.
Do I expect ot have my world changed by riding this board? No. Is it going to make me suddenly realize that Bill T knows nothing about surfboards? Hardly - Bill rules. Am I going to have a blast riding it? I hope so.
And, your comparison to Simmons is silly. Simmons was involved in making surfboards better and looking to the future. Roy’s designs (cough-cough) are a major step backward.
IMO and based on what I’ve seen from him over the last couple years Roy’s online demeanor seems to have moderated a fair bit with respect to how he handles insults. He doesn’t exactly turn the other cheek but neither does he overreact.
I disagree. There are many who make wooden boards with the same technique, more or less. Those others do not make over-sized monstrosities with ugly curves, ridiculous fins, and unnecessary bulk.
The boards in question are from the mind of a crackpot. They would be nothing more than quirky novelties if he didn’t make unfounded, outrageous claims about their performance. He sent one to Hawaii and when the board got less than a stellar review he blamed the rider.
At the time, only a few thought Simmons’ stuff was futuristic. Most of the surfers that tried his stuff thought they sucked. The boards were light but fell apart quickly, wouldn’t hold a tight trim, and spun out if pushed hard. He did think that his boards were the future, as does Roy. Only time will tell…
I consider myself a hobbyist, and I don’t tend to blather and bark about what I do or how good stuff I may build is. I mainly just ask questions for stuff I don’t know about and provide info for the few things about I have learned if those pertinant questions arise. Lately, I just work at my real job and dream about when I can build stuff again. The responses on here definitely lead to the ruffled feathers of past history of the guy who isn’t here anymore. All I have to say, having seen all the prior history and trauma, is…post pics!
even though long excommunicated from the forum, he still remains the undisputed champ, the most polarizing figure…ever.
so
unappreciated savant whose back to the future, retro parallel stance ‘distance traveled is only what matters’ mantra is simply beyond the ken of those held captive by conventional paradigms?
or
self-aggrandizing huckster who unable to compete on conventional high performance equipment, resorted to his capable wood crafting skills to build oversized primitive craft that allowed him to feel quite special instead of quite kookish, with the upside that if he wished upon a star long and hard enough, might actually sell for the million smackaroos he trolls for and move the family out of the bus?
but
regardless of the hilarious asking price, would you actually want one in your quiver? If so, what would it replace that it would work better than…?
Id have one in my quiver as a unique board, there may never, for better or worse, be another Roy.
There are plenty of crappy looking boards like the Lazor Zap, Drifta, any early Thruster will do, but they are of their own unique generation / style/ performance. It doesnt have to look or do anything thats comparable to the present way of thinking.
If I wanted to simply achieve length of ride with maximum glide I’d go with something like a Frye 11 footer. But, that’s not what I prefer and after trying one have no desire to go in that direction. A friend has an 11’3 Frye and he has a style well suited to it. He’s a pleasure to watch on that thing in waist high, clean point surf. He can turn the hell out of it, too. But, he’s about 6’3" and 200 lbs or so, so he can generate the necessary leverage
The guy out on the big yellow board at OB is J-Ray on his 11’ Mav’s gun. —Looks a bit like the pipe challenge board but when Parmentor makes one it makes it cool.The swell is up to 7@20sec now but I rode my 6’5" GG inspired 5fin. I have contact info on the guy with the board, this may happen … ;0
definitely wasn’t John Raymond…younger then John, faster surfer…guy had actually had been out earlier on a SUP then reappeared on the yellow rocket…board had a narrower nose area then JR’s green Parmi’s…
Grant was out on a new Mav’s board he showed me between sets, wider tailed 8’6 Randy Cone shape, keeping with his efforts to go smaller and later at Mav’s, surfing it with only large side fins, no rear fin…surfing it well, said he loved how loose it was with that set-up…always fun to surf with Grant…
I have been riding a 13’5" styrofoam double ender a lot recently…22" wide with 60’sish egg rails…Yellow hot coated, never sanded…No maker’s mark…
Our playing field in Washington State can be vast…Far out and acres long up and down the beach…I like the outside peaks…I need something that gets me to them…Far out, cold, empty…No one around or on the cliff or on the jetty…Welcome to winter…I don’t care about anything other than get in early on big ones and go far…Go big, go far…Get out before it gets you, then paddle like you stole money…Do it again…
For me it works as the only possible solution for the given conditions…Other waves require other boards…But big boards have their place…Come surf with me on anything less, in the waves I do and I’ll buy you breakfast…I ride a board with paddleboard speed and limited movements…It only makes sense…I can work with that…
Roy’s boards in Roy’s waves work for the conditions too…Long, lined up and the rider chooses to ride his hand made board in the manner the designer chooses…Sound fine with me…
I have never met Roy and only got into one exchange online…I see Roy’s boards as only one aspect of a very rich life…Family is important…Not much talked about, but I guess it’s “why” Roy is as he is…Way more than the “Surfboard Guy”…I have friends in Australia that could be Roy clones…To be so lucky…Live as you choose, sounds good to me…
Roy’s online persona is comic book like and no one forces Roy on you…You click to see…Don’t like, don’t click…Go outside and feel the breeze…
Cool, I ran into Randy Cone on my way back from surfing today he was dropping off some very nice new guns for August in front of Doc’s house. On the worst victory at sea big days I have run into Grant many times + we are neighbors. I have seen that 8’6" your talking about but I think you would have to be as big-strong as Grant to get up enough speed to make the drop at Mav’s. I tried my 8’6" 4" thick silver bullet gun at Mav’s with not much luck, but I did make 12 waves on my 8’6" 24lb longboard gun at Mavericks one year when I broke all of my other guns. The 13’er would be fun to try it at outer reef Lundamor…
That’s all any of this is…Can’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I’ve offered to chip in on the shipping and store it down here in Point Loma once it’s done up North…I’d give it a good run at places like Sunset Cliffs, Cardiff, Del Mar, O’side, etc…
You will never see me “applaud” an ugly board, and I agree that there are some unsightly items posted here. The difference is that most of the other POS boards we see here are first time efforts and the folks who build them don’t make ridiculous claims about their creations. I’m not going to slam a first timer or novice builder when they approach a project with honesty and a genuine desire to learn. But, when a person builds ugly, over-sized, unwieldy wooden barges and then proceeds to claim outrageous superlatives about said junk, it’s fair game.
