The quest for fast...

General Discussion
1

Just to mix up the discussion a bit…

Is the quest for fastest really necessary…???..

I find I’m stalling and setting up, and just hanging in the pocket, playing in the hook, as much, if not more, than just trying to out-race the wave…

I think if you look at most of the waves that we ride, we are seldom just left behind by them…Unless you ride close-outs…

I know that I kick out at the end of the wave way more than I’m picked off by one trying to beat it…

What about “just be here, and now, and dig it”…???..

Paul

(preparing for the “Shortboard vs. Longboard barrage”…I’m ready…Start firing…)

2

I used to have a 500cc motorcycle. Had enough power to get me in trouble but not enough to get me out.

I think it would be advantages to have the ability to go as fast as necessary when needed.

Given that a board has all the power/speed and handling capabilities one could want, seems to me the quest shuold be for control of those attributes. (?)

3

You hit it right on the head aquafiend, control of speed is much more important than the speed itself.

The last board I made myself, which was a while ago I admit, had speed and control, which is why I loved it so much. But like many others here trying to make the perfect board for ourselves, it was no fluke. It was a culmination of years of experience, ideas, and trial and error.

Most of the first few waves on a new board I find myself just trying to see how fast I can get it going. Once I know it’s accelleration and speed I start pushing turns. I may not use it all the time, but knowing I can go fast is a plus for confidence in making the wave.

The feeling of control over a board is much more important to me than flat out speed. Holding speed through a turn, slowing to pivot, or being able to stall into a section. As long as I know I can pump my foot on the gas and get out I will be satisfied.

This guy Mud was a hassler at times, dropping in on everyone and generally being a prick. So I dropped in on him and called him…if he could catch me he could have the wave. He couldn’t, we had a few heated words, and we never had trouble again. I pitied the other guys he kept dropping in on though.

4

I don’t know about that, I’d say speed would be good for powerful manoeuvres.

So a fast board is good at least as long as it’s possible to control and turns well.

And sometimes as You say racing fast waves bordering on closeuts all You really need is speed and control

5

i agree with Paul and Aquafiend65.striving to control what you have.Aquafiend65,adding to your motorcycle example,speeding in a car,my dad reminded me that your going faster than you think you are in a car that can accelerate,not just a regular car.to the cop,it’s very noticable,what seems not as much a big deal to the driver.being in control of your board puts you where you want to be,that’s what fascinating about surfing,the guys that can put themselves in those tight positions,always impressive to me.

6

Stall.

Rocker the board back on it’s haunches and dig a hole in the water surface to slow the board down. Then rocker the board forward to pickup speed? push yourself outta that hole you just dug to turn or make(carve) yourself a ledge on the tube face…

What about dropping the flaps and leaving the hull position in speed trim. Create drag to brake for the turns or tube, don’t dig a hole. We’re not carving a turkey back in the day, we’re slip-slidin away.(?)

Leave the tail rocker flatter but (slightly) more flexible, catch those paipos once-and-for-all. Let fins be fins instead of brakes. Can we think past the thruster? Blasphemy of the highest degree.

Stop the thruster maker machine? Nah, start it up again… nothing here. Long live the three headed god.

Weighted tow-in board keeps the feeling of surfing instead of flying, plug into the juice, forward momentum, surface skimming, fin in the water, not for the faint of heart. (or me)

Watching Taj at Trestles, not so much vertical as, pivot-pivot launch. Practice for flying from section to section? Mom, I’ll be in San Diego by noon, can you come pick me up? Wow, was he fast. Pocket/face speed, slightly different from carve-stall, up and down, vertical style, hang in the pocket, ride 'um cowboy, bucking bronco contest winners, but I saw the future. Dig it!

Leave the radar guns and closed courses to the boats and RS, surfing is about that smile that starts in your heart.

7

You got me thinkin’ about my next ride, Daddio, and my eyes are already watering from the wind.

8

East Coast beach breaks.

Fast boards needed.

9

“Is the quest for fastest really necessary…???..” (Paul Jensen)

Paul, surfing itself is not ‘really necessary’!

Between the presently known makeable waves and the presently believed to be unmakeable waves there lies an area which is uncharted surfing territory. Some people want to inhabit that territory by going faster, and to them, that is being there and digging it!

It’s all good!

I took some video yesterday at ‘sandmine’, where we are camping. The swell had jacked to 15 feet or so (that’s Real Imperial feet, not Hawaiian ) and there were waves ranging from maybe just makeable to incredibly fast, with every speed in between. Beaches which produce this kind of surf are part of the new territory we are talking about. This beach is new territory in more than one sense, because we are almost the only ones to surf it because everyone else just sees closeouts.

Being a surfing speed freak is just a bit of pure fun, and doesn’t hurt anyone.

All the best,

Emma Stewart (for Power Surfboards)

10

The other day, somebody asked my how often I need to surf. I answered “only when absolutely necessary,” which if I can arrange it, is every day and twice on Sundays. I am getting better and better at coming up with reasons why surfing is absolutely necessary. For example: the sun is out, the sun is not out, there are clouds, there are no clouds, my coffee table is dusty, there are too many mosquitos, I don’t need a haircut today, my boss can live without me for today, my boss needs to know he can’t live without me so I’ll stay home (surf) today, my clients are doing well, my clients are not doing well, I’m happy, I’m depressed, everyody else is surfing today, no one else has paddled out yet today, and (the one that always works) the news was good/bad (somewhere in the world) today.

Ahh, addiction!

11

Given discrete choices, one would seem compelled to opt for the fastest posssible stick.

You can govern the rabbit but can’t flog the tortoise to any positive effect.

12
Quote:

You can govern the rabbit but can’t flog the tortoise to any positive effect.

Zigackly!

13

On the other hand, "slow and steady wins the race. "

14

i think it depends on your surfing style and skill level. a guy who a really great surfer can create speed easily on a wave with a lot of rocker and that board will work well for them. somebody who can really surf well in the pocket. for guys that aren’t so good (me included) I need a flatter board that has a little bit of glide too it. i struggle in soft waves on a board with a lot of rocker…

15

Hello Paul,

Your interesting question set me thinking.

I have watched a few speed threads and I have noticed that a lot of surfers don’t want to measure speed. In fact it often looks like they are so passionate about not measuring speed that the don’t want anyone else to do it either.

Then I realised that this might be part of an overall trend against measurement. Look at how surf size is measured. For one reason or another many surfers have abandoned a regular system of measurement (Imperial feet) in favour of Hawaiian feet. Hawaiian feet are anything but regular, in fact they seem to get bigger as waves get bigger.

Hawaiian feet are irregular, misleading, macho, and full of Mana. Imperial feet are regular, reliable, accurate, and unemotional.

Surfers have determinedly avoided a regular system of wave measurement for emotional reasons. Thus it isn’t surprising that some don’t want to measure speed. Perhaps they think that it is too clinical, and not fantastical enough.

There are, however, some enquiring minds who want to know!

It is all in the realm of the possible.

Regards, Emma (writing from Otamarakau beach camp)

16
Quote:

I think if you look at most of the waves that we ride, we are seldom just left behind by them…Unless you ride close-outs…

I know that I kick out at the end of the wave way more than I’m picked off by one trying to beat it…

It sounds to me like you mostly surf some really nice pointbreaks. Unfortunatly not all of us are blessed with an abundance of empty pointbreaks nearby. Secondly, are the boards you ride slow? Don’t look slow to me… regards, Håvard

17
Quote:

It sounds to me like you mostly surf some really nice pointbreaks. Unfortunatly not all of us are blessed with an abundance of empty pointbreaks nearby. Secondly, are the boards you ride slow? Don’t look slow to me… regards, Håvard

My primary surf spot is a jetty / beachbreak…Rights and lefts…Breaks far from shore…It can be a tough paddle out, with all the whitewater…Next to the jetty, there’s a rip which simplifies that aspect…The waves usually have a decent to very good shoulder…But there are closeouts, and I choose not to ride those…Wave selection…

The pointbreaks are a rarer breed, but when they break they are very predictable, with closeouts being an anomaly…

The speed thing is so relative, I make most of my waves and have a great time doing it…I probably take off further outside and deeper than others, but that’s mostly due to the boards I choose to ride…

I’ll leave most of the discussion about fast, to those who feel like they have some kind of point to make…To me, it seems like a pissing contest…No offense…

Paul

18

I can’t understand why people wants to surf faster and faster. Slow rides last longer, you enjoy being in the wave more time. It’s like good sex :slight_smile: The more it lasts, the best it gets.

When you talk about speed (or anything involving time as a variable) everything goes to relativity laws: Every individual carries its own space and time, for you it may be fast, but not for me, and so on.

Enjoy surf as you enjoy life…slowwwly

Jack

19

Majority of waves at spots I surf most often are closeouts…I choose not to ride them, or at least not judge by surfboards by them.

The waves which are makeable, I can make with a boogieboard, Bic, Brewer semi gun, or Rusty fun. If the wave is makeable, surfcraft speed is NOT an issue.

I mainly surf OceanBeach, SanFrancisco, and even there, with faster moving swells than most anywhere else in California, board speed is not important.

Big Mavs is faster, and all the board there are fully rockered, deep V’d, made for CONTROL, not speed.

20
Quote:

I’ll leave most of the discussion about fast, to those who feel like they have some kind of point to make…To me, it seems like a pissing contest…No offense…

Paul

Paul,

When you say “no offense”, it’s customary to say please. It is a request, not an order! Sometimes, something a person says is hurtful to someone else, ‘no offense’ provisos or not!

I am personally upset by what you said. You started a thread on a subject that you now describe as a ‘pissing contest’. This is not fair. I feel like you are baiting those of us who are genuinely interested!

And you are a moderator, so you should be upholding a standard of fairness.

You wouldn’t be baiting my husband Roy (who is interested in speed) would you?

Emma Stewart.