to clarify things; I did not just buy this board. Little history: I caught the surfing bug a few years back in Maui, South Kihie and when I landed back home in San Francisco I rented my first surfboard and wetsuit. It was a disaster but lucky for me a local O.B surf notice my struggle and gave me some pointers. He sent me out to Lindamar/Pacifica CA. Anyway, I stuck with it and 5 years later and 11 boards in my quiver I am ridding better than ever. During the initial days of learning I became obsessed and started searching on the internet for “beginner” boards and searched endlessly for used boards on craigslist. I found this board 4 years ago for $150 and I could not refuse. I took it out 4 years ago and I remember it being super difficult to ride. I think I might have rode it for 2 seconds but felt super wobbly. i stuck with the longboard template and began buying high performance boards. I have a Pearson arrow, hobie, harbour, an NSP for crowded days , an anderson bojorquez, and a few others. I never came back to this one because of it almost gun looking shape. So here I am again with what might be the dumbest question ever but I am not ashamed to ask and only wish to learn from all of you who are as enthusiastic about surfing as I am. I cannot find any information on the net about this board nor the shape of this board. The closes board is this Harbour habanero model: http://65.36.130.179/images/boards/habanero_lg.jpg can some explain to me what type of board this is and in what conditions would this work? I am sure it is for bigger waves but can I take this out on 3-5’ days? much appreciated.
Am I reading that right? … does it say that the width of that board is 17.245" ???
If so, there’s your problem
I don’t think 17 is the width. Some sort of serial number. Its a 90s era longboard meant to be ridden like a shortboard. Put the thruster fins in it and ride it in some head high surf.
It looks like a more or less generic ‘High Performance Long Board’ (HPLB.)
I never trust any sort of penciled-in dimensions. Take a yard stick or tape measure and measure for yourself at 12" from either end and at the apparent wide point.
The squirrely nature of this beast is likely due to the rather exaggerated rocker. There is also probably a fair amount of vee. Hard to tell from the photos unless you could shoot them again - with a straight edge along the stringer and another with the straight edge across from rail to rail at various points.
Stick with it and play around with different fins and fin positions. For 150 bucks I’d say you got a great deal on a nice board!
Back in the 90’s a lot of SoCal longboard shapers were trying
to create different models of longboards for surf over 3’ mush
and these types of modified longboards were the solution. I
made one in '98, Stewart had one that was in Longboard Mag,
and more followed. The rocker in the pic is misleading, and if
measured correctly is prob. in the 5" range. This can be a great
board if you set it up correctly. Use 2.5" side bites and a 7.5" or
8" middle with the front edge 1/2" behind the sides. (about where
it is now). These boards work great in offshore conditions due to
the reduced nose area (Santa Ana’s) where a traditional LB will hang
in the lip. You have a high quality board here so take good care of
it and it will be a great addition to your quiver. I have posted pics of
my '98 design and current boards of this type if you want to compare.
By the way, the tail is a take-off of a Harbour diamond tail. Just my 2c…
I agree with surfteach, I never understand why more long boarders don’t ride this style of board , esp. if they are not into nose riding , why have all that extra swing weight plus the handicap of trying to paddle in to a stiff offshore wind , they look like oversized short boards and can be surfed very aggressively
Never understood people who want to ride a longboard like a shortboard. Glad that was a fad that mostly went by the wayside.
I have a similar shape longboard. I take mine out in small surf too. I surfed it with FCS easy trim as a single fin. It made it less wobbly. You can still turn the board like a short board. Also had it with a thruster set up, using FCS finbox converter, than it’s like a shortboard with a take - off advantage. When you’re used to surfing a longboard, than this is different. Really like the shape, just had to get used to it.
Mike Minchinton specializes in high-performance longboards and shortboards out of HB looks like what came out of the 90’s in HB for HPLB’s
Hello everyone! I want to thank all of those members who enlightened me with their expertise on the subject. Yesterday I took this “beast” out on 4-7 ft - shoulder high to 2 ft overhead surf at my local beach. This board felt a speed that I have not felt with any of my other boards. I was able to catch a few waves, a nice overhead and felt like I was flying on the face of the wave. The adrenaline was off the charts! It does require a little more work to paddle for a wave as compared to my other rounded nose boards. It feels much looser, so it is something that I need to practice on. My dream is to noseride some day but with this board I feel like it needs to be ridden more towards the tail to benefit from the turns. is this true?
Mike Minchinton is a great shaper and has been one of the top shapers around in OC for a # of years. This board would have probably come out of the 90’s when he and Bettis among others were working out of Spanners. He has been working out of the Aloha Glass factory located in Westminster, right next door to Foam EZ for several years now. He does all of the Robert August boards and his own label. RA’S niece shares shop space up front with Steve Albin’s Aloha Glass. She handles the business end of Robert August Surfboards(can’t remember her name). They’ve got a nice selection of boards. Mike does a fantastic Balsa or wooden board of any type or shape. Was thru there a while back and said howzit. He had a nice 9’0 on the shaping rack and was just getting ready to turn the rail. Looked great. I highly recommend Aloha Glass. Lowel
I only wished that I took this beauty out sooner. This is the only board I have with this shape and it really makes for a different type of ride. Any reason why could not find any information online about this board design? I don’t see this shape much anywhere. Why did shapers stop making this type of HPLB? I plan on taking this out more often now. despite it being over 15 years, this board has no dings, no repairs, and zero pressure dings. I really scored with this one. Glad I kept it for so long.
“Why did shapers stop making this type of HPLB?” The fad nowadays is heavy ass logs that you point and walk the nose; that’s about it, nothing else. Most people shortboard if any sort of ‘high performance’ is required. Couple this with the fact that the WSL is flirting with the idea of making their longboard competitions single fin only and you might never see a HPLB resurgence. I’m primarily a longboarder (that does more than simply noseride) and I’ve ridden some of the 90s HPLBs. To me, they were just stretched out shortboards. I have also ridden a Robert August 9’2" and was impressed with the diamond tail the board had. Above all else, if it’s fun to ride, ride it.
It all depends on where you live and where you surf. These west coast boards are
not like modern HPLB’s in a lot of ways, but more like a regular longboard
without a big fat nose. I surf mine in strong offshores and I credit the nose
narrow shape to Rich Harbour’s Trestle Special from the 60’s, just rediscovered
by some of us who wanted to surf strong Santa Anas without getting hung up
in the lip. I have surfed mine at San O, Trestles, HB, Newport, Rincon, etc. when
the wind howls and had lots of fun. I love single fin LB’s too, but I believe that
if you have more than one knife in the kitchen, why have just one board?
Here’s a couple headed out to customers. Just my 2 c…
