What a bunch of old guys!!! : ) We don’t surf to paddle, we surf to fly! Give up on those fun boards, long boards, eggs and all. The perfect all around board is one that turns as fast as you can think, puts you where you want to be, and gets you to the shoulder when the ride is over. — A good polypro bodyboard with 2 graphite stringers and a pair of flippers would meet all the criteria in the first paragraph. Mike Stewart says a bodyboard is the best tool to ride deep in the barrel… It’s also a good one board quiver but you need a good pair of flippers. That would be the equivalent to fins on a surfboard. Very easy to fly very high on a bodyboard, love to launch airs!!! I also enjoy riding fishes, longboards, single fins, mats and a big gun…
For what it’s worth, Dave Rastovich said that if he could only have one board, it would be a 7’10" rounded pintail. No comment on fin setup, but sounds like a Rusty DI would fit.
For where I live the Rusty “big cat” would be a better option.
Funny you should mention a body board Tony.
In the last 4 days of swell (3-6’ point surf at 4 different points of Noosa and my local) I’ve surfed my 5’10" X 22" X 3 1/8". Next day was my 7’ X 21" X 3". Then next day my 4’2" X 22" X 3" prone board. Then yesterday my 6’4" X 21" X 2 7/8".
A year ago I would have surfed my Dick Van Straalen, carbon fibre, 8’ all rounder every one of those days and my wave count would have been quadrupled without being greedy at all which is why I’m back to this thread.
my little 2 cents. Bing synchronizer.mine is 7.4,wide and fat,5 fin Bonzer set up.I can surf 6 to 8 foot winter Hawaiian scale,or small summer waves.NEVER has let me down,catches everything I paddle for,makes the drop like spreading peanut butter on toast!and guava jelly too,surfs so sweet. the one board travel quiver. But longboards make you surf with STYLE!
What the hell, I’ll chime in too. My 6’5" single fin (see avatar) is all I surf these days. The only other boards I have are either 20 years old and hacked up, or at my dad’s place about 1500km away, so I have no choice really.
But having said that, it’s nice and fat under my chest, so I can paddle into the waves easily. Also, contrary to popular folklore, it’s nice and loose and doesn’t lack for manoeuvreability (shit that’s a hard word to spell). So far it’s handled 1-5 foot waves with equal ease, I’m still waiting to take it out in anything bigger, but fingers crossed for 2012.
For me it has been a 7' 10'' x 21.5'' , 7'' squaretail singlefin ''Semi Gun'', (for lack of a better description). Rode it from 3' La Jolla Shores, to 15' Sunset. The board was in fact magical. It seemed to respond to thought. It just went where you wanted to go, effortlessly.
If I had to grab one board out of my quiver for the varied conditions I surf from oregon down to Santa Cruz, it would be the 7’10 x 13 x 21.5 x 14 diamond tail, single to double…
interesting thread. But I found longer boards a pain to manage in messy beach breaks. When the raging foam prevents entry, a smaller and more manouvrable board is much better. I have been struggling with a funboard (not paddling like a long, not duckdiveable as a short) before switching to shortboards. And still I dont understand how to take off in vertical hollow waves with such a long boards…
This board is based on a template from the board Bill Thraikill talks about. I just started surfing again after a 2 month plus stay at home break. Started with my 8’6" for easier paddling, then I moved to this 7’10" “twingle”. Rode it in head high and smaller waves twice and I really like it. I think I’ll ride this one for a while before continuing to down size. This board could easily be a one board quiver for me even though I love shorter boards in bigger waves. I’ve always been fond of the straighter rail in the tail, and the hard corner that a swallow or square tail have.
I currently have 2 single foiled 5" fins installed (not in photo).
Aloha Harry, I’m glad you got that 7’ 10’’ board into some ‘Hawaiian’’ waves. The wave in my avatar is what we used to call ten foot Sunset.(foolishly conservative, eh?) Believe me, your board can easily handle that size and larger. I’ve ridden my 7’ 10’’ board, back in '71 and '72 up to 15 foot Sunset. Give it a go in larger waves, if the opportunity presents itself. You won’t be disappointed.
