This aint about design,but it doesnt hurt.Who is the best longboarder of the moment?
The moment which you seek has already passed.
The ‘best’ longboarder is the one having the most fun at any given moment.
Lightweight competition 9 footers are not longboards
My vote goes to Tom Wegener because of his big grin and real longboards.
For me Tudor is still the best…
I agree Coque, can I have two votes? One for Joel too, his shortboarding is a joy to see!
Well, best is not a possible place to arrive. They all hit that same level of self-actualization.
Think of it this way. The Beatles and Led Zepplin reached the ultimate level. They were perfect in their creation of music.
That said, I think Dale Dobson is on that level. He rips. In my lifetime of living in North County, I have seen him surf at least ten to twenty times and each time I thought, “Damn him!”
The guy is gifted, no doubt, and he is friendly and will talk to you if you keep at him. I like him. He gives good advice.
Put it this way. One day I see a guy on a nine footer ripping this six foot right at Cardiff Reef frontside. He was absolutely killing it. Vertical off the lips, sweeping cutbacks, great noserides. All frontside on a right, as I said.
It was Dale Dobson.
But the real kicker is this: Dale is a Goofy Foot!
Think about that. He rips.
Am a fan of Colin McPhillips myself - a super humble and friendly guy. Got a chance to talk design with him some time ago - he was a friend of one of my housemates in CA and stayed at our house during a contest in Santa Cruz… Of course Joel rips hard, but I always thought he was a bit cocky… CJ Nelson rips too… There’s almost too many guys, each good in their own way…
i think we can all agree that Joel Tudor can do some amazing things on a longboard, but i gotta reserve a little bit of the prize for Beau Young, too…they both have a lot of soul.
Too tough a question to answer. Like contest judging it is all subjective and depends on what you appreciate. If you are an ex (or current) short board rider you’d probably tend to go for the more radical guys. If you’re an old fart like me who grew up surfing in the 60s you’ll go for the smoothies. Nat still rips and I prefer his surfing to the younger Young. Joel Tudor shows some really smooth moves. There’s a local (northern NSW/southern Queensland) guy who has been around a while - Ray Gleave - who I could watch all day. Does it all with style and grace. I agree that there are so many who are hot at the moment and there is always that one guy at any local break who has no name, no sponsors and no media coverage who as our Kiwi counterpart, Roy Stewart says, is having the most fun that you’ve gotta give the unknowns some credit too.
the best guy from the films i have watched has to be Kanoa Dahlin! he rips
always seems to be having fun (huge smile)
joel, cj, alex knost, tyler warren, christian watch, kassia meador, shcylur McFarren (wow i spelled that one wrong), kim hammrock the list goes on and on and on
Tyler Hatzikian gets my vote, I love his boards too
I would say Joel for the pure fact that he rides all the variations of boards and waves with a complete fluid style. As Chandler would say he moves with the wave not against it. Joel, like a true stylist, flows instead of ripping.
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Tyler Hatzikian gets my vote, I love his boards too
i can definitely back you up on that one.
…the best surfer at the moment is…ME! (i Wish) nah… Joking i would vote for wegener on a mal… And rob machardo for all types of boards.
Nobody backed me up on Dobson. Alright, I can deal with that. It’s not like he’s my buddy or anything, but the guy rips.
I’ll back you…but your 10 years too late. When i started up on a longboard again in '88 Dale was insane. Joel was a little longhaired kid. Dale was blond, fit as a athlete, master surfer, master switch-stance, contest winner, crowd pleaser. What went wrong? Even shortboarders respected him, and we hated longboarders.
But he was different. Swiching stance off the lip, helicopter 360’s, floaters, classic layback coverups. VERY HOT!!
I think he had it all except a good head on his shoulders, cause he should be an icon and a businessman. Cause i’ll tell you he could easily beat anyone up to say '92, then Joey Hawkins, or Russ K, or Kevin Connelly could keep up.
These are all guys that came and went, too bad, brilliant at their chosen path for a short time, faded back into blue collar american surfboard factory slavery!
I admired Dale. I emmulated my longboarding style after him many years ago as i was learning ‘hotdogging’ …he was the total ‘surfer’ image then, similar to say a 70’s Terry Fitzgerald. Could surf any localized spot with an open ticket(not easy in San Diego!)
Hope he makes a comeback, he inspired the 80’s longboard revolution as much as any San Diego County longboard icon (Tudor, Connelly, Paskowitz bro’s, Takayama’s, Kramer, Walden). It was fun while it lasted. Now it’s all about the Glide and Fish’s and Tint’s. It’s all good, no worries. Thanks for the memories Dale Dobson!!
ive never been much into going with the crowd when it comes to who rips ,ive seen insane surfers , who fall appart at the thought of being judged…
there contest surfing and there free surfing being two different things…
not long ago i was in new zealand for the world longboard titles …
basically sharing the line up with the worlds best longboarders …
at least half of the top 44 didnt impress me at all ,
i could take 20 guys from our local competition circuit and put em in the top 44 …
but i will say a few guys stood out and really were on another level…
tudor , man he is a pleasure to watch…
colin for sure as well …nice mix …
theres a south african guy who really is more than capable of a world title matt moir,great power and style combined…
brazilian marcello frietas ,same sick belts ,combined with grace…
and my favourite aussie is justin redman , his air 360s and sick longboard agression need to be seen to be believed.
justin and tudor both rip but are at the end of the scales as far as style,the other 3 sit in between …
all very exciting surfers to watch …
regards
BERT
4 years on!
My opinion
Tanner Beckett for the progressive crowd
and its interesting seing how much better JIMMY Gamboa surfs on a a standard longboard or takayama then those hulls he harms himself with : ) ) ) ) ) ) : )
If tudor stoped dogging sections he’d still be up there
but
Beau Young: style, noserides and not affraid to hit the section
also mikey detemples drop knee cutbacks are amazing!
TERRY BYRNE
Apparently Josh Constable is the current world champion, how do you rate him? H.
Ben Fesselet