Ask Carroll

[rmb]

Nick do you think more surfers will get themselves catch surf soft tops because Jamie O'Brien and Mark Mathews are surfing them occasionally in sizeable swells? Also has that what big wave surfing has become for some whoring themselves out to whoever pays the bills then publishing it on stabmag.com and other websites as surfings version of the infomercial.

[Nick Carroll]

Well I would ask yourself that question. Does Mark and Jamie's wacky antics tempt you to venture into Soft Top Land?

Re whoring out, well the greatest fame whore I can think of in surfing is a big wave rider, Greg Noll. Greg has played out every inch of his notoriety. He has barely surfed since 1969, the year when he rode his famous waves at Makaha, yet he has assidously embraced every opportunity since the birth of Surf Nostalgia back around 1990, when the first wave of serious retro began hitting in California and he was dragged out of hiding by a growing band of acolytes. Da Bull has since been in the thick of it, reproducing his "Black Cat" longboards for insane sums to besotted collectors, appearing in countless big wave specials in theatres and on TV, signing books and god knows what else. Not that I hold anything about this in some sort of moral judgement, hell, a great surfing life almost always involves a strong element of scamming or tricking people into presenting you with a living. In fact I have a considerable soft spot for Da Bull along with all the others including Mark and Jamie. But he doesn't suck me in for a second.

[rmb]

Nope no soft top for me.
As for Mark and Jamie I don't mind the video clips they produce I would whore myself out if I was capable of too in that situation it's pretty harmless. It was when I read the model of the soft board and looked it up on their website I saw JOB had a signature model. I guess if the price is right go for it.

As for Jamies dad Mick do you know him? Apparently he is an Aussie expat.

[Nick Carroll]

Yes I know Mick, he is an ex Phillip Island and Torquay boy, I doubt he ever expected to find himself in his current situation. The morning after the Molokai race this year, I went for a walk along the Pipe stretch (I was staying in a house just down from Ehukai). There was no swell of course and everything was quiet, warm and sunny with a tradewind blowing. The only people in sight were a couple of my mates from the race who were staying in a house just down from OTW; they were swimming across the Pipe reef. All was silent and mellow, you'd never have guessed what happens herre in winter. But there in front of the OBrien rental was the whole Red Bull tent shebang, wind flapping away at it, just as if it was December and the whole yard filled with groupies and wannabes and Jamie fans and hell boys.

[rmb]

Must be quite the eyesore having redbull plastered over a picturesque backdrop.

[Drailed]

How is Jamie seen by the local crew there, ok cos he one of them or just a bit of a obnoxious loudmouth dickhead??

[PeepeelaPew]

...

[offshore1]

Legend, then.

"Jackhammer Loofy" is his nom du guerre and is what the peasants of Maroubra chant as he paddles out.

[ajohnsen]

I like waking up in the morning to discover the little gems that offy has left overnight.

[Nick Carroll]

How is Jamie seen by the local crew there, ok cos he one of them or just a bit of a obnoxious loudmouth dickhead??

Jamie's got a lot of mates and probably his share of foes too. He's the best surfer at Pipe and that brings its share of envy and arrogance and all sorts of stuff. He is a fraction more intelligent than most and he has a very individualist streak which has allowed him to make a career out of surfing his way, which is always gonna stoke some people and irritate others. In the end he's just another surfer and the real article with deep roots in the sport, and is respected as such.

[The Mighty Sunbird]

I like waking up in the morning to discover the little gems that offy has left overnight.

Her hee I just had the same experience over in tangents

[chrisb]

Interesting comments about Greg Noll. I've never met the guy but based on his media appearances he comes across as a really amiable and likeable sort of fellow. The sort of guy you that could buy a used car from. Seems like he has had the same effect on you Nick.

[ajohnsen]

Nick, have you ever asked for a replica of a favourite board (by the same shaper, of course)? For example, the Webber that you love but is dying, would you try to have it replicated, or are there so many subtle variables that you would only set yourself up for disappointment? Or, is life too short to not move on?

[Nick Carroll]

Oh yeah, of course I've tried to replicate a great board. I am sort of young in the head in many ways and a bit dumb, and have lived most of my surfing life in a haze of irrational optimism, and so have been prone to these foolish hopes of a re-living of some shit or other. I know it never works but I can't help myself. Indeed I have tried with that very board to convince Webber to re-do it, but Greg is a much more subtle individual than me and I think he may actually hate shaping, the idea of repeating something vaguely disgusts him, so no luck. I guess he is saving me from a disappointment really.

Other shapers have had a crack at reproducing a board and they have sometimes got close, but only ever in the general framing of the design, there are always subtle yet unmistakeable differences that are kind of pretty much impossible to control, the resin batch, the glass batch, the warmth or coldth of the day when it's glassed, the sanding and the left edges, the fin plug placement, the stringer, and all these will add up to something slightly different every time. I am learning to appreciate this as a way to understand change and its great value in context. You know without getting all Facebook Quotey about it.

[Nick Carroll]

Interesting comments about Greg Noll. I've never met the guy but based on his media appearances he comes across as a really amiable and likeable sort of fellow. The sort of guy you that could buy a used car from. Seems like he has had the same effect on you Nick.

Oh yeah! You can't not like Da Bull.

[foamy]

......Other shapers have had a crack at reproducing a board and they have sometimes got close, but only ever in the general framing of the design, there are always subtle yet unmistakeable differences that are kind of pretty much impossible to control, the resin batch, the glass batch, the warmth or coldth of the day when it's glassed, the sanding and the left edges, the fin plug placement, the stringer, and all these will add up to something slightly different every time. I am learning to appreciate this as a way to understand change and its great value in context. You know without getting all Facebook Quotey about it.

Yeah, every snowflake is different.

[Davros]

That's interesting. I think certain machine shapers (whatever that means) spruik that once your design was in their CAD system you could pretty much recreate your current board forever, or make ongoing adjustments on the original as a base....but that is impossible even starting at the way the blank is made etc....but I have been told this more than once by designers/shapers as a marketing tool. Of course there's a degree of accuracy in that approach.

[Nick Carroll]

Oh look I think CAD shaping has improved everything immensely. But the critical differences between individual boards remain.

I really relish my occasional visits to my nearby surfboard warehouse at Onboard in Mona Vale. They have an absolutely crazy array of superb surfboards. I am not kidding. Walk in there and I will guarantee, you will see a board you want, possibly very badly. They are beautifully made and symmetrical and all that stuff.

But no two of them are exactly alike.