why go so short?

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JSB
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Re: why go so short?

Post by JSB » Mon Dec 30, 2013 11:01 pm

Tried a few of those eggy boards, they were fun for a little bit. Until I got back on my normal short board then realise how much I missed doing a turn in the pocket instead of way out on the shoulder. Just have to find a shallower bank and all is good.

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petulance
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Re: why go so short?

Post by petulance » Tue Dec 31, 2013 9:23 am

Braithy, you had a 6'3" JS Blak Box before. How would the Hypto Krypto compare to it? I have a 6'4" Blak Box that I am finding a bit hard to duck dive. I'm blaming my body weight, lack of technique, board's wide tail and full-ish rails for it. I'm liking the dimensions of the 6'0" and 6'2" Hypto Krypto.
smnmntll wrote: She's also moderately hot, with a bit of that petulance-approved titless starved whippet look about her but still pretty decent.

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Re: why go so short?

Post by crabmeat thompson » Tue Dec 31, 2013 11:40 am

Oh boy, that's going back about 3 years now. I think it was a 6'2" ... it was a custom, I definitely remember it was a custom. I think I changed the bottom contours, rails and width, making them all streamlined and foiled and a deeper single into a double. But then again, I've only used that bottom shape & contour in the last few years, it may have been before the blak boxs' time.

I've never ridden a hytpo, just a shred sled.

Aren't you really light, like 65 kilos light? It's hard to keep up with everyone on the board, so sorry if I'm wrong.

If you are light, you should consider a hypto around the 5'8" mark. There's enough volume in that to float an 80-85 kilo person, but it should be a helluva lot better combination of paddling speed & duckdiving volume.

When you duckdive, do you get right out of the water and use your foot -- not knee -- as leverage? You need to really put your foot into it and get as high out of the water as you can to duckdive bigger boards.
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Re: why go so short?

Post by bondihq » Tue Dec 31, 2013 11:54 am

i weigh about 78kgs and according to the haydenshapes website , the 5'8 was the way to go for me. Now if you knew my wife and i was going to spend 900 on a board and it wasnt right , you'd be reading about me in the paper (murdered) so suffice to say i was a little anxious buying a 5'8..i was going to go the 5'10 to be safe but took the punt and went on what hayden reccomended for my weight.
4 or 5 weeks down the track and its safe to say i was worried about nothin.....i have that great feeling of having a board that you love , with fins in it that that feel amazing and i'm even sporting a new wetsuit that i love.....you know that feeling when your happy/confident with your gear and your surfing well.....its good...Dont know your ability petulance , but the websites guide is pretty spot on when it comes to hypto sizes/weight....

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Re: why go so short?

Post by PeepeelaPew » Tue Dec 31, 2013 1:57 pm

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Last edited by PeepeelaPew on Sat Feb 22, 2014 1:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

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petulance
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Re: why go so short?

Post by petulance » Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:09 pm

Thanks for the replies, Braithy, bondihq and Legion. I'm 64 - 65 kgs and while the Hayden website does say that a board shorter than 6' would suit me, I would assume that the guide is more someone with more competence than me. I made the mistake of going too short too soon as I had a 5'11" Dumpster Diver before the 6'4" Blak Box. I was advised to get a larger board so I sold the DD and got a second hand Blak Box. It has been great and I have definitely improved over the last few months so I'll persist with it for a while longer.

Having said that, duck diving on it is a pain so I have been quite selective in the conditions I go out in. I could duck dive the 5'11" Dumpster Diver easily but have trouble sinking the tail on the Blak Box even though I use my foot instead of my knee. I suppose it is the usual trade off between volume (paddling ease) and duck diving.
smnmntll wrote: She's also moderately hot, with a bit of that petulance-approved titless starved whippet look about her but still pretty decent.

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Re: why go so short?

Post by crabmeat thompson » Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:17 pm

Get a smaller board (like a 5'8" hypto) and just surf everyday. When it's small, onshore you name it.

You're paddling muscles will get the required stamina in no time.

I paddled from Currumbin slsc to the point today on my shorty. Never caught a wave, just a bit of paddle maintenance and fitness. Things like that help.
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Re: why go so short?

Post by petulance » Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:30 pm

Yeah, more time in the water would help. So would taking off more on the peak instead of on the shoulder which is what I normally do. I'll give a shorter, wide board some thought. Conventional wisdom says that going too short too soon will hinder progression.
smnmntll wrote: She's also moderately hot, with a bit of that petulance-approved titless starved whippet look about her but still pretty decent.

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Re: why go so short?

Post by crabmeat thompson » Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:37 pm

Depends. It could also accelerate progression. Those hyptos are a big, wide flat deck. Good for balance and volume for paddling but you'll be able to turn them and pump them easier than your current boards.

How long you been surfing for?
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Re: why go so short?

Post by petulance » Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:19 am

I only started taking things seriously in 2011. Before that it was all laughs and giggles. I got some pics taken recently and I can see what I need to work on (arm /chest positioning, front foot pressure and more compression / extension in the knees).

I'm quite a passive surfer so I don't get too many waves. So if there was a value of improvement compared to time in the water I would score a low mark. However, I would get a higher one for improvement compared to the actual number of waves caught. Heck, I only recently learnt speed generation pumps.

But yeah ... 2014 is going to be the year that I finally hit the lip ... :)
smnmntll wrote: She's also moderately hot, with a bit of that petulance-approved titless starved whippet look about her but still pretty decent.

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Re: why go so short?

Post by oldman » Thu Jan 02, 2014 5:45 pm

Hatchnam, I just put it down to a sign of the times. I suspect it is more about fashion than performance.

To move 'product', you have to keep changing things, keep people thinking that there is something better out there.

Then when they buy it, they have just invested nearly a grand in confirmation bias, so they see all the pluses and minimise the minuses. I'm thinking these days that a barn door would surf ok, and a slightly shaped barn door would surf better, and I'm of such a level of skill, (not very) that getting sucked into this stuff would see me ultimately poorer and no better a surfer.

So I'm going the other way, treated myself to 6'6'', lots of foam, and it was bought for a specific few places where I am likely to spend my most intense periods of surfing (holidays and long weekends away)

It's fine for such a range of surfing conditions that I could do without all other boards, but I have a 6'10'' and a 6'2'' as backup.

Really, apart from volume, all the rest is much of a muchness for the average surfer. How many manoeuvres can you pull off in crowded summer beach break slop anyway.

But if people are happy with them then all to the good, but I feel no need to follow the trend.
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Re: why go so short?

Post by packa » Thu Jan 02, 2014 6:56 pm

oldman wrote: ... I suspect it is more about fashion than performance ... So I'm going the other way ... for a specific few places where I am likely to spend my most intense periods of surfing ... I feel no need to follow the trend.
:B

3-)

Been doing that for a long time. :mrgreen:

Tread your own path. It is easier to use your own feelings to get the best board for the waves you surf and how you surf. :wink:

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Re: why go so short?

Post by Davros » Thu Jan 02, 2014 7:51 pm

I reckon the tail on the Hypto is to pinny for everyday go to board.Clean offshore hollowish 4ft ....yeah for sure.

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Re: why go so short?

Post by Beerfan » Fri Jan 03, 2014 5:58 am

Ringmaster wrote:
oldman wrote:Hatchnam, I just put it down to a sign of the times. I suspect it is more about fashion than performance.

To move 'product', you have to keep changing things, keep people thinking that there is something better out there.

Then when they buy it, they have just invested nearly a grand in confirmation bias, so they see all the pluses and minimise the minuses. I'm thinking these days that a barn door would surf ok, and a slightly shaped barn door would surf better, and I'm of such a level of skill, (not very) that getting sucked into this stuff would see me ultimately poorer and no better a surfer.

So I'm going the other way, treated myself to 6'6'', lots of foam, and it was bought for a specific few places where I am likely to spend my most intense periods of surfing (holidays and long weekends away)

It's fine for such a range of surfing conditions that I could do without all other boards, but I have a 6'10'' and a 6'2'' as backup.

Really, apart from volume, all the rest is much of a muchness for the average surfer. How many manoeuvres can you pull off in crowded summer beach break slop anyway.

But if people are happy with them then all to the good, but I feel no need to follow the trend.
Right on Oldman :!: Especially when you hear about blokes with minimal surfing experience raving about them. Fair dinkum......the power of marketing is KING for most people........

I've dicked around on a couple of those type of boards here and there but after 30 plus years surfing I still find my standard 6'4"x 18.5" x 2.5" goes way better than all that other hype in most waves between 3 to 6 foot which is predominately what I surf. (I'm 185cm and 86kg surfing any day it's half decent)
And so is the power of keeping up with what the pros are riding. Which is why we got the "I'm 185cm and I can ride a 6"4".

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Re: why go so short?

Post by Hatchnam » Fri Jan 03, 2014 6:12 am

all those way stumpy way flat boards simply don't do what they say on the tin anywhere near as good as they claim to. volume counts in small waves. if you can't generate speed thru compression rail-to-rail with what the wave is providing, then you need float speed with what the board's providing. simple.

and on the flipside, perhaps the reason 'shapers en masse' feel the need to go do damn short is to keep within the confines of the second questionable factor. that of 'board volume to surfer weight'

meaning, if you "weigh X then you've gotta have a board of "Y volume". so by going short, shapers are going too short just to keep within 'Y volume' because of surfer's 'X weight'.

why not just go "Yy volume", adding the extra foam and volume needed to get float speed and keep to a more feasible and functional length.
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steve shearer
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Re: why go so short?

Post by steve shearer » Fri Jan 03, 2014 6:29 am

because short little stumpy planing hulls are far more efficient speed generating devices than a puffed up shortboard or mini-mal.

Oldman is right: if you're a middle aged pen pusher who only surfs weekends and holidays then it doesn't really matter what you surf. As long as there is enough volume to catch waves it'll be fine. And the more waves you catch the more fun you have, hence the SUP phenomena.

The Hypto Krypto is definitely the fashion board to have under the arm this summer. No doubt they work, hell Craig Anderson rips on one and he's got long hair and is sponnoed, so they must.

I fall in and out of love with my smaller/shorter boards. Went to 5'4".....then back up to 5'8" for smaller boards. Got a 5'10' Octafish that I'm riding alot at the moment.

My favourite shortboard length in good waves is 6'3". Thats a gun now for most pros.
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Re: why go so short?

Post by packa » Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:42 am

steve shearer wrote:because short little stumpy planing hulls are far more efficient speed generating devices ...
Correct me.

They do not have to be THAT short to work as planning hulls though?

Yes, wide and a tad less length than one usually rides, but seeing blokes who are 6ft trying to ride 5'4" boards seems a cycle of frustration. Keep it in perspective, using the pro approach, KS is what 5'9" and drops down to 5'5" or 5'4", so he is dropping 4 to 5 inches, so doing the maths, that's around 5.7 to 7.2% length drop for his height. And, he is a freak, so anyone around 6ft trying to drop by more than say 5%, or 4 inches is surely pushing the boundaries?

:?:

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Re: why go so short?

Post by anothadunga » Fri Jan 03, 2014 9:08 am

these boards are just a fad and somethin for the industry to keep the consumer guessin. the only issue is that those who havent been surfin for that long (less than ten years) wont know any better. ive got two old skool beasts (a quad and a thruster) that i ride all the time that were made in the late 70s and early 80s. both are around the 5'7/5'8 mark and probably about 30l in volume. however they are only good in surf between waist high to 1.5OH. i did have a early 70s 5'6x19x3 single fin during my time in bondage in the mid '00s. that would had to have been my best board ever. pity i snapped it during a easy OH session at icebergs. :cry:

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