Is an 8' board a longboard?

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buzzy
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Is an 8' board a longboard?

Post by buzzy » Fri Feb 20, 2004 3:16 pm

I bought an 8'1" board a while ago. I'd always been a shortboarder and was anxious about going too long. The longest board I'd ridden as a grom was maybe 7'6" which we sometimes rode in tiny surf (boards kept at Sunshine surfing etc) and I could never turn 'em. I found out that turning an 8' mal isn't that hard provided you are near enough to the tail. It just takes a bit longer than a shortboard.

But what I've noticed is longboarding mags seem to suggest anything under 9' isn't a "real" mal, which I don't get. I certainly wouldn't classify what I have as a shortboard, and it rides as small surf as I can find. I'm still mastering cross stepping and nose riding but they seem achievable. What am I missing? Is there some better performance of an even longer board or is it more a sort of snobbery?

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Post by thermalben » Fri Feb 20, 2004 3:41 pm

As a shortboarder, anything over 7'0-7'4 in wave heights under 6-8' would be a 'longboard' to me. Doesn't have to be a mal - a mal, being short for malibu, I'd attribute to the classic single fin planks from the 60's along with the occasional reissue you see around the place. But a 'longboard' could have any combination of modern fins/rocker/curve, and I'd personally hesitate to put something in the 'real mal' category just because it's over 9'.

Just my 2c..

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Post by Dave » Fri Feb 20, 2004 4:51 pm

buzzy,

Who cares what size it is if you are enjoying it. Mags are f**ked anyway.

Like a short board, there are a menu of different shaping variables that will give different feel in the water. I am a shortboarder that owns a mal (read "I am a surfer") and mine happens to 9'4 'traditional' shape. It is serious F.U.N. I have also ridden other sizes & styles that belong to my mates, and if I had the spare $ would invest in a few of the designs I liked. But whatever...

Ride what you like.

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Post by Longygrom » Sat Feb 21, 2004 8:55 pm

NA i dont think so, cause ya cant trim anywhere near like a 9ft but then again a 9ft doenst trim like 12ft, but for begginers who r too big and to uncoordinted to ride shortboards and dont want to surf a 9 footer, a mini mal at 8ft id good

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Post by Lard Lad » Sun Feb 22, 2004 11:57 am

1234
Last edited by Lard Lad on Fri Sep 16, 2005 6:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Longboarder » Sun Feb 22, 2004 2:01 pm

I have read in mal mags that they classify a mal as over 9 with a full nose template, dunno how you would define a full nose template tho.

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Re: Is an 8' board a longboard?

Post by Troy_Cisco_Kid » Sun Feb 22, 2004 3:08 pm

It has nearly disappeared from open longboard comps, but over 5 years ago the 8 foot section used to be a hotly contested section of the competition circuit. I used to make sure i had my 8 footer and a 9footer as i went to every longboard comp on the NSW coast as well as the Goldie and Noosa comps.

As for the question about full nose, I guess the measurements come in to play here where i would suggest some thing of 17inch nose measured a foot down from the nose . This raises a good topic , what is you best measurements you have had in a Mal / Longboard ?

Troy

buzzy wrote:I bought an 8'1" board a while ago. I'd always been a shortboarder and was anxious about going too long. The longest board I'd ridden as a grom was maybe 7'6" which we sometimes rode in tiny surf (boards kept at Sunshine surfing etc) and I could never turn 'em. I found out that turning an 8' mal isn't that hard provided you are near enough to the tail. It just takes a bit longer than a shortboard.

But what I've noticed is longboarding mags seem to suggest anything under 9' isn't a "real" mal, which I don't get. I certainly wouldn't classify what I have as a shortboard, and it rides as small surf as I can find. I'm still mastering cross stepping and nose riding but they seem achievable. What am I missing? Is there some better performance of an even longer board or is it more a sort of snobbery?

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Post by Troy_Cisco_Kid » Sun Feb 22, 2004 3:10 pm

G'day longboarder, I would say a rounded nose 16 to 17inch and over as measured a foot down from the nose....

Longboarder wrote:I have read in mal mags that they classify a mal as over 9 with a full nose template, dunno how you would define a full nose template tho.

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Post by the kalakau kid » Mon Feb 23, 2004 10:07 am

The 9ft rule is pretty much funtion of two things that I am aware of. Please correct me here if you know better....

1) history. Pre 1966-67 boards were apparently all well over 9ft. I think Nat rode a 94 at the 1966 world titles in San Diego and it was one of the major talking points of the whole event. The whole Mctavish, Greenogh, Brewer, Lopez, Hynson thing that then followed on Maui etc was a huge deal because the boards were under 9ft and then kep going down untill function become marginal..... Thus 9ft is still remembered as a pre-shortboard benchmark.

2) Competition. Longboards in comps must be 9ft long. This is to stop people riding shorter boards that are obviously earlier to turn and ride more radically. From desire to maintain this and also accommodate the sub9"0 riders we got the 8ft category which does seem to be languishing these days.

Personally, I think that longboarding is a state of mind, not a set of dimensions. If you enjoy the flow of trimming, nose-riding, drop-knee cutbacks etc then you are longboarding. Doesn't matter whether the board is 10, 9 or 6ft to me. In someways the definition of the Seedling crew seems apt. Ride logs in small waves, pintails ( shortboards) in bigger waves and enjoy the diversity.
There are plenty of 66 x 22 x 3 single fins around now that I really think live in the longboard camp.

thoughts?

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Post by buzzy » Mon Feb 23, 2004 12:40 pm

You mean in the sense a 22" wide 3" thick single fin is a throwback (I mean that in a non-derogatory sense)?

Hey, Longygrom, didn't your mum teach you manners? I'm no fatty. But spending $$$ on a board you don't know you can turn is a hefty investment. Which is why I went the 8'1". It wasn't such a leap. I felt if I really enjoyed longboarding I could just buy a longer one later. But the thing of it is, since I've started using it I've found there isn't a lot I can't do with it for my intended uses. Which is basically to have fun in tiny surf too gutless to power a shortboard or a nugget. Unless I wanted to compete of became obsessed with noseriding I don't need a 9' plus board.

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Post by buzzy » Mon Feb 23, 2004 12:55 pm

Actually, Longygrom, I guess your post isn't so much rude as cheeky. Which is to be expected from any grom. Let me just be clear though. I'm 38. I've been surfing since I was 12 or 13 (forget now). I've never been great, but I'm certainly competent. Always a shortboarder. Looked to get a longboard for two main reasons. One was a board for ultra micro surf. The other was that at the end of every ski season (I ski every weekend) my paddling fitness would be gone, which is death on a shortboard. I figured I could use the longboard to get back fitness in suitable surf, and use it for tiny days when fit. Thing is though, in my 25 years surfing I'd never really ridden a mal, and the only bloke I know who does lives in Yamba (I'm in Sydney). So, the purchase involved multo $$$ spent speculatively. So, caution was the better part of valour and I went the less extreme option. Turned out there was absolutely no reason for concern. Instantaneous bottom turns just like on a shortboard. Anyways, there'd be lots of guys like me who are potentially looking to get into longboards, but have similar concerns to me. Guys who've never ridden a log in their lives.

Geoff

Post by Geoff » Mon Feb 23, 2004 1:08 pm

I've got two 10'6" boards. They're longboards. One of 'em is 4" thick. Don't get run over by this one. This is my older board and I don't mind ramming idiots who drop in. They generally only do it once.

A so-called 8' longboard is for girls.

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Post by buzzy » Mon Feb 23, 2004 1:51 pm

I'll flick my girlboard at your head rather than your aircraft carrier....ahem...longboard then macho boy "Geoff".

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Post by Dave » Mon Feb 23, 2004 3:15 pm

Geoff wrote:I've got two 10'6" boards. They're longboards. One of 'em is 4" thick. Don't get run over by this one. This is my older board and I don't mind ramming idiots who drop in. They generally only do it once.

A so-called 8' longboard is for girls.
A longboarder burning a longboarder. :? No wonder the world thinks Yanks are fcukwits...

Rodney

Post by Rodney » Mon Feb 23, 2004 3:24 pm

Is 9' a longboard?

In competition for a longboard to be "legal" it had to be a minimum of 9' long and the total dimensional width of the board had to add up to at least 50 inches. That is add nose, mid point and tail (eg 18" nose 22" midpoint and 14" tail - measurement for tail and nose is one foot from each end).

This is/was an Australian thing. Perhaps a full nose can be defined by this type of competition 50" requirement.

Longboards at 9' and above trim and glide beautifully and they are slower to turn.

Shortboards dont trim the same way but are great for driving acceleration and manouverability.

The mid-length contrary to being in no mans land is a bit of both.

Having had/have all three I reckon all have their good points, and once you get used to changing styles its easy just to change with the conditions.

I reckon surfing is surfing and you should ride the board that either you have the most fun on or, is best for the prevailing conditions.

Geoff

Post by Geoff » Tue Feb 24, 2004 4:38 am

[quote="Dave"][
A longboarder burning a longboarder. :? No wonder the world thinks Yanks are fcukwits...[/quote]

Gotta agree with that last statement. I used to live in Wyong.

joshalohasurf

Post by joshalohasurf » Tue Mar 02, 2004 6:09 pm

Dave wrote:buzzy,

Who cares what size it is if you are enjoying it. Mags are f**ked anyway.

I am a shortboarder that owns a mal (read "I am a surfer")
Thats so true as long as you ride a surfboard your a surfer.

If you surf it as a longboard your surfing a longboad
Australian Longboarding was giving a way a 7ft6 which means your 8ft qualifies.

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