mctavish boards

[Longygrom]

Yer you are sooo right Pat. Steve is a really respected shaper and his boards go real well. He has got a hot team- You, Lawrence, Dan

[Freshie Boy]

man i like the Keyo boards as well, they look and go really well.

I always wonder why people are prepared to pay $1100-$1300 for a McTavish that doesn' teven suit them properly when they can get a custom shaped board from your local shaper at least $200 cheaper??? Sometimes people don't use commonsense and just follow the crowds riding McTavishes.

[wayback]

Freshie, I ride custom boards by my local shaper, too. His name's Warren Thompson and though he's a Kiwi, he's been in Perth forever. In his young travelling days, he actually shaped with Dick Brewer in Hawaii (or Cali?). But as my missus makes me sacrifice surfing time by earning a reasonable crust, I'm able to siphon off enough spare cash for my toys. (Bloody hell, hope she doesn't read this!) I think McTavish is such a legend shaper, I want a couple of his boards in my quiver too. Swapping boards every few months and coming back to old flames is like changing women (she'd better not be reading this!!). You fall in love all over again.

[Fireball51]

I bought a McTavish because the guy builds the well designed longboards using the very best materials available and everybody I know who rides a longboard or even a mid length would like a McTavish. Local shapers are great but over here in WA many of them ride shortboards and I don't believe they have the experience or knowledge to build a really good longboard. I considered one of Thomo's (Warren Thompson's) boards but decided to go for a McTavish as I figured he had more bucks, sponsored riders for testing and years to put into researching and developing the best possible shapes hence the success of the Fireball, which is just a terrific all rounder, and the many other models, (all of which can be modified further if you know what you want). I surf my 9' 6" Fireball, probably the only one over here in Albany, in everything Hughie offers me and that I am willing to take and it feels and turns like a much shorterboard. Pretty amazing.

[joshalohasurf]

i wouldn't mind a mctavish for a try but i would get a second hand one as $1200 is not quite right.

[Fireball51]

Well there in lies the problem they don't come up secondhand very often as people don't want to let them go and they are so well built they last for years. I threw my 9' 6" Fireball on concrete paving recently not a mark anywhere. Shit that was a relief! Good luck finding something secondhand to try.

[joshalohasurf]

meh anywase i dont really care to much bout finding a mctavish to much.
im happy with my md. but i would laugth so hard if i got a 2nd hand flame spray perfect condition fireball for 50bucks!

[Kookamyer]

I dont mind the big mac's, but I think they were better in those styrafoam containers.

[Longboarder]

i have a mctavish fireball, too heavy for my liking, wondering what it will be worth, this is one shaped by bob not one from a board builder who just has a license to shape under the mctavish name. Reckon it would be worth hanging onto as it may increase in value after bob passes on

[marcus_h]

My first board was a McTavish JB performance board made in conjuction with Beach Beat, it was ok, but was only really good for the bigger stuff. In the small waves it would be very unstable and quite hard to properly nose ride.

I got a custom 9'4" Classic Malibu Jai Lee noserider and it shits all over the mctavish

[the kalakau kid]

gruesome thoughts there longboarder ! I reckon you are right though. You also might find that your tastes change & you grow to like the board. A custom shape from Bob is on my wishlist so my advice would be to hang on to it.
THe one thing I really don;t like about MCts is that they tend to use too many ugly graphics all over the board. Less is more sometimes. Is yours going to age well?

[Fireball51]

MArcus_H
Your comparing two different boards there in the McTavish JB and the Classic Malibu you have. The JB is not a glider and is designed to chuck around hence some instability compared to point break special like you seem to be enjoying now. Perhaps as your surfing skills grow you will find the higher performance board easier to deal with.

[marcus_h]

Fireball i understand that, the JB is great in the big stuff, carves well off the shoulder and holds the rail really well. The reason i hardly ride it anymore is due to the sunshine coast not getting anything over really head high which is where the JB excels

[Longboarder]

yep it will kid, a few dings that have been repaired but otherwise yeah. I use to love it but its a cumbersome thing set my surfing back when i first got it, if i had of listened to the guy in the shop rather then wanting the prettiest board there i would be light years ahead of myself.

[hamish]

the carver i got is one of the best boards i've ever ridden. I'm glad i listened to Ben at the factory about dimensions. though 7'8" is hard to duck dive but do-able.

[Longboarder]

If i can duck dive my 9 footer u can duckdive a 8 foot board

[hamish]

yeah i'm trying to push it under like a short board as i said it's do-able but i guess going in at the angle would be easier.

[wayback]

Longboarder, anyone who can duckdive a mal is an absolute legend!

I don't even try, as I can't even duckdive my 7'4" properly - though it is a bit chunky. I sort of scoop it under sideways at first, then finish a half-arsed duckdive.

How do you do it? Please tell me there's a special method you've invented.