RealSurf Surfers' Forum

Bap bow. That sucks shit. Did they give you your money back??. Can't be happy with that.

I had a 7S superfish a while ago. Surfed ok, ended up selling it ( i got it cheap, so i didn't lose any money on it ). As far as the glass job though, it was pretty strong ( PU/PE ) so can't complain about that.

Nice thread revival there, almost 5 years to the day Interesting to revisit see some of the discussion back then

had a bloke bring in a plastic machine today, never seen one up close before, interesting board...must have been 1 3/4" at pod, fairly thick tail for a 3" thick board but still looked like fun shape, wide point was long way back...anyone ridden one ?

Nice spread on Bob in the forthcoming ASL or Aust Longboarder, cant remember which - Day in the Life of Bob McTavish.

pridmore wrote:had a bloke bring in a plastic machine today, never seen one up close before, interesting board...must have been 1 3/4" at pod, fairly thick tail for a 3" thick board but still looked like fun shape, wide point was long way back...anyone ridden one ?

Rode one of the originals back in 69 took it to Hawaii, then had Bob do differently for me wide pin tail with a rolled convex bottom not the severe Vees of the original that acted IMO as a Halvorsen hull and bounced ordinary riders successively higher on each bit of chop they hit until they were bounced off.
Nat and McT did great at classic Honulua but the chop of sunset smashed them.
Rail and wide points were ok vee not....We have progressed in ability from then.
Modern mals go beyond that now.

I've got two 8'4"carvers Ithink they've been done by a shaper cause one's a half inch narrower than the other and they're great.I use them for larger waves when Im scared of snaping the 9'ers.I had to laugh one day a bloke said (that longboard looked like it was going good out there)and I said (its not a longboard.Its an 8' gun with a round nose)he just looked at me like this .But that is what I bought them for and its a pretty good way of describing them..

but does he shape on Saturdays?

"I love my carver. Its 7'11" and it is really versatile. If I had to have one allround board that did everything a short board and a mal can do I would pick it for sure. I hate the logo but who cares. The shape delivers.

puurri wrote:but does he shape on Saturdays?

I'll put my hand up...I have one.

Mine is way cool though. Its one of those Jason Blewitt models made in conjunction with Beach Beat.

I only ride it in the big stuff and even then it hasnt got wet in about a year. It was my first mal and i'll never sell it. Has even survived an indo trip.

I had a ride of a mates fireball a few years back and it was pretty good noseriding and off the tail.
I agree that the the graphics can be a bit much but I dont go along with the strereotype argument that everyone who rides a McTavish is a cashed up stockbroker kook. I think that bagging his boards is pretty disrespectful to a bloke who is still going strong.

LONGINUS wrote:Nice spread on Bob in the forthcoming ASL or Aust Longboarder, cant remember which - Day in the Life of Bob McTavish.

It's ALB. Part of their name-dropping 'location' report thingys. nice to read that even Bob forgets to tie his boards on the roof occasionally.

I'm a little confused though. Am I right in thinking if you buy a traditional foam/fibreglass McTavish then it's come from the factory in Byron, so it may have been worked on by Dain Thomas and others and overseen (not individually) by Bob. However, if you buy a surftec/tufflight version it's been made in a Se Asian sweatshop?

FWIW I think there's a place for McTavish and how the brand operates - there are always going to be people who prefer to know what they're getting and like to be able to buy it off the rack. I can't criticise the guy for making a living and succeeding. I'm pretty sure he's gone to the wall financially at least once anyway. If he lives out his days living in his architecturally designed house in Suffolk, surfing and overseeing the factory then good luck to him.

Just FWIW ..I surf with Bob regularly.....he's a really nice bloke in the water and he charges the big days in his sixties on a longboard gun
(when most are standing on the headland watching).

He's risked everything(and lost it all) on several occasions and is doing alright now.

His boards are out of my price range but he employs local people and is the real deal.

There's quite a few of the good surfers up here ride them and have bought more than one.

I have a 8'1" JB Performance model. Its has 'shaped by Bob McTavish' under the foam, so i think it might be legit. I picked it up SH for $550 with a bag and a leash, which is probably a bargain price given the boards performance in the juice. Can't say i subscribe to all the 'latte and Porche' knockers and im of the opinion that the guys who say 'go custom' are mostly kidding themselves when it comes to mals. And who can blame him for cashing in on what are basically a good collection of boards, well made, with good performance? I previously owned a 9'1" Mc Tavish Razar which is a cracking board, but my daughter refuses to give it back and it now lives with her in Coffs.

makes good boards, most longboarders will agree, he was a big part of the shorty revolution, still surfs well, decent bloke from what I hear, still employs locals and in my books, that makes him almost a legend in this industry...good luck to him...hope I could do 1 tenth of that stuff.....

Chillin mate I get what your saying about Mctavish but your comment say 'go custom' are mostly kidding themselves when it comes to mals however not so much.

This may surprise you but an off the shelf job may not be what works for a certain person and not all mals are the same. Ive had two customs both from Classic Malibu at Noosa. Both times I couldnt find anything off the shelf that fitted what I wanted (old school nose rider) so for the same price I got one made to my specs.

who cares