Eggs

[Rude_Beef]

Has anyone had any experiance with this kind of design. I was almost talked into buying one 2 days ago with promises of being the fastest board I'll get to ride, turns unreal etc. Whats the verdict with them? I'm 6'1 and 75 kgs and was looking at 6'0 and 6'3 which I thought was far to small to be considered an egg but that said I know nothing of that area of design. And another thing. These boards, 'na papa', where glassed with protect. Anythoughts on that stuff and its effects on performance, durability etc.

Thanks for any help.

[Shaunm]

What size egg? Poached or over easy?
Ridden a BB 8'2 I think maybe 8'6, yeah was fast compared to a mini mal, did turn well, very easy to ride I'm 6' & 85kg.
Depends what you want and more importantly where you wanna be in 6 - 12 months

[ric_vidal]

...These boards, 'na papa', where glassed with protect...

Na Papa have developed a bit of a following amongst some mal riders, but that can be as much about how they were marketed and priced too make some inroads. I think the shorter boards has been like a phase 2 in breaking into the market.

The mals are certainly more extreme than most with some deep concaves and Vs.

Unfortunately it is hard to tell with glassing until it’s too late. See if you can find out, with some certainty, what weight glass has been used. Or see if you can spot a second-hand one that may tell a story.

Is it protec or sanded filler, the latter is the standard for shortboards today? Full gloss will add a bit of strength and weight, but it depends what you are after.

[Longygrom]

Eggs have been posted about in may previous topics. I ride them and they are sick transitional boards for most conditions. single fins are the way to go.

[sean--]

If you want to go fast its pretty hard to go past a fish.

[WANDERER]

Heres a picci of my Supa-egg, as shaped by Ric V.

goes prettty bloody good, but still havent had it in any waves of consequences, with the pinned tail i reckon it'll really shine in some solid top to bottom steamers!

[ric_vidal]

Heres a picci of my Supa-egg, as shaped by Ric V.

Thanks PwandererJ, been riding a similar beastie myself when the back is feeling suss, which is more often than not at the moment.

Surprisingly easy to throw around for something over 12" longer that the normal shortboard.

I was feeling quite self conscious about the number of waves I got on the weekend but I got over it

[Beanpole]

Looks very much like the type of board I've been contemplating getting for the last coupla weeks. Looking good. How thick?

Rick don't know how you did your back in but I screwed mine up surfing last year. Lost all flexibility, couldn't touch my toes, difficulty sleeping. I was going to go to the quack but tried stretching, then crunches, kept working at it and now I am way better flexability and general fitness wise than I have been for years. If I stop doing crunches particularly after surfing my back starts playing up but when I do them I'm fine. Maybe worth a try.

[sean--]

I stuffed my back up in Feb last year ( old injury) and found that plenty of swimming and using a kick board with flippers helped heaps. Once you get into the swimming you can build endurance fairly quick and it becomes almost like walking. Trouble is the swimming can get a bit boring. Beannies advice on abdominal strength is really the nuts and bolts of having a strong back. I found with the swimming that when it was time to get back into the surf the paddle fitness was pretty well there.
Once the pain is gone a bit of pilates is good too. Good luck I know the feeling.

[buzzy]

I like eggs as a design. They're really neutral, and great for smaller wave days.

I haven't got one in the quiver at the moment (all are fishes or semi fish thrusters a la afterburner), but I'll definitely be adding an egg or an egg like board before next summer.

My last one was 6'6" x 21 x 2.75", with a 2+1 fin set up. Next board I'll be going a McCoy Nugget single fin around 6'6" for a similar feel, but a bit more refinement (I know, I know, "Nuggets" and "refinement" seem mutually exclusive words, but in my experience the nuggets are much more sophisticated and nuanced designs than most of the short retro eggs intended to fill a similar niche).

[sean--]

I rode a 7-10 Takayama tufflite egg and that went really well. It was pretty flat rockered with a bit of vee in the tail with fairly hard edged rails around the tail with a tri fin set up. The wide point looked a bit forward. Pretty versatile design. When I first looked at it the first thing I noticed was the flat rocker and the board was pretty quick. You could ride it off the tail and do cheater fives on it as well . I know there is a lot of ill feelings about the tufflite boards but I read an interview with Donald Takayama where he was asked to put his two bobs worth into the tufflite debate and he explained that they were a good way for a surfer to try out his shapes and maybe order a custom down the track. That made sense but try getting Doanald Takayama to shape you a custom.

[ric_vidal]

How thick?

2.5" - designed specifcally for Wanderer.

‘Back’ that’s a story that has been ongoing for many years...

[ric_vidal]

...I read an interview with Donald Takayama where he was asked to put his two bobs worth...

He’s not going to be critical of something that made him a six-figure income in royalties a couple of years ago alone, this maybe even more today, and why should he, they have their place in the line-up...

[sean--]

...I read an interview with Donald Takayama where he was asked to put his two bobs worth...

He’s not going to be critical of something that made him a six-figure income in royalties a couple of years ago alone, this maybe even more today, and why should he, they have their place in the line-up...

He probably wouldn't be caught dead on one either. I believe he gets the biggest royalties out of all the shapers. I'd like to get a Model T off him.

[Beanpole]

Well youd be pretty odd to go around riding a copy of your own handywork wouldn't you if you were a major surfboard manufacturer

[sean--]

Well youd be pretty odd to go around riding a copy of your own handywork wouldn't you if you were a major surfboard manufacturer

Not if you were pushing them. I noticed some of those shapers riding their own surftech models in a Nossa event. Reckon there may have been a message behind that?

[Beanpole]

A signature surf session
Are the surftech copies truer than the authorised shaped copies?

[ric_vidal]

Are the surftech copies truer than the authorised shaped copies?

Yes they would be, as they are starting from an exact moulded foam core then it is layered with high density divinicell and various epoxy/glass composites.

Goes something like this:

The ‘signature’ shaper makes THE original plug (master) with adjustments to compensate for the different materials used as EPS is more bouyant. It is glassed heavier than it would be normally for the moulding process. Prior to moulding they take a range of measurements and check the symmetry. Net result is the foam core probably like your old Coolite so there may just be an edge to clean up before the rest of the process.

So each one should be pretty much identical, although they do get some weight variations in other products they make, but they are NOT surfboards so I don’t know if they have the same issues with the Surftech/Tuflites.

Last time I heard a mould was US$10,000.

Polyurethane blanks moulds are made in a similar fashion but are oversized so the blank can then be custom or machine shaped to your requirements.

Saw the 2005/6 catalogue a couple of nights ago and the range of boards is getting massive, especially in the mals, and quite a lot more shortboards now becoming available with the likes of Webber, Byrne, Lynch, JC, Xanadu, etc.

Trust that answers the question.