Swinger with length...

[Trev]

Does anyone else want a go of this? Can drop down to Caloundra most days of the week if needed

Yeah mate.
Love to have a go.
I'll pm you with some details.

[diggerdickson]

would love to hear how this board went in the recent swell

[pridmore]

please remeber guys, it is an experimental design and designed for beachy type waves, trying to get a bit more manouverability from a longboard...I have already had some feedback from Marcus which was very similar to my own thoughts on the board but always keen to have others ride it and let me know their thoughts..this is a work in progress and may take a few go's especially coz I aint no longboarder ( although I have dabbled recently and enjoyed myself...hope its not a sign of my age gggrrrrrrrr.....)..dunno if it is suited to Moffs sometimes fattish walls but see how she goes for ya Trev,she seems to like quite a bit of wall instead of cuttin back ( not her specialty it seems...modifications to be made- mostly in the rocker and railshape behind flyers- currently way too corky and boxy , easy fixed next time...) maybe the deepish double concave will supply plenty of speed but dunno if it'll turn on the shoulders like you want...but hey, give it a good go and see what you reckon.....kinda want others to try diff fins but not sure if you have any or many, maybe Fang has some ??? but try it with the little quads first.... think it needs small and upright templates myself but try anything you think may be fun....lookin forward to any feedback, good or bad, I like it all.....

[marcus_h]

Will be dropping this off to Trev friday morning. I gave Mark a rundown on how I thought it rode, as he said just a prototype at this stage - once it shakes some of its corkyness I reckon it will ride alot better

Now with Trev

[Trev]

OK, I've got it, thanks marcus.
No surf though.

[Trev]

Thought I should update on this.
Haven't really been any conditions to suit this IMO.
However, I passed it over to Ledge to have a go.
He did that yesterday at Moffs and seemed to take to it really well.
Pulled some nice turns, a couple of lip smashes both forehand and backhand.
Fell off when he tried to do a shoulder cutback.
I'll get it back off him soon and have a play myself.
Iterestingly, given Mark's comments above, Ledge has changed the fins for something a bit bigger and they seemed to suit it.
Hope to get some pics, too.

[ric_vidal]

Can I buy a paragraph space?

[Trev]

Can I buy a paragraph space?

Go ahead Ric.
Free for you, too.

[pridmore]

hey guys, just got back from O.S, any more feedback on the Swinger and where is she m ??? cheers

[Trev]

hey guys, just got back from O.S, any more feedback on the Swinger and where is she m ??? cheers

I've got it Mark
Working this week so haven't got much time on here.
I'll check back with you on the weekend.
Trev

[mustkillmulloway]

hey trev.....pass it to me

i could saw it in half and make two good boards out it

[Trev]

So. Been really slack. Since I got the swinger back from Ledge we had over two weeks of swell. As readers elsewhere will have noticed I had 15 days straight and couldn't really convince myself to take the swinger out.
Then I worked all last week.
Anyway, today I rode it.
I have to admit to some trepidation. I ride a 9'3" mal and weigh 94 kg (ATM).
The swinger is extremely light and I expected it not to float me and be hard to catch waves on, then very loose under me on the wave.
None of the above is the case.
It paddled pretty well; got me out the back with a minimum of fuss.
Caught the first wave I paddled for, stood, pulled a few turns. No problem.
Kept my back fot towards the back and the front half out of the water. The board was stable but VERY responsive.
I followed up with more waves and progressively later take-offs (one lip launch ) but made the rest and felt quite comfortable on it.
Mark, if possible I'd like to keep it for another week and I'll ride it every day there's surf. Which will give me a good feel for it and then maybe pass it back up the north end (Fong? Digger?).
Ifound as long as I was conscious of my weight position - forward when paddling - back when up and riding and forward if the wave flattens out - I had no problem with it at all.
If I keep it for this week I'll get a chance to go out at Ann St and maybe the DBG and Happy Valley.

Oh. And Ledge fitted some bigger fins. I'll take a pic of them later and post it here. Gotta give them back to him when I pass the board on.

Trev

[Trev]

I took the swinger out at Neal St this morning. It was flat (full tide) at my point so I headed north.
Just about to pull the board out of my car and several car loads of gromms turned up. So I'm outa there. Neal St was the next option as I've never actually surfed there but the Caloundra Mal Club generally uses it for its monthly comp.
There were small waves so I paddled out.
Again, I am surprised how well the swinger paddles and catches waves.
Not a big day but pretty hollow, steep peaks so I practised my late take-offs, some of them even sans paddling. And the board is very stable on the late take-off - not sure whether this is the quad configuration or the fact that it's basically a short board in the take-off zone. Maybe a combination of both.
By jamming my back foor over the fin area I was able to pull some fairly radical turns, although I tried one hard back hand bottom turn with too much of the rail in the water and came to a crashing halt.
Nice morning; it had rained all night and was still overcast with that stormy look to the cloud cover. I noticed a sea mist forming up along the Kawana Pocket area, out to Point Cartright and pretty soon the whole coastline was obscured and the mist gradually made its way south as far as Ann St although a lot thinner. Interesting to watch. The only other time I've seen this was once down around Fong's home territory on the NSW mid North Coast.
BTW. I was Ssoooo tempted to paddle out to the reef. I've never been out there but the conditions looked perfect for a board like the swinger. Very nice peeling lefts and rights not sucking up too much because there was plenty of water on the reef. However, early morning, cloudy and slightly murky water. And did I mention I was alone? Not today Josephine.
By about 7.30 there was a gentle noreaster starting up so I gave it away.
There were nice waves on my point by then.
I still need some slightly larger waves and some longer walls, especially now I'm reasonably comfortable on it.
A couple of the guys from the Caloundra Mal Club who were looking at it yesterday were pretty impressed but would prefer it to be a tad over 9'. They also liked the rails.

[pridmore]

glad you are having fun on it Trev and its getting some use....Sometimes a new ( and diff shape ) board can increase motivation and enthusiasm a bit and think you just may have a bit of that happenning and if so, thats great, the boards already a success....tell the guys it was originally meant to be a 9'1" but curves and rocker didnt look right so I trimmed her up a bit til it was more pleasing to my eye...maybe even let them know it ws originally designed to be tested by Taylor Jensen and Bryce Young but decided to go staraight to the top and get Big Trev to go first...haha...

[diggerdickson]

Hey trev, Im sure fong would love a go of it mate, he rides a long board at times and would probably love to take it out to the island. I know plan to go for the paddle to the island at every given opportunity as its a nice paddle. I would love a go but I have to admit Im not a longboarder, but it looks bloody interesting. Pm fong as im sure he would be bloody keen.

[Trev]

You don't have to be a longboarder, Digger.
Just ride it like a shorty and if the wave flattens out move forward and trim till it picks up again.

ps. Fong wants to cut it up into two shortboards.

[diggerdickson]

You don't have to be a longboarder, Digger.
Just ride it like a shorty and if the wave flattens out move forward and trim till it picks up again.

ps. Fong wants to cut it up into two shortboards.

I know that, but we dont have to tell Mark do we

[Trev]

Had over two and a half hours on the swinger yesterday at my local.
A good mix of waves to experiment on. Had a lot of fun.
The paddling ability continues to surprise me. I guess because it's so light it's pretty easy to push in on that last little bit when you might normally miss the wave.
And late takes-offs are fun. It also hangs well in very steep parts of the wave where, on my longboard I would be pushing through at speed. On the swinger you can almost stall in the slot and it'll just hang there waiting for you to tell it what to do next.