Mini Simmons

[jimmy]

Does it come with the uggies?

[pridmore]

no way...they've become very dear to me over the last few winters....the ultimate bogan footwear, but warm and cumfy as f.u.ck....

[Cpt.Caveman]

C'mon MP, you live on thee sunny coast, your feet would cook for sure!

[pridmore]

we've had a colder winter this year than the previous 4 years I was in Yamba, 5 hrs south of here..few 4 degree minimums, might not be cold to you guys down south but cold enough for me...
I only own uggies or thongs, F.Uck me, I am a bogan hhaaahahah.....

[damo666]

Had a crack in a few small, clean 1 footer waves at Broulee today on my simmons.
Whilst it was fast when up and riding and paddled into the tiny waves quite well - I felt it was really hard to get the board around the virtually flat lineup.

Sure, I'm a gumby that only gets in the water every few weeks now, but damn I felt it was hard to paddle the board (mine is 5'2"x23"). Leaving myself open for all sorts of cheap-shots, does anyone else have issues paddling the mini simmons, or do I just need to get more paddle fitness?

(And before you blokes start moaning about winter, I just struggled through a day on Friday that was -5 to 8 deg maximum! Still thawing out!)

[Cuttlefish]

Short and really wide is going to make them hard to paddle around the line up.
It's when you've got the board up to planing speed that the boards width as an asset will come to the fore.
Take note that the planing speed won't occur until your starting to drop down the face.
So a short, wide board (21-23"+) can be a frustrating board to paddle when you're used to being able to scoot around in a beach break line up to catch waves breaking in random peaks.
It's not so much of an issue at points or reefs with a more compact take off zone but I have had a surf at good (but as usual crowded) Ti-tree where everyone was able to outpaddle me for waves.
Once I caught them it was pure joy but the fun was knocked out of it by the paddling speed issue so I know where you're coming from.
One way to overcome this slower flat water paddling speed would do what kneeboarders do.
Use flippers.
Not much good for standing up on a mini-simmons though.
There is an alternative though.
I'm in possesion of "The Dumpling" pictured above (see Uggy shots and quad lying fins up pic just above uggy shots) atm.
I've only had the one surf on it and will do a review once I score a few more surfs on it but I can say this....
At 5'11 X 21 and I think 3/4" X 2 & 11/16" with my 6'1" and 92-93kgs frame on board the Dumpling makes paddling around in the line up a non-issue again when compared to my DMS 5'6" X 21 &1/2" X 2 & 3/4" mini-simmons.
As a sneak peak I'll also say in the 1' point waves I rode it in the Dumpling was still giving me the mini-simmons "feel" but if I'd been riding the DMS it would have been much less responsive and I would have been struggling to tap into the power of the weak waves.
The extra length, with well thought out planshape and rocker tweaks, meant little sacrifice in manouvreability but much better paddling and ease of wave catching.
Guys like Kookster, Old Grom and Morgan (the moon) and Batoes to name a few, who have experienced the McCoy genre will LOVE this board.

[Cpt.Caveman]

I reckon you would need pretty long arms for a 23" wide board. Mines fine at 21", piece of cake and glides around like a mal without much effort.

[damo666]

Thanks Cuttlefish. I generally have been using my sim in conditions where I would have previously taken out the Mal, so the earlier Dumpling posts have certainly caught my eye! (I wonder if Mark does trade-ins? )

I'd be very interested to hear more as you get a few more sesssions on the Dumpling - especially in comparison to riding your DMS (which is similar to mine).

[Cuttlefish]

No problemo!
Well I put my mini up on Evil bay and it didn't last 24 hours.
Got my buy it now price and the new owner was stoked as he'd been looking out for a used on for months.
So no need to trade in just write up your ad and sell it to the next convert.
The Dumpling will fit the bill for waves that you'd ride a longboard in.
Last few days though have been lake-like on my end of the Sunshine coast so should be able to scrounge up some rideable waves in the coming week to get more experience on the board.
I reckon Mark should open up a "Surfer's bank account" so that all those keen to buy a board can put deposits into that account whenever they have some spare cash.
As long as everyone knows the cost of different models with the various glassing and colour and fin options it would be a great way for spendthrifts like myself to save up for a new shooter.
When you're within say $100 of the board's complete price then Mark goes ahead and shapes the board.
Not a bad idea?

[batoes]

Cuttle - that is an excellent idea! Can imagine paying off a few boards a year that way.
I have a pretty good dim-sim story. The NSW South Coast has been getting some pretty amazing waves over the past few days (and more to come), but the west winds are cold and bloody strong. I hit my local Minnos (Mystics) over the past two days to find 4-5ft A- frames. I snapped my daily driver on that last big east swell there and have been waiting for some revenge. While i have a newish 6'6 semi-gun, it is healing from a board repair, so i took out my 5'1 dim sim. I felt pretty silly walking down the beach with it, watching guys get eaten by the waves...I put in some new massive keels in it for bigger stuff so that i wouldn't slip and slide (which i normaly like in the smaller stuff) and it was nothing short of amazing. I didn't think a five foot board would handle some of the sucky beasts that came through but it got in early and i got some of the best barrels i've ever had. Must admit i felt pretty freakin cool coming back up the beach and having a few people doing double shots at the board

Going back for some more tomorrow and am hoping i wasn't just being haunted by the spirit of Tyler Warren....

[2000man]

...had a similar experience to 'batoes'
That south swell was running-up a beach 'round 'here (north coast) resembling an uncrowded point break, so I decided to ride my 5'6"MS on Saturday... see how it'd handle 3+?
A: insane!!! Admittedly, it did feel kinda weird paddling-out: but the high-line speed runs and 'that' silky smooth – almost finless feeling, had my fire stoken!!! The lack of pivot inherent to the design means you (me) can't jam or force turns with great success – but the speed and feeling of glide is intoxicating. The only drawback is reduced paddling speed within/around the line-up...
I'd wager they're not suitable for crowded Sydney closeouts (sorry: beachbreaks).
Simmons' is the genius crew state he was... I intend to explore his design tangent/legacy for years to come. Andrew Kidman's 'Dreamboard' from 'Lost in The Ether' is a brilliant logical extension of where this design will evolve.

Ace.

[pridmore]

my groms been riding the dim-SIM when its tiny, the volume makes it easy and fun on tiny point sliders....

[pridmore]

Been riding 'The Dumpling' every day since I got it back from Cuttlefish and lovin it... rode it in 1ft point waves today and had a blast, got plenty of waves and the flat rocker makes it fast, the quad makes it fast but the shortnes and the bottom shape, fin placement and template make it still turn well.....
here's a few random pics of dim-SIMs
my grom enjoyin alot of volume in weak small point peelers


Sharon riding her 5'2"

[marcus_h]

Mark i've got my 5'5" twinny up for sale. Once it's gone i'll give you a call so I can get my hands on one of these bad boys

[pridmore]

sounds good mate, you'll love it...looking forward to chatting with you about it coz your waves are the same as mine, and we'll make a super sweet little slab of fun

[feraldave]

This is a fairly new one cooked up in the Lab..











and an old favourite still turning heads

[Quangers]

Interesting tail on that last shot _ what do ya call that?

[feraldave]

Interesting tail on that last shot _ what do ya call that?

That's ones been called the Mickey mouse tail for a couple years so I'll stick with it..