RealSurf Surfers' Forum

Hi Old Grom, reckon you really need more than 44 litres? Everyone is different, true, I'm as old and heavier and surf 38-42 litres and I am pretty average, just have put a bit more nose in my boards and foiled them out a little and it works a treat...just saying....

Davros..I know what you are saying ..but of late every time I get the idea of "I think I can go a bit:.. shorter...more high performance ...thinner...I just get a bit frustrated, especialy after am hour when I am buggered. So after several costly mistakes I have settled on a minimum size that keeps me pabbling well.

I find is an difficult line to walk - keeping decent shortboardish feeling and the ability to do a snap turn - with my paddle requirements.

Any way...new board cash burns a hole in my pocket so this weekend I visited my local shaper - Danny Deckert and have hatched a plan for a 6'8 x 22 1/4 x 3 - this was influenced by looking at all of the suggestions that you guys put forward - thanks for all the input.

I will post when I get the new old bugger shorty.

Good to hear the trigger has been pulled.
Look forward to seeing what you've come up with.
My board is glassed and now awaiting sanding and polishing after todays filler coat.
Should be ready this Friday but will wait until Monday week to surf it to give it 7 days curing time at least.
Well, that's what I'm saying now anyway.
Edit: glassed last Thursday and according to certain authorities it will be just fine by Friday.

Sounds like a good size, post pics.

Here's the 6'6" X 21&1/2" X 2&7/8" quad.
Blank sprayed white, 6+4oz deck with tail patch, 6oz bottom, gloss and polish.
It's not too disimmilar to a Hypto Kyrpto in the planshape but wider nose and tail, deep double concave bottom, different foil and rails.

Been pretty flat around Maroochydore since I picked up the 6'6" so only had the board in the water a few times.
Started off with the H2 large fronts and GXQ rears.
Surfed it in some nice clean 2'ers (waist-chest) at Coolum with the waves hitting a sucky left hand bank that allowed for some fun backside high lines and the board suprised me how high it would run across a steep wall.
The tail felt really loose. Just a bit too loose though.
Had another surf at Maroochydore in some 2-3'ers (waist-head) with a set of Scarfini HX2 (med size) quads.
On my forehand the board felt a bit tracky and slow to come off the top on turns and reos.
Still felt good on my backhand though.
So this morning had 2 surfs on it at Maroochydore with super clean, high tide 2-3'ers.
But I'd put in the True Ames CI twins in the front and DVS sidebites in the rear plugs.
Right from the first wave I knew it was a good fin combo. Plenty of drive but I could come out of my bottom turns on my backhand and straight up the face for a reo and back down to keep going. Backhand cutbacks were a snap and the big fins would hold but still give enough looseness in the tail to have the board feel as lively and responsive as a 6'6" with this kind of planshape etc is going to feel.
In so far as it's a smooth, carving ride that with the right fin combo can still go vert easily.
Fact is playing around with the fins can make or break a board for me and the CI/DVS combo is a winner that allowed me to surf it just how I envisaged it when I ordered it.
If I'd just stuck to a standard quad set like the Scarfinis (which I love in the big brother of this board) I would have lost interest in its ride fairly quickly.
So it was worthwhile playing around with the fins.

Hi Pete - love the look of your beach beat. I was very interested to hear of your fin experiments.

My board arrived this week but only a week old so just looking at it...its 6'8" x 22 1/2 X 2 7/8 - inspired by the rusty dwart and lost RV - so fairy flat rocker and lots of volume - but with double hips.

I will post when I get time to figure out how and get some time. I had FCS standards 5 fin set up done - thinking about what fins..
to get...

interested in your twin with trailers...

or maybe a nice large thruster set.... any thoughts on a must have FCS set for this style of board...

hope you are getting a few... OG

Once you've come up with the goods (ie pics) then I'll happily share any constructive thoughts fin wise.
Quid pro quo!

Better still if you're still working down my way drop in with the board.

Peaky, pitching beachies today and the 6'6" wasn't happy.
Paddled in and swapped it for the nano so I could throw it around more and react quicker.
No more one board quiver for me...no sir ee!

..

no, but I've seen plenty of guys around here shralping on them.

Is shralping a good thing?

Drailed wrote:Is shralping a good thing?

Wondered that myself.

Had to look it up.

from the Urban Dictionary
schralping
Similar to Charging: aggressively attacking a situation. Typically used as a verb related to drinking, drug usage, sports or pimping (which is slightly redundant).
We were fucking schralping last night.

I guess a pimp could be effective if he schralped but I thought they would be more laid back. Don't know that much about it really. Might have to ask andy or sunstroke. Health advocate would know I reckon.

I guess I qualify as "big..old..guy"
Here's my latest acquisition. 6' 7" X 21 3/4 Not short by most guys standards, not even mine from earlier years, but gotta be realistic now at 92Kg 6'2" and 56yo.
To be honest I've never owned a wide fishy shaped board like this and to my eye it isn't a pleasing shape, but then neither are a lot of boards these days, so I figured I would just tell the shaper what I wanted the board for and put my faith in him.
Only surfed it once and that was a short 3 wave session due to an injury, but I think it will be good when I learn to tame it. Feels very alive, fast over flat sections and sensitive. Paddles as well as my 7'
It's meant to be for days up to around 4' didn't have a board for those waves, so hopefully this gets me out more often because I just wasn't enjoying myself on the other board on smaller days.

Is that a Miller F-Skate? If so, does it surf more rail-to-rail like a regular shortboard instead of a fish? Grant's got a second hand 6'2" F-Skate available at the moment though I think a V-Skate or Simon Anderson Mollusc should be my next board.

^ I dare say that the mollusc will serve you better in the often shifty and abrupt waves you most frequently surf. It'll be more responsive and suit the given conditions better. The mollusc is still very user friendly, but has a bit more of a performance edge to it than the F-skate. It'll be more "nimble", and less flat and fish-like.
The Robbo Mollusc would prob be better than the standard mollusc for all round user-friendliness at a more novice/intermediate level.
http://simonandersonsurfboards.com/au/mollusc-robo/
You'd probably even find one on gumtree from time to time..

Hatchnam I was very keen one of those Robo molluscs initially, so I checked a few out but in the flesh (and on paper) I sensed it may be a bit too lean in the length I wanted and didn't want to go longer to get the volume back. Nice looking board though.

Yes Pet it's an F-skate. It's not something I would initially have considered, so I'm glad I discussed it with Grant and I'm stoked with my decision now. Funny how my preconceived ideas were probably not helping me.
I had it made with the quad/thruster set-up just for fun, although it will probably be some time before I try it as a quad.
Also heavier 6x4x6 glass, and he tuned the rails a bit from what he usually does, to suit some hollow shore breaks I surf a bit.
Hard to form much of an initial impression yet, but I was amazed at how quickly it got up to wave speed when paddling in, and then seemed to leap up onto the plane and take off like a startled rabbit. No apparent problem going rail to rail at all, but still adjusting to the length as far as foot positioning.