Surfing Waves

This might be one Brent can answer. I have been looking into Al Merrick boards lately and have noticed that the M13, Five, MX...etc have come down in price, probably because of the new Turflite Merricks. I held one today and cant believe how light the Turflite boards are - its crazy. The shop owner also told me that they are very very strong and dont ding easily.
I was thinking about saving to get a 6'3 ish shortboard for next year and I wanna know more about the Al Merricks. Like what would be the best one to buy? the Al Merrick Five? or a Turflite?

Also what would be better for trying the harder tricks (360's, chop hops..)? Would a 6'6 MX be too big?

Sorry can't answer on this one, I know nothing about Tuflites - or not enough to say something honestly.
Anybody else?

Dont know nowt about al merricks (...been looking at them though. Mmmmmm nice) but my fish is a surftech tufflite.

They get varied reviews, so trying one out is the only answer. But here is my take on them....

They are very light, so you can get away with knocking a couple of inches off your usual board length.

They're very strong and dont ding easily - but they're not indestructible
Anyone who saw the fin slash in mine a few weeks ago will confirm that
But, to be fair, they are much stronger than a traditional board. You can put them down on a stoney car park without worrying too much.

On that note, fixing them is a bit more difficult - you cant use a normal ding repair kit, but you can get epoxy ding kits.

The real issue that splits people is that they dont flex much.
For some people that wont be a problem, others hate it. If the day is a bit choppy or you go over a crumbly section they can buck around more than a normal board (probably due to their lightweight as well as the lack of flex) and you can feel it through your feet. Its a bit tricky to explain!
It doesnt bother me much, but you can feel the difference.

And of course, another big difference is that your buying a pre-designed board (Im avoiding the use of the word 'pop-out'). So if you're really sure about what dimensions and characteristics you want in a board, then a surftech isnt the way to go.

On balance, I'd say they're worth it. They can feel a bit odd, but they are very light and very tough, and if you can find the right board shape, then I'd go with it (and Im sure Al Merrick knows better than me...)


As for which board is best for tricks, you'd better ask someone who's any good at 'em!

Thanks DBBB. Im really liking some of the characteristics of the turflite boards, like I said when I held one I couldnt belive how light it was. I was just curious because all the new Merricks are turflites and the older Merricks are cheaper, so are they not so good now?

I better read up about al the different shortboards. According to Taj Burrow for my height and weight I should progress to a 6'2 board (this coming from the guy who rides a 5'11 board lol)

Sounds like a pretty sweet board especially since I do alot of walking from beach to beach.

you considered getting a custom made? i can recommend a couple of good shapers in this area who you could discuss what you need with (ie level your at now and where you want to go with your new stick). Ive never surfed an epoxy board altho those noseless boards look pretty nifty.

I looked up the board and it says its recomended for 2-3 foot waves could it get hard to ride in anything bigger?

GowerCharger wrote:you considered getting a custom made? i can recommend a couple of good shapers in this area who you could discuss what you need with (ie level your at now and where you want to go with your new stick). Ive never surfed an epoxy board altho those noseless boards look pretty nifty.

Ye when I come to getting a new board next year or so.. I was thinking of going to JP. He makes some pretty sweet boards that suit the kind of waves around here. Just want to browse al the different boards first

yeah, check out chris beynon in kittle too, he made my board and has made boards and done repairs for people I know and all seem pretty happy with them.

if youre set on a merrik go for it, but for that money you can get a hand shaped board to your specs by a shaper using whatever material you'd like.. besides a handfull of his team riders boards, youre getting a blank ran through a machine.

And that blank "ran through a machine" is likely to be an equally if not better surfboard as a result.
Provided you are honest with yourself and buy a board with suitable volume, rocker & size for your ability - you'll be no worse off.

Why is it everybody thinks their local shaper is good?, why is it that people mysteriously think the local shaper who cranks out 4 boards a week or whatever is some gruru whose mysteriously dialed into the local conditions.
Buying "local is best" is sometimes a complete myth. They are humans who flesh-up blanks, turn up to work with hangovers, have bad days & stuff up orders, don't like you & think you're a dick (sometimes) and frankly...don't listen to your order as you make it.

The reason top shapers use machines is (a) they can afford to, (b) they get better & more consistant results, and it's a much healthier way to shape, (c) they can tweak their designs easily & make changes, (d) they get way better rails out of a machine and (e) because so many people want to buy their boards they have to.

Most local shapers would get onto machines if their economies of scale warrented it & if they could afford them.

I really like this board but would it be managable in bigger surf say 8 footers?? I dont want a really expensive board if its really hard to ride in big surf.

Im also lookin for a new board, hopefully a Merrick. What do you guys think about the Flyer series? i live on the east coast and i wanna know if its versitile enough to handle on sloppy waves.

the al merrick tufflights r brill i tried one at my local break ir rocked!!! its was 5.11 and had loads of float! ir duckdived well to im onley 13 and weigh 35kg and i found them amazing their streangth to weight ratio is amazing to. the next day i went to a shop in hayle cornwall called down the line they had an al merrick tufflight for £350 it had no dings. so id recommend the tufflight because they have a good second hand sale value or traid in value if you ever wanted something shorter!

hey i actually have the Al Mericck Five, 6'4'', and its really nice man. Like it just cuts through the water like butter. Its fast, and has good manuverability. Im happy with it, and defintaley recommend it. The thing i realy like about it though is its rocker. It has alot of nose/tail rocker. So when i coming down a steep wave, it really helps out.

I love both my CI M13s. I had an epoxy version, didn't like it. Sold it to a friend who stopped riding everything else, loves it. One other consideration: an big advantage in having a Surftech or Boardworks board is that if you really like it, think it's magic for you, and it gets badly damaged or lost, you can easily replace it with exactly the same board. Try that with a hand-shaped board. I have and it doesn't work.

LovintheSurf wrote: it just cuts through the water like butter.

huh
Think I know what you mean.. lol
Anyway , the Al Merrick five does look like a nice board but it wouldn't be so good over in the UK I dont think because it has too much rocker for our waves.

Brent wrote:And that blank "ran through a machine" is likely to be an equally if not better surfboard as a result.
Provided you are honest with yourself and buy a board with suitable volume, rocker & size for your ability - you'll be no worse off.

Why is it everybody thinks their local shaper is good?, why is it that people mysteriously think the local shaper who cranks out 4 boards a week or whatever is some gruru whose mysteriously dialed into the local conditions.
Buying "local is best" is sometimes a complete myth. They are humans who flesh-up blanks, turn up to work with hangovers, have bad days & stuff up orders, don't like you & think you're a dick (sometimes) and frankly...don't listen to your order as you make it.

The reason top shapers use machines is (a) they can afford to, (b) they get better & more consistant results, and it's a much healthier way to shape, (c) they can tweak their designs easily & make changes, (d) they get way better rails out of a machine and (e) because so many people want to buy their boards they have to.

Most local shapers would get onto machines if their economies of scale warrented it & if they could afford them.

people buy boards from local shapers becuase it keeps the surfing economy in their area alive by keeping the money in your local economy,
because local shapers know and surf the waves you will be surfing and can build boards specifically for those waves, the shaper will actually be able to meet you and create a board for you instead of a voice on the other end of the telephone halfway around the world, and its often a lot cheaper than buying a new CI or other big name brands. Plus, its a pretty good feeling riding a board shaped by the hands of someone you know (even better feeling if you actually watch them shape it) I've had 3 custom hand shaped boards made by local shapers and they were the best 3 boards I've ever ridden.

Have you even tried to get a board from a local shaper? Most local shapers can't afford to be an ass to their customers, and seriously, do you even rip enough to notice all of the small innacuracies you could get in a hand shaped board? hell, my friend shaped his first board a while back and it rode fine.

An analogy I've heard before compares surfboards to bread. Would you rather buy a loaf of bread mass produced in a big factory somewhere around the world or would you buy a loaf of bread handbaked at a local bakery?

i think its pretty sweet that the al merricks are dropping in price though, cuz i have two and they are very good boards but they are exspensive...

I got a 6'3 flyer, not turflite. Bought it used for $250 with fins, traction pad and bag included, here in San Diego.

It's my second, and current board and I have to say it is AWESOME!

It's extremely easy to stand and take off on this board, I was tired of pearling with my 6'7 egg board and the flyer completely solves this problem plus it's a good paddler and really good wave catcher.

I was beginning to have some complaints as it seems a bit slow down the line and bad rail to rail transition until I tried other boards (like other 5 different small wave boards and some shortboards, they were all crap compared to my flyer, to the point I now want to carry it everywhere.

The only thing that might be better than a flyer (and I haven't tried) are Sharp eye's Disco, and SBTS models, they are extremely popular in San Diego, specially the Disco which is everyone's favorite.

The flyer is perfect for 2-6 feet waves, can handle over head easily but will get you in trouble when duck diving is needed, actually now that I think about it, I barely go out when waves are pulsing too fast as the flyer is too much foam to fight incoming waves and duck dive, I don't know if this would be simpler with a shortboard... interesting. But the flyer is a must have.