longboarding in big surf

[dougirwin13]

Each to their own.

I go well overhead on my 9'6"... And other times it's a 6'4".

And Roy goes even bigger

-doug

[Roy Stewart]

Here's the pipeline challenge board, nearly done now:

specs:

Specs:

13 feet long
24 inches wide
2 and a quarter inches thick
7 and a half inches rocker
28 pounds weight
Medium/high flex

The previous one I had like this at 12 feet was an absolute dream .. . . . loose, nimble, fast and able to take the meanest drops, it roasts malibus for breakfast ! The weight using Paulownia is pretty much the same as solid or lightly chambered balsa, it's definitely on the light side, feels like a featherweight to me after 50 to 60 pound boards.

This design hasn't been seen on video yet as I haven't had one for a few years, can't wait for some juice, when I was riding this design before it inspired so much confidence and handles all conditions so effortlessly that I wouldn't even bother checking conditions before paddling out no matter how big and ragged it was, it can be surfed with the eyes shut just about, just makes light work of any wave.. . . it's really the ideal shortboarders longboard in my opinion.

The board has a double laminated deck and bottom ( 2 layers of 3mm paulownia)and a total of 7 layers altogether, this is the new improved Power parallel profile torsion box construction which has graduated panel thicknesses for optimum strength and flexibility.

The multi directional 7 layer lamination which makes up the 'parabolic' rails can be seen in the picture below:


The design is also sweet in tiny waves . . . a truly universal surfboard

[dougirwin13]

Nice Roy!

-doug

[Bodhihjb]

I was surfing down at castelejo today in the Algarve in Portugal. Solid 5-8ft waves which ain't big by any measure however they were the steepest I have ever seen them. Now not liking short boards I took my longboard out which I knew was a gnarly decision cos the waves were detonating in about 3 ft of water onto either hidden rocks or super compact sand. I've never seen it that savage before but to cut a long story short I took off on a wave that seemed perfect for my 9ft2 nose rider. It was a 6ft gently sloping wave with a nice ridge at the point just before the lip came over to push me forward. However as I stood up, I noticed that the board was not going down the face but instead just sticking out at a 90° angle to the wave. I looked down and saw the wave had become pretty much vertical in the space of like 2 secs so obviously wiped out in an epic fashion When I came up 10 seconds later I pulled my board towards me to get back out and realised I only had half of it left. Moral of the story...there are some waves which long boards just can't handle (unless ur a hard charger who is a God on a board which I am not )

[Tudeo]

It was a 6ft gently sloping wave with a nice ridge at the point just before the lip came over to push me forward. However as I stood up, I noticed that the board was not going down the face but instead just sticking out at a 90° angle to the wave. I looked down and saw the wave had become pretty much vertical in the space of like 2 secs so obviously wiped out in an epic fashion When I came up 10 seconds later I pulled my board towards me to get back out and realised I only had half of it left. Moral of the story...there are some waves which long boards just can't handle (unless ur a hard charger who is a God on a board which I am not )

Sorry to hear you snapped your board, that sucks!

I'm not a great surfer but recently had a great session with my 8'2 Submoon (I'm 76kg) in these kind of waves. It was not my intention to take my 'longboard' to that particular spot because the waves break too fast and pitching there, but I was driving around (Bali westcoast) and my intended locations weren't working so I gave it a try.

At first I struggled keeping the nose from pearling, even on angled takeoffs. I had some horrible kooky belly rides as a result of that.

But then I tried moving somewhat back on the board and kept a good eye on the wave before it hit me so I could make last moment adjustments. I found when I timed it right the big board helped me get in early enough for a controlled popup.

By moving back a few inches I could really commit to my paddle and throw my head forward and down the deck, without any danger of pearling. I then had plenty time to popup and bottom or take a high line.

It was great to learn I could use this board in these kind of waves.

[oldmansurfer]

I have taken my longboard out into waves with faces of about 18 to 20 feet. It was great there however these were really forgiving waves that didn't break top to bottom and left a safe zone at the bottom where you could still ride without getting cleaned out by the whitewater if the wave passes you by.