Surfing Waves

Here's a question for the longboard gurus. Longboards have a lot of benefits that come from their long length, but is there a point (assuming an average sized, already competent surfer) where adding on another foot or two to the length actually begins to diminish the benefits of a longboard? In other words, I don't really understand what the benefits are to a board that is over 10' (3.04 meters) long. To be honest, I don't really understand why a longboarder would want a board over 9'6" (2.74 meters). Now I know that part of the style of longboarding is to be a bit of a performance artist/rockette/acrobat. So, I suppose the main advantage of a really long longboard is that it gives a surfer more of a stage to work their stage magic on, but beyond that I'm not sure I understand what the advantages are to a 10-12 foot board. What am I missing?

On a fat day a few months back there was a guy on a huge wooden longboard....don't know how long but it was noticeably longer than the 9' I was on.....he started paddling out beyond all the other longboards with this weird two handed kind of pump....It was like watching a cement mixer start in a drag race.....he never paddled that hard, caught waves really easily, and once on the wave was moving around, up and down the board like it was the deck of a boat.....there are a handful of returns right there.

Oh yeah...he was an older silver haired and overweight guy....my guess would be in his 60s....took more waves than anyone while I was out and was still out when I called it. Some more returns.

Big H wrote:.....there are a handful of returns right there.

That's true, but not enough to convince me that I should consider buying a longboard over 9'6".

RinkyDink wrote: but beyond that I'm not sure I understand what the advantages are to a 10-12 foot board.

10-12 footers ? Hah ! kids in Hawaii learn on those ( that's all uncle or dad has sitting in the backyard ). Look up the God Father of Glide, Skip Frye. Or the new kid Ryan Burch, or the shaper Tom Wegener to understand more.

RinkyDink wrote:I suppose the main advantage of a really long longboard is that it gives a surfer more of a stage to work their stage magic on

Just walking to the nose on a 9'0" takes a while, but on a 10-11footer, it feels like a marathon. They should put an aid station at the half way marker.

Speaking for myself (though I have the feeling I'm not alone), it doesn't take much at all to "convince" me to want to buy another board.....

At 65, I'm not "diminishing" yet but at some point I will be too slow, weak and stiff to ride a regular longboard. I went out with a 73 year old gent last week who was very good at riding his 9 foot Walden Magic but struggled to catch waves and pop-up. Before going in he admitted to me that he was in the market for an SUP or body board.

Life changes and board changes don't bother me as long as I can keep having FUN!

There was an old man who used to surf at the same break I did quite often. He was about 4 years older than me and surfed a 10'5" longboard. He had a huge belly paunch like his upper body was normal but there was this huge enlargement right at his belly....more than mine He could catch waves before most of the longboarders and could handle some pretty steep waves by way of getting into them before they get steep. He had a neurological problem like ALS or some thing and he has apparently passed away from that but he handled the conditions I liked at least on some of the nicer days (which can be pretty taxing) with his huge log and no apparent problems. Although I heard that when the neurological problem was worse he went to an easier break.

BoMan wrote:At 65, I'm not "diminishing" yet but at some point I will be too slow, weak and stiff to ride a regular longboard. I went out with a 73 year old gent last week who was very good at riding his 9 foot Walden Magic but struggled to catch waves and pop-up. Before going in he admitted to me that he was in the market for an SUP or body board.

Life changes and board changes don't bother me as long as I can keep having FUN!

I know you're not "diminishing". I only meant that by increasing the length of a board the benefits of the extra length might start to diminish. In other words, if you have to lug an extra pound of weight to the beach for an extra foot of board, then the downside might outweigh whatever upside there was to adding the extra length . . . a diminishing return on an investment in extra length. Add another extra foot and another and another and eventually the return on your length investment disappears because you can't pick up your board without hiring a porter.

waikikikichan wrote:

RinkyDink wrote: but beyond that I'm not sure I understand what the advantages are to a 10-12 foot board.

10-12 footers ? Hah ! kids in Hawaii learn on those ( that's all uncle or dad has sitting in the backyard ). Look up the God Father of Glide, Skip Frye. Or the new kid Ryan Burch, or the shaper Tom Wegener to understand more.

Thanks, I'll look them up.

Big H wrote:Speaking for myself (though I have the feeling I'm not alone), it doesn't take much at all to "convince" me to want to buy another board.....

I hear you. That's why I need to focus on reasons to stop.

RinkyDink wrote:

waikikikichan wrote:

RinkyDink wrote: but beyond that I'm not sure I understand what the advantages are to a 10-12 foot board.

10-12 footers ? Hah ! kids in Hawaii learn on those ( that's all uncle or dad has sitting in the backyard ). Look up the God Father of Glide, Skip Frye. Or the new kid Ryan Burch, or the shaper Tom Wegener to understand more.

Thanks, I'll look them up.

Take it a whole length further , check out Roy Stewart

RinkyDink wrote:I know you're not "diminishing". I only meant that by increasing the length of a board the benefits of the extra length might start to diminish. In other words, if you have to lug an extra pound of weight to the beach for an extra foot of board, then the downside might outweigh whatever upside there was to adding the extra length..

No offense taken. I am dininishing but not "done for." At some point I will get a higher volume board to ride as long as I possibly can. I don't worry about carrying a bigger log as there are tools to help...

Board Slings


Wheels


Muscles

In Argentina they have board caddies, guys who will wax your board and take it to the beach for you. I may move there to retire

BoMan wrote:

RinkyDink wrote:I know you're not "diminishing". I only meant that by increasing the length of a board the benefits of the extra length might start to diminish. In other words, if you have to lug an extra pound of weight to the beach for an extra foot of board, then the downside might outweigh whatever upside there was to adding the extra length..

No offense taken. I am dininishing but not "done for." At some point I will get a higher volume board to ride as long as I possibly can. I don't worry about carrying a bigger log as there are tools to help...

Wheels

BoMan....I would definitely go with wheels....

RinkyDink wrote:Here's a question for the longboard gurus. Longboards have a lot of benefits that come from their long length, but is there a point (assuming an average sized, already competent surfer) where adding on another foot or two to the length actually begins to diminish the benefits of a longboard? In other words, I don't really understand what the benefits are to a board that is over 10' (3.04 meters) long. To be honest, I don't really understand why a longboarder would want a board over 9'6" (2.74 meters). Now I know that part of the style of longboarding is to be a bit of a performance artist/rockette/acrobat. So, I suppose the main advantage of a really long longboard is that it gives a surfer more of a stage to work their stage magic on, but beyond that I'm not sure I understand what the advantages are to a 10-12 foot board. What am I missing?

Hi there! Allow me to chime in with my rather biased point of view regarding long longboards. I'm no guru though, so my ideas might not apply to your style of surfing or favorite spot.
I believe that the longer the ride, the more fun. Until the paddle out back. One way of appreciating the benefit of a longer board might be in this department. My spot is half a mile offshore. And that's the inner one. The other, twice that distance.
Another way, is an early catch, specially if there's SUP around.
Then, connections. From outer break to inner ones, once my wave has flattened, I can connect the the smaller reformed waves that guide me to the channel. If not, the wave dies mid reef, and paddling out to the channel could get funky.
Chop. Catching a wave on a low volume longboard facing 6 inch wind chop washing onto the deck is a pain. A longer, and floatier board, with a bellied nose, displaces chop and eases the effort required to catch those choppy waves.
I'm no acrobat. I'm happy with setting a line early and working it easily down the line. The extra glide of a longer longboard allows me to get into gliding heaven.
In the end, it's a matter of one's own style and surfing spot characteristics.
It's all good.
Glide on!

Where is that t shirt from?!! I want one!!

There's probably some similar puns that you could do with fishes!

tradiprone wrote:Catching a wave on a low volume longboard facing 6 inch wind chop washing onto the deck is a pain. A longer, and floatier board, with a bellied nose, displaces chop and eases the effort required to catch those choppy waves.
I'm no acrobat. I'm happy with setting a line early and working it easily down the line. The extra glide of a longer longboard allows me to get into gliding heaven.
In the end, it's a matter of one's own style and surfing spot characteristics.
It's all good.
Glide on!

That makes sense. I met a surfer the other day on an 11 foot board and I saw that it was probably the perfect size for him. He was a pretty big dude and the board had a enough float to keep him cruising. I felt like a shortboarder on my 9'6" sitting in the lineup with him. The more I surf the more it becomes apparent that surfboards aren't really one-size-fits-all types of equipment. Sometimes I get in my head that they are. In reality though, they're all specialized in their own way and glide differently for each rider.

RinkyDink wrote:
The more I surf the more it becomes apparent that surfboards aren't really one-size-fits-all types of equipment. Sometimes I get in my head that they are. In reality though, they're all specialized in their own way and glide differently for each rider.

I concur. I was watching some surfers at a close to shore break recently. All on short boards, sitting and waiting. Then, a set comes and the well positioned take advantage, ride for 3-5 seconds, pull out and repeat.
I kept thinking for awhile what fun could it be to wait for so long for such a short ride!
This is where your quote gathers even more meaning: they're specialized for slashing and turning sharply, late drops and so on. And they had fun, as their faces and chit chat would reveal after they came out of the water.. I'm sure it took them quite some time in the water to realize this. I couldn't judge their fun quotient by my standards.
And neither can they!
Be well