8ft mal or magic carpet?

[seb1970]

undecided on which board to go for, im looking for something for smaller summer waves, does anybody have experience with magic carpets? if you all had a choice which would you go for?

[55funsurf]

i am not familiar with the term magic carpets but I am familiar with min mals as I have been riding these for about 15 years. I am 55 and i have surfed since early teens but after an unintended self inflicted spell from surfing for a few years with work, being married and young kids in my thirties I finally got back into via mini mals.

I also own a 7'0 shortboard and I rode that for a few years after my first mini mal and I just found that the comfort of riding a decent mini mal particualrly in variable surf conditions in sydney to be a great option for someone like me.

I originally went for a 7'4 then the short board and then a 7'8. The 7'8 is still awesome but I always wondered why I ever gave up the original 7'4.

Any way, a long story short I am recently back gungo into surfing, as much as I can at least, since start of spring, working on my fitness and the 7'4 I recently bought is really nice.

But my advice and from experience is, be really selective. I hunted high and low and finally found a locally made board and it has a thin profile with even rocker throughout.

I tried a few boards in between and I feel that a mini mal with a bit of tail rocker and set up with thrusters can be surprisingly easy to manouvre. It obviously does not compete with a short board in terms of radical manouvres but if you want a stable take off, and a good turn to get into the upper section of a wall and go for a long drive it is a good option.....a round pin or small square tail can also do really smooth cut backs and if the deck area is cut out well can respond to feet towards the nose, It is not a nose rider, but if you want tha 70's type front foot up the deck a mini mal will usually deliver it as it planes well.....Like I found with my 7'8 that it was no good with moving up the front and I learned through trial and error to steer it from the back foot and with its length it will glide through mush....whereas my 7'4 is sightly wider with more area and it responds well to moving up towards the front in some sections....I still havent been able to get five over the nose, but I go close at times...Its fun...

But thats just me....I am happy with it and I hope this gives some encouragement if you are thinking of going down the line of a mini mal.

And just to add, and it is only in my view as others may see it differently, but I dont think you need to go to 8'0 if you are looking at a mini mal....For me, I think if I was considering 8'0, I would feel I may as well go 9.0.

Mini mal's at 7'4 through 7'8 in my practical experience and depending on the board design, are a great ride....But in sayiong this I have seen some really nice looking 7'2's as well...or anything in between...

But either way, if you do get a decent min mal, iresepective of size, you will have a great board in your collection and I reckon you will find plenty of times and reasons to get in the water.....But be selective......Some are not well designed.....and others are gems...good luck..

i saw no one responsed to your post and figured, hey, what not...

regards

Rossa

[jaffa1949]

Glad to see you came back 55. Old fart experience is needed
BTW. OLD FARTS stands for Old Legendary Days Fraternity of Ancient Real Time Surfers!

[jaffa1949]

Back to the original question for this thread, Seb ideally you could tell us you height and weight and experience, but I had a look at your other posts and I think the Fluid Juice Magic carpet that Adrian could customize for you is a better board than the magic mat. It is a little too extreme in the nose amounts.
BTW there are at least thirty different magic carpet surfboards by different makers.
The Fluid Juice is a better all rounder and a summer board.

If you have been talking to the shaper then you have better chance of really getting a good board

[seb1970]

Hi Jaffa,
Im 15 stone and am currently riding a teardrop 6'10 fish thang, im 43 and am looking to go back to either a minimal or a shortend longboard[magic carpet].for my size I would be looking for an 8ft minimal but I really fancy trying a fluid juice 7ft 4 magic carpet for small summer days.are there big differences in the way the two boards would ride?

[jaffa1949]

I'd seriously look at about a 7'9" Easy rider and as Fluid juice have a demo model take it out and try, go back and discuss what works and what doesn't, sometimes the myth of going shorter for summer surf doesn't work . See if you can try both the magic carpet and the easy rider in similar conditions. Using a demo model is a great see where you are at option. Use it!
AS for difference , that is under the feet of the rider!