Surfing Waves

"I need a shorter board to help me turn"
"Longboards are slow, boring and hard to maneuver"
"You need a shortboard to do airs"


Yeah Right. Kai Sallas proving those statements wrong.

Funny you wrote this, I'm just surfing my shortest board ever, a Firewire Chumlee 5'7 I just got 2nd hand. Waves are much smaller here now, today it was just a bit smaller compared to that video (How big would you call that, chest/shoulder high?), and that little board just flies and does turns like I never did before.
Not saying anything negative about longboards, I love my longboards, but for an intermediate like me this board turns so much easier and is so much fun!

Tudeo wrote:Not saying anything negative about longboards, I love my longboards, but for an intermediate like me this board turns so much easier and is so much fun!

Don't worry, I just ordered a 5'3" Todd Pinder Mini-Simmons shape. Can't take a 9'0" on the train here in Japan.

After switching to a longboard that is lighter than my previous ride, which is a funboard shape,but handles a lot worse, I'm your choir, brother.

You can turn faster on a shortboard...if you know how.
You can LEARN TO turn faster on a longboard.

About the only thing I could add is, when I first started on my longboard I had a hard time turning- because I was too far up on the board. But that in itself is part of the learning process, how a surfboard works. I think a LB gives a beginner better and more obvious feedback on their surfing, once you incorporate that into your surfing knowledge, you can bring it to smaller boards.

Another thing I will add that I posted elsewhere is that not being able to duck dive a LB is more than compensated by faster paddling speed IMO. When the swell is bigger, my longboard actually feels like a security blanket compared to my smaller boards.

waikikikichan wrote:"I need a shorter board to help me turn"
"Longboards are slow, boring and hard to maneuver"
"You need a shortboard to do airs"...
Yeah Right. Kai Sallas proving those statements wrong.

Bummer. A worldclass longboarder can surf a longboard really well. Who would have thought so

waikikikichan wrote:"I need a shorter board to help me turn"
"Longboards are slow, boring and hard to maneuver"
"You need a shortboard to do airs".

And there are the classic reasons to longboard......

1. catch more waves
2. surf knee high days and actually look forward to it
3. feel the effortless glide
4. travel 100 yards at a time
5. lifelong learning to master stepping around a big deck

Oldie wrote:
Bummer. A worldclass longboarder can surf a longboard really well. Who would have thought so

Correction: you mean "World Champion" longboarder.

But it just goes to show it's the not the arrow but the Indian. Be it Jaime O'brien surfing a soft top wavestorm at macking pipe, or a golfer hitting a 300 yard drive with a Putter. I just want beginners to open their mind to maximizing their own abilities, not rely on purchasing more and more stuff.

TBH it's really not hard to make sharp turns on a longboard.

I actually like that video and his style a lot. Such a great mix of power and style. It looks so effortless. I have a fin with his name on it, but it is just another arrow that doesn't really help this helpless Indian.

Taylor Jensen can do airs on longboards, too.

Oldie wrote: I have a fin with his name on it

Do you have the newer tool-less FCSII version ? Was thinking of getting that or the 5.5" Harley Ingleby model.

Oldie wrote:I actually like that video and his style a lot. Such a great mix of power and style. It looks so effortless.

I was lucky to learn how to surf at Queen's when Kai was just a teenager. I would sit in the channel to watch how he did his round house cutbacks.

I love my longboards for all the reasons mentioned in this thread, but when waves get above shoulder high and a bit steep the takeff gets tricky. This 55yo 'indian' then has trouble getting up quick enough to do an early (high) turn to point the board down the line, to avoid pearling.
Smaller or more rockered boards are much easier on take off in those waves, is my experience. It's always that trade-off, can I put in the extra effort for paddling the non-longboard, or is today a paddle-ease-first day?

I am. not a longboarder but when I relearned to surf I did it on a longboard. It never seemed to be a problem riding steep waves. I always worried about pearling but didn’t actually pearl very often Perhaps this is due to ingrained instincts but once again I never rode a longboard much till I restarted surfing. When I started surfing boards with bigger nose rockers it wasn’t any easier to keep from pearling. So it’s probably just me but this indian didn’t find any conditions that made a longboard nonfunctional.

waikikikichan wrote:

Oldie wrote: I have a fin with his name on it

Screen Shot 2018-11-17 at 1.52.31 PM.png

Do you have the newer tool-less FCSII version ?

Yes, that's it.

Tudeo wrote:I love my longboards for all the reasons mentioned in this thread, but when waves get above shoulder high and a bit steep the takeff gets tricky. This 55yo 'indian' then has trouble getting up quick enough to do an early (high) turn to point the board down the line, to avoid pearling.

I just squat on the tail, wait to get to the bottom, then get up and bottom-turn.

waikikikichan wrote:"I need a shorter board to help me turn"
"Longboards are slow, boring and hard to maneuver"
"You need a shortboard to do airs"

Yeah Right. Kai Sallas proving those statements wrong.

Waiki, you missed one. I need a shorter board because....my long board will not fit inside my car!

[photo source: found on pintrest]

billie_morini wrote:Waiki, you missed one. I need a shorter board because....my long board will not fit inside my car!

Agreed, one might have limiting factors such as size of their car, size of their elevator, max size you can take on the train ( like here is Tokyo ), etc.

But excuses that I'm too small, too light, not strong enough, blah blah to turn a longboard, is not limiting factors.


When there's will, there's a way. ( legality, I don't know ? )

Is it crazy that I have absolutely no interest in going any smaller than 8'? I've really only been surfing consistently a little over a year so am still very green, but I just love the glide and volume of a LB. I rode my friend's fiberglass 9'6 glider not too long ago and OMG I was absolutely in love with that thing! It seems that people progress to shorter boards after a couple of years, but I have zero interest at this point. I'm just starting to turn a little (I'm actually able to kick out now which is exciting), and I actually LOVE knee high and ankle biter waves, they're so fun and I don't have to worry about drowning. haha! GREAT video waikikichan!!!