New Longboard....

[tradiprone]

Hi Big H and fellow peers

I've had an issue similar to yours, wanting to have a board which will catch the wave earlier and glide longer than my heavy rockered, multiple concave Walden Magic 10' (96L).
At my local spot, sometimes the wind chop combine with a quickly steepening wave, to result either in aborted attempts to avoid late drops face first on the reef, or frantic paddles from way behind to see the wave laugh its way under me.
Also, i wanted longer glides on the tiny wavelets on the inside, so that i can access the channel and not return to the lineup against the frothy mess.
I borrowed a flatter rockered BIC Noserider 10' (90L), which has a rolled bottom and a bit less volume. Maybe because of the lower volume of the BIC, my early wave catching intentions never came to reality, even though both boards are exact same length, width and thickness.
But the glide, it happened. The rolled bottom BIC came out from the tiny wavelets of the inside further into the channel than the Walden ever did.
Just musing
Be well

Saw this posted on Facebook in an enthusiast's group.....massive board, thought about this post....should have a little more glide than that tiny 10' Walden!

That's a beauty!
As the windy season has arrived and surf less weekends accumulated, I started visiting the online classifieds, again... Something popped up, a transition era SUP, or 666, how it's called down under.
This one, a discontinued Jimmy Lewis Crossover, 11'7"/26.5"/4+" suddenly became a blessing. And a curse, for my curmudgeon peers who even dropped into my wave at one point, frustrated with my back of the lineup sprints to catch the choppy bumps.
Turns out that this "new" board has the attributes to help me conquer the challenge of choppy wavelet surfing: rolled bottom and 50/50 rails from tip to tip, length and flotation. A continuous rocker line and smooth outline all have contributed to the 10' Walden developing a layer of dust.
Blessings aside, this ship needs to be knee paddled up to speed, and once on the bump, a relaxed pop up is the prize. Keep in mind this is a surf-able paddleboard, and not the other way around...Walk back and trim down the line before the wave perks up, or an unceremonious dunk into the reef awaits.
Pictures coming.
I had in mind a custom, or a pocket breaking 12' Muñoz Super glide at way over a grand, but luck is on my side.
May all be well

[dtc]

I had in mind a custom, or a pocket breaking 12' Muñoz Super glide at way over a grand, but luck is on my side.
May all be well

purify your mind - you are going to the dark side. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.

[tradiprone]

I had in mind a custom, or a pocket breaking 12' Muñoz Super glide at way over a grand, but luck is on my side.
May all be well

purify your mind - you are going to the dark side. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.

That was an excellent line!

No worries, I don't have the slightest desire to damage the art by leaning on any type of paddle to surf. I should've said: I'm interested in a glider longboard!

[Big H]

So I found another board that might fit what I'm after....a long, good paddling board that can handle good, big waves and long paddle outs and will get me in early on reefs without too much rocker, but enough so the nose is not a preoccupation on drops. I liked the looks of the Aipa big boy stinger like Rinky has....they have one in a shop here and I looked it over but the price tag was around IRD 8m....too much for a whim. Anyhow, a board came up for a good deal so I picked it up yesterday (under USD 200); cleaned it up last night and will take it out tomorrow. It's a Hawaiian board, shaped by Kimo Greene (do you know him/of him WKK? ).....written on the stringer (biggest stringer I've seen in person) is "Bali Rocket", and the spray is in the colours of the Indo flag. It's 8'2"x23"x3", seems to be solidly glassed and is on the heavy side which after riding the balsa longboard lately I've decided that I like in a bigger board. I'm looking forward to running it out and hoping that it will take the place of my performance longboard which being epoxy I've decided is too light and I wish that it had a little more float/paddled faster/better than it does....I don't get into waves as early as I think you ought to on a 9'2" and it's a dog trying to race it to the outside compared to the balsa, which is too flat for steeper waves and too heavy to whip around. The "new" board is gunny, but with the relaxed rocker and width (23"!) it's more of a fun gun a la OMS I guess. The fin setup is a 2+1; I already have several fins so I'm going to try as a single, 2+1 (center and side bites) and as a thruster with three same sized fins and see which I like. My guess is that this board should work pretty good here. Anyhow, time will tell.....here's some pics....good times!

[dtc]

that looks totally like a gun...but 23 inches wide! I suspect its probably designed for big Hawaiian surf, but should be totally fine for smaller waves

[Big H]

He's got one model called a Nusa Dua rocket (the break in front of where I work)....this one is a bali rocket - guy I bought it from said he made it for uluwatu mainly. Kinda like a gun, but wider, fatter to the rails and less rocker....will try on large and small sized waves. Have to figure that a shaper from the north shore who puts a stringer in that is as wide as my little finger is making a board for serious surf....what interested me was that the shape looked accessible for smaller waves as well.....an all arounder big board for Bali waves is what I'm hoping for. If work holds up like it is I should be able to get it out this avro.

[benjl]

Nice purchase! Doesn't look 23"!!

[Big H]

Nice purchase! Doesn't look 23"!!

I'll have to measure it ....I took the measures on the word of the previous owner....I put it under my arm and holding in in my hands it looked and felt like what I was looking for. Custom board, just has "Kimo Greene - for Jeff - Bali Rocket" on the stringer. It's wide and thick enough in the middle that it just barely fits in my hand when under my arm....I can get my arm around the big balsa longboard (23" x 3") and the HP longboard I have (22" x 2.75") easier so I suspect that it could be thicker than 3" or it's just thicker out to the rail. You're right though, it doesn't look 23" wide in photos or in person.....it's the scale of the whole thing....it's a big board!

[Big H]

Anyhow, I'm just back from 2hours out at Kuta....after badmouthing it in the other recent thread the conditions were very good today and all the regular crew that has been hibernating during the rainy season came out to join in.....if the conditions were like it was today every day then it would be an awesome place for anyone to learn and develop....unfortunately once the wind shifts for good days with waves like today will be more common but there will be 100+ in the water rather than the 15-20 out today. Relative bliss to be enjoyed.

First things first....the board "feels" like it floats me more than my performance longboard. It definitely paddles easier....board is a fast paddling board though is as unstable as a 6'6". Had it set up today with a single fin....a little squirlley but fast paddling....trying with a 2+1 tomorrow.
First half of the session it was still a bit fat and I went to a medium sized peak to test her out....made sure I took my first two waves competently to back the lineup off (this was before the regulars descended)....then I fooled around with how far forward I could be and catch a wave, how far back, how far out/early, how late.....waves were so so, shoulder to head high and lacking punch but I sorted it out a bit. Board was fine, a little unstable, hard to get going very fast but felt about like a wobbly mini mal.

Things picked up, tide and wind dropped, swell picked up and conditions improved markedly. I moved down to the big peak and found that with better waves the board came alive. Was able to catch a good 15m outside the shortboards, in longboard territory if there were any....was up and riding well before the wave started to break, but different to either of my longboards, the board was a lot more responsive and I was able to work it like a shorter board....I was able to get on the biggest waves coming through....no one else wanted them anyway, biggest being about 1.5OH and I will say that with that board on the face of that wave it was the most control I've ever experienced....being able to get in early, really early was awesome, then once up was able to turn more sharply, stall and accelerate quicker than with a longer board, which meant that rather than running away from the pocket I was able to stay closer in more easily.......if I had to say what made an impression on me about the board and what is so appealing is that confidence and control I felt once getting on the bigger, more powerful peak.....made it a lot more accessible that's for sure. So DTC was correct, was able to surf it in smaller stuff but was special in bigger, more powerful waves.

Last bit, it's a lineup killer.....in crowded conditions the paddle power is unparalleled.....going to test in what can be counted on to be a relatively hostile/super competitive tourist crowd tomorrow down in the Bukit since there is one more day of westside offshores before the wind shifts back to rainy season direction for another week to 10.


Stoked....early days but so far is turning out to be what I've been looking for in a longer board.

Good Times!

[dtc]

Last bit, it's a lineup killer.....in crowded conditions the paddle power is unparalleled.....going to test in what can be counted on to be a relatively hostile/super competitive tourist crowd tomorrow down in the Bukit since there is one more day of westside offshores before the wind shifts back to rainy season direction for another week to 10!

that's the ticket - dont let those tourists get a look in!

[Big H]

Last bit, it's a lineup killer.....in crowded conditions the paddle power is unparalleled.....going to test in what can be counted on to be a relatively hostile/super competitive tourist crowd tomorrow down in the Bukit since there is one more day of westside offshores before the wind shifts back to rainy season direction for another week to 10!

that's the ticket - dont let those tourists get a look in!

Might not sound nice but the break will attract 100+ on a sunny day with a not very big swell....I stood on the cliff not too long ago and decided not to go out because on one wave I saw a surfer start from way out back and was dropped in on severely by surfer two, wiping out surfer one....surfer two was then dropped in on harshly by surfer three and dumped leaving surfer three on the wave....this continued an unbelievable two more times until surfer 5 finished the wave after running over the toes and plowing under surfer four.....etiquette is horrible at this break, is overrun with beginner intermediates whose only knowledge of the lineup's unwritten rules is to try their best to backpaddlle each other and get priority position which means nothing because if they can't manuver around you they just drop in anyway......that was the break/wave that I was dropped in on three times in a row earlier this week.....happens especially there all the time and sorry, I have no love for the prevailing vibe at that spot as it seems to infect newcomers who might otherwise have some sense. Think of the uluwatu SUP clip with about twice the amount of people in the water padding right up the gut. If there is some way to gain an advantage on beginner intermediates on boards that are too small I am going to embrace it with no shame.

Don't worry about the tourists getting a look; they just drop in anyway.

[oldmansurfer]

That board is very similar in shape and dimensions to my 8 foot fungun but I ride it as a quad. Getting into waves early depends on lots of things. The wave first and foremost waves are not all the same so they require different tactics. The board helps but skill in paddling the board helps more. Then there is positioning which is the real trick to it. Work on your positioning as related to the individual wave you are catching. Try paddling from different parts of the wave and see what allows you the best entry although with a crowded lineup this may not be possible. I generally try first right at the peak then next try inside of the peak a few feet, then next try a few feet deep to the peak. I guess in a crowded lineup you can watch what the good surfers do but they can probably paddle better than you.

[oldmansurfer]

I try to get in early but really I was never as good of a board paddler as some of the better paddlers so I made up for it by learning to take a late drop

[dtc]

Don't worry about the tourists getting a look; they just drop in anyway.

Was just kidding - was thinking of you the other day. I was out on a fairly flat day at high tide, not many waves and they were hard to catch. 4 of us out - me on my 7ft4 and 3 older guys on long boards (all 9ft6+) ...one guy said to me 'its so nice to be here instead of Sydney, if this was Sydney there would be 50 people' and my first thought was 'yes, but you guys are taking all the waves by reason of being 15ft deeper than me, so it makes no difference to me, I'm not getting any waves anyway'

then I thought 'how would Big H cope with this in Bali' and just dropped in started paddling really early

[Big H]

That board is very similar in shape and dimensions to my 8 foot fungun but I ride it as a quad. Getting into waves early depends on lots of things. The wave first and foremost waves are not all the same so they require different tactics. The board helps but skill in paddling the board helps more. Then there is positioning which is the real trick to it. Work on your positioning as related to the individual wave you are catching. Try paddling from different parts of the wave and see what allows you the best entry although with a crowded lineup this may not be possible. I generally try first right at the peak then next try inside of the peak a few feet, then next try a few feet deep to the peak. I guess in a crowded lineup you can watch what the good surfers do but they can probably paddle better than you.

Point is on this board, I AM the best paddler in the lineup.

I'm pretty familiar with the waves at the breaks I frequent and my paddling is definitely above average....issues I have are age (:lol:) and endurance (geezers tire quicker, esp. those working split shifts the last 20 odd years).......the point is that I can go and catch the waves much earlier than with a shortboard on those same breaks, not that I can now catch waves. As far as lining up, it's on or behind the peak as deep as I can go since this board will allow taking off deeper than most in the lineup which will mean out of the 50+ people on a given day I will be able to snag one of the 3-4 good set waves coming through and be up early enough to shout off any drop ins hopefully. Testing out yesterday I found that I could get in nearly as early as my HP longboard and could take off more critically than I could with that same HP board.....still relatively benign when compared to late drops with a shorter, less voluminous board but you can't have everything.

[waikikikichan]

It's a Hawaiian board, shaped by Kimo Greene (do you know him/of him WKK? )

Kimo Greene is a well known and respected shaper. Some of his boards has these super deep Double Barrel channel running down the back. Lot of bigger guys go to him for boards.

[Big H]

It's a Hawaiian board, shaped by Kimo Greene (do you know him/of him WKK? )

Kimo Greene is a well known and respected shaper. Some of his boards has these super deep Double Barrel channel running down the back. Lot of bigger guys go to him for boards.

This board looks like a relatively shallow single concave to flat to rolled vee double out the back, not very deep. This board would probably be unwieldy for a smaller person, but for me I'm pretty stoked. Seems like I lucked on a good shape/size for me.

[oldmansurfer]

Initially when I started using a longboard I had occasional problems pearling on the drop on steep waves but eventually it was really only when I was airborne or nearly so on extreme vertical faces. Switching to a board with a pointed rockered nose did not help with that. I could do really steep drops with my 9'6" longboard on both big steep and small shoredump waves, however I love my 8 foot board, totally, it's so versatile. I can't imagine you ever having a love for a board like that but then you never know Hey but then I am not entirely monogamous with my boards ........

[Mohawk918]

i like the color of the purple one. I got a LB with low rocker and i hated it. I got another with way more rocker and like it a lot more. Dont know why cause im not pro enough.

[Big H]

So a couple months on.....I rotate around with other boards but managed about 20 more sessions with this board in various conditions. As far as my desire to find a more nimble, good paddling longboard that can be surfed in a range of conditions, this board fits the bill as well as it can.....doesn't really like small and gutless, needs a little power to wake up but I've really been enjoying it and has made long paddles a lot easier.....I got a 4.5" center fin and will try it today as a thruster.....I didn't care for it as a 2+1 with a 6" center fin and 3.75" side bites. The rest of the time I've ridden as a single.

Good times!