longboarding in big surf

[bluesnowcone]

i love it, but what do you lot think?

[jethrodog]

I wouldn't really say that my 8'6" is a longboard exactly but I try to take it into any surf I can. I am always trying to improve and have fun and that includes big waves as well as little guys. If nothing else it gives me a challange. Even if that challange is trying to walk the next day because my body is so bruised from all my face plants.

[bluesnowcone]

that is how i fell inlove with riding big waves, i went out and it was about 6-7ft amd i wer sh*tting it cas it was the biggest surf iv ever been in, first wave i got i was gobsmaked, the speed you get and the well its just amazing, i dont like surfing waves that if i do big turns i end up kicking out

[jethrodog]

I am all for using the best board for the situation and maybe that means pulling out a shortboard for the bigger, faced waves. But I think you can still have fun on the big ones with a longboard. Especially if you are still closer to the beginner level and want to start moving up in wave size. It gives you that ability to catch the wave easier, can paddle it into postion better (so you get crunched less), and also that security of having a big board that floats really well if you get into a spot of trouble.

[rich r]

"expand to big surf"?

Depends on what size you're talking, as some waves can only be ridden by guns. But if memory serves, big waves were being ridden before the shortboard revolution evolution.

I've been on 12 foot faces, myself, on longboards.

[surfn.punk]

anyone seen big wednesday? Those guys were longboarding on pretty big surf.

[GowerCharger]

well big guns are evolved from the boards developed by the early big wave pioneers who where riding longboards so essentially they are longboards, or at least a different class of board altogether, but definatly not shortboards. Neither regular malibus or thrusters are suited to surfing massive waves.

[Laguna]

Surfers use to longboard on big waves before the shortboard came out. Ive seen loads of videos of longboarders surfing pretty big waves.

[Mitur Bin'esderty]

Surfers use to longboard on big waves before the shortboard came out. Ive seen loads of videos of longboarders surfing pretty big waves.

Yeah..its on riding giants i think near the beginning

[bluesnowcone]

ok point taken, but nowerdays a couple of longboarders iv talked to say when it gets big they take out a shortboard, i dont see the point, it mite take an extra 5 mins to get out but its worth it

[GowerCharger]

depends on what your calling "big", your poll is whether they should plank in big surf or 1-3ft mellow surf. Do you mean over 3ft? as i see it 1-3ft is "small", when you say "big surf" i thought you meant "BIG", as in 2xOH plus. Actually there was some good photos of some longboarders riding double overhead waves in a recent issue of carve, if my scanner was working i would put them up.

The reason (imho) why you dont see many longboarders out when its overhead here is simply that most arent up to it, whereas a competent shortboarder will probably have been surfing reguarly for quite some time alot of the longboarders here have longboards for they either dont surf much or just arent good enough (not all, but most). Also a lot of people own a longboard as part of a quiver, but own it only for the fact it allows them to surf the very small days (summer) and prefer their shortboard.
Amongst the competent longboarders here id say most do go out when its big, theres a break here which picks up a lot of surf which is predominantly surfed by longboarders, and when it gets to a decent size most it gets just as rammed with them if not more rammed

[bluesnowcone]

ok big surf means either 6ft croyed ( steep) or over 10ft, not 6ft and mellow

[Mitur Bin'esderty]

longboard in steep surf....lol..thats hardcore

[rich r]

It's all about the wave.

Really steep, overhead surf isn't conducive to longboarding, typically.

The biggest problem for the longboarder in big surf is getting out back. When I first switched up from shortboarding, it was a pain in the ass, but after a few years, I can now turtle through head high surf and beat half the shortboarders to the lineup.

If you have a steep wave that holds up in head high conditions, you can still longboard it as long as you run down the face sideways from point of take-off, as opposed to dropping in right away - usually not enough rocker to keep your nose out of the water, and if you do, the wind can tend to blow you up if you expose too much bottom.

But usually you don't hit surfable conditions like that, anyway. Bigger waves that hold up better are usually a bit thicker and less steep (exception: slabs. But then, you wouldn't bring a knife to a gunfight, would you?). So, sure, I've been in overhead surf with a longboard and haven't had a problem. With the size and speed, even on the longboard you can pull off some good moves. But all those grom just want to charge hard and carve nowadays, so they go shortboarding, regardless.

[Otter]

Agreed with rich r,

Don't take a knife to a gunfight...

Which is exactly what I did last December 23, at Sunset Cliffs in San Diego (Abs). Easilly DO, steep, hollow waves. Bad time to be on a Longboard.

Then again, I've ridden DO waves on my Longboard that were easy to catch on the outside, big mushy brutes, but man, they changed inside, got steep and hollow. Some of my best waves.

Just remember, take a gun to a gunfight, and a knife to a knife fight.

[LuckyLongboard]

longboards can go on anything with enough skill ....remember, before shortboards only longboards existed...guess what they rode the bigwaves with then?

[bluesnowcone]

on thursday its was only about 2 -5 ft and occasionaly clean waves came through, but if you went pass the peir you got blown across to much and the wave broke just on the end of the peir so as you can imagin i had some steep take offs on one ocasion my board was bouncing about a meter up and down, but i worked on my take offs, and by the end of the evening i was dropping in and turning befor the wave broke which was had on steep surf, if i can do that on a longboard most people should be abel to.

[bluesnowcone]

today i rode my longboard in a shore dump which almost barreld, extreeeeeemily scetchy but well worth the nocks and bumps

[surf patrol]

(posted by SC5-Charles)

I ride a 9'0"x22 3/8x2 7/8 epoxy longboard. I'm 5'9 160 so to me this is a longboard.

I'm out in the Los Angeles area but on Thanksgiving Day, I went out to El Porto (Manhattan Beach) and surfed the biggest waves I've ever surfed, 5-8 footers. Usually we get 2-3 mushers but that day I was sh*tting bricks at the lineup. I'm still a kook (only 2 months experience) and unsure that I would paddle for a wave at all... it took 20 minutes to paddle out to the lineup to begin with so I didn't know if I would return to the lineup if I caught a wave...

Upon admitting to a stranger at the lineup that I was chickensh*t, I spotted a wave and just started paddling for no reason. I can not tell you to this day what implored me to do this because it was the biggest wave I had ever tried for. But once I got on it, gliding down the face and looking behind and seeing how massive it had gotten, the speed, the glory, the pee running down my legs, riding like hell to get away from the breaking whitewater... I was hooked!

I paddled back out and got another 2 before the last wave pummelled me and put me in a compromising position in the crash zone. My board was snapped in half and I had to swim back to shore...

This photographer was out there that day and got pics like these (not me in pic) http://sickshots.com/galleriescal/elpor ... rto544.php

Heres what's left of my board:



Maybe it's just me but being farther out in the lineup meant I could get on my feet long before the wave got too steep, putting me in a better position to ride the wave...

[bluesnowcone]

im willing to take that risk