Riding the right board for the wave

[BenConsidine]

Ahh this is such an interesting one! You’re right I feel in your take on Devons words though, he may be talking about it more from a feel and joy of surfing approach rather than a model for progression. Certainly does not hurt to learn to ride a mid-length as well can be great to round out our approach with that, but consistency and focussed practise are the hallmarks of progress which is really hard in surfing because conditions can change all the time and we love the feeling of different boards hahah!

But I’d say you’re exactly right, trying to get some increased hours on the same board and practising the same stuff can be immensely helpful for your progression, just being a bit more focussed on that.

I think @pete has some different boards he’s been experimenting for different conditions?

And you should also check out @adam_stevenson new design and with another coming along the way! He’s building boards to suit different feels and surfing approaches 🤙🤙🤙

[Peter Cracknell]

Hi Paul, I had the same question as you, which board to ride in what conditions.

Recently I’ve been experimenting with different longboards (I have chosen to move away from short boards while I am developing my longboard fundamentals). I have settled for two boards. The first is a 9’4″ more performance board, 2+1 fin set up with a pin tail for bigger days eg head high, focusing on ability to do big turns and a bit of cross stepping to the nose. The second is a 9’6″ single fin, it is described as a performance log, with a 10″ fin that works well for both getting to the nose and turning in all conditions up to head hight and handles mushy, lumpy, windy conditions.

@BenConsidine gave me some good advice on the different types of longboards and what they are best suited to.

What longboards are you riding Paul?

[BenConsidine]

And locking in some sick noserides on the performance log!!!

[Peter Cracknell]

Yew

[paul]

Hi Pete – my longboard is a 9’2 hobie “fusion” model. It as a 2+1 setup, some vee in the tail, squash tail and some edge in the rails. Got some photos in the what I ride forum. I think it’s supposed to be a bit of a hybrid between classic and high performance. I ride it as a single fin with a 9.75” 4a fin. I am about 190 lbs and 5’10, so I think it may be a little small to be a super stable noseriding machine in small gutless wind swell, but I’m hoping to improve positioning and technique to make it happen. I am a big fan of pulled in/pin tails.

[Peter Cracknell]

Hi Paul, your board sounds a good option. If you are after another different board to add to your quiver I thought I would mention that I tried a number of different boards, when I had the opportunity, to see how they went. Eg very high performance 9’1″, 9’6″ noseriding log, 9’3″ hybrid. This is a good way to see what feels right for you with out spending lots of money.

[paul]

Thanks Pete. I love trying different longboards when I get the chance. When I travel I usually rent/borrow a longboards, but usually in totally different waves than at home. I have a trip planned for October so maybe I’ll get to try some other stuff as well. I’ve also been keeping my eyes open for a beat up old log on craigslist in case something pops up at a good price.

[Brian.James]

At the moment, I DO ride a longboard in all conditions. However, I skip the big barreling days here in NJ cause it’s not quite my style at the moment. I would love to get a mid length to take out on those days tho.

As for right board for right conditions, Iv’e been more experimenting with right board for the right location. My next youtube video will actually be about this. I decided to size down my board a bit after talking to wayne rich and devon howard (that’s what the video will roughly be about). Iv’e recently got a 9’2″ CI log and I’d call that somewhere in between high performance and traditional, maybe leaning more towards traditional. But it works real well so far in NJ beach breaks in many different sizes. So until I get more boards, I’ll be on the ci log most days and my 9’6″ chingona on smaller days!

[Peter Cracknell]

Hi Brian,

Looking forward to the video on board selection according to conditions and location 🤙

[SurferAl]

Like you, Paul, my #1 priority is hanging 5.

I have two boards, a 9’8″ Stewart Tipster, and a 9′ Retro Noserider epoxy with a 7.5″ fin pushed forward. Since my intermediate goal is to do better carving turns, I’m mostly riding the shorter board right now. The Tipster is more stable but hard to turn, for me.

[Tommy.TenToes]

I used to longboard only…All conditions!
Mainly because I could only afford one board and wowza can longboards hurt your pocket!
Snapping a performance longboard meant a few months of no fun whilst saving for another one

The last 6yrs or so I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to choose boards and I really do think it has helped my longboarding, my overall surfing, and my enjoyment!

There’s a CJ Nelson podcast somewhere where he says something along the lines of “If you’re not choosing the right board for a given day, you’re not doing it right”

Now he has got a business to push, but there is a truth in there…in my opinion

Which board is going to give you the most enjoyment on a given day?

Which board is going to help you learn a given skill set quickest? (maybe to then use that skill set on a longboard)

Which, again, will lead to more enjoyment…

#surfeverything

[Peter Cracknell]

Hi Tommy,

Rhanks for your thoughts and great to have a focus on enjoyment in surfing while on the learning journey.

I’m interested in your comment on different boards to learn different skills. Can you expand on this a bit more? Is there benefit in riding a mid length for example (apart from ripping waves haha) for longboarding?

[Tommy.TenToes]

Absolutely!

I would never recommend a board to anyone and say it’s their perfect board…
I always give recommendations based on the skillset someone is working on

Let’s say your go to board is a 9’6 log but you want to learn how to do re-entries
I might suggest something like a 9’0 to help make it easier to start with before then trying them on the bigger board

On the flip-side if your everyday board is a 9’0 hp board but you’re struggling to noseride then I’d recommend something bigger and flatter

You want to learn to pump, do your first air, layback or to get barrelled…It’s easier on a shorter board to start with 🙂

[Peter Cracknell]

Good point Tommy and thanks for the explanation. 🤙

[BenConsidine]

Yes!!! 🙌👏👏👏

[Joseph Santa Maria]

This is a really interesting topic. Rather than have a quiver of all different sizes of boards, It’s been helpful for me to focus on different types of longboards around similar dimensions geared for different purposes or different waves. I was searching for a perfect all arounder for a long time and that was super fun and helpful, but now I’m more interested in having boards that are tuned for certain waves or spots like Brian mentioned.

Generally I’ve found that longer and flatter boards are fun for points and reefs and boards with rocker and edge are more fun for beach breaks regardless of board and wave size.

Reefs and points are usually higher quality and you can ride a variety of boards, classic, performance, hybrid, glider, or anything really, where I think having a longboard that works great at a beach break on an average day is a slightly different animal.

Most boards will work in quality waves, it’s when the waves are marginal or over shoulder high that I think the “performance” or “hybrid” boards have a slight edge on the “classic” design elements. The difference between a board with a little bit of roll and 5050 rails and one with a flat bottom and edge is very noticeable though. If you are really into the feeling of glide and being more connected to the wave a more performance board may not be your thing even in a pitchy beach break.

I really liked Ben’s video describing different longboard types and Brian has one trying two boards of the same model at different lengths. I think those are both very helpful vids.

For me I think I could get away with 2 boards, a more traditional board around 10’+ and a performance or hybrid longboard a little shorter, 9’6”-10”. I think it would be hard not to have a 5050 rail board for the special feeling and stability/glide and also hard not to have a performance board that doesn’t fight you on big days and has a good smooth cutback. My two cents! I wish I could have one of every board in every size lol.

• This reply was modified 2 years ago by  Joseph Santa Maria.

[BenConsidine]

This response is an absolute clinic 🙌👏🙏 , don’t know if there’s a word I’d push back on, having the different designs for points/reefs vs beachies was something that took me a LONG time to come around to, but my surfing has reaped the benefits in so many ways from this 🔥

[Joseph Santa Maria]

Thanks Ben, glad to hear I’m not so far off! I love nerding out about boards. I have had a funny journey to this opinion since I live really close to a fairly mediocre beach break and surf it the most, but love the longer classic boards and would really prefer to be surfing points an reefs more often. I used to try surfing classic style boards in almost all conditions at my local bb, but I realized it wasn’t as fun for me except for on really clean days or early mornings. Once the wave quality dips a bit the 5050 rails don’t give much assistance! Love all types of boards though. I wish the waves were a little more perfect by me!

[Peter Cracknell]

Great insights 🤙

Thanks for sharing