You know what’s nice? The trend away from surfboards that only work for a select few of the best surfers on the planet. Remember those tiny little things? Paper-thin and rocker like botas picudas, they only worked if you were surfing perfect waves or happened to be Kelly Slater. Still, though, as with all trends, Average Joes saw Kelly at Desert Point in 1995 or whatever and thought that if they were to get the same surfboard, they too could surf like Kelly. Sadly, that’s not the case.
But over the last decade or so, there’s been a movement towards surfboards that are a little more forgiving. A little more foam, a little more width, a little less rocker. Surfboards for not-so-perfect waves and not-so perfect surfers. One such surfboard that’s just been released is the Channel Islands G Skate, designed by Britt Merrick and Dane Gudauskas.
“You can see the G Skate in action here from the recent Demo Tapes’ Hawaii edit,” the Channel Islands team wrote. “During their month long stay in Hawaii, it was pumping nearly the entire time, which allowed them to feel out a range of possibilities with this shorter rail design. As you’ll see, this skatey-style board allowed them to draw some very creative lines.”
The whole reason the G Skate exists is because the Gudangs and Britt wanted to make a surfboard that turned well in good waves, but had enough foam to skate past those inevitable bad sections.
“There was one major stipulation during its development: the G Skate had to still perform at the highest levels possible,” the CI team continued. “They achieved this by shortening their typical shortboard rail line by five inches and adding curves and contours in key places that would keep them on top of the water and not hinder their turns in any way. Adding a 2 + 1 (twin plus trailer) fin set-up tied the whole concept together.”
The G Skate has a whole pile of speed hidden within its shape. With a light single to double concave, a low entry rocker, a forward leaning wide point, and rails that are generally seen on a contemporary shortboard, the G Skate looks like an interesting wave-riding vehicle.
Of course, riding the G Skate isn’t going to make you surf like Dane Gudauskas, but it might — just might — make you have a little more fun.
