C.J. Nelson knows what kind of surfboards he likes to ride. He likes to ride any and all, of course, but he’s got a preference. That preference, as it should, depends on the type of wave he’s surfing. And more often than not, the everyday surfer isn’t surfing something super hollow or incredibly steep. The everyday surfer is surfing everyday waves.
They’re hoping that they’re better than everyday waves, yes, but if everyday waves were insanely good every day, well… those insanely good days would just become everyday days. Can’t have the sweet without the sour, as they say, and in surfing’s case, even the sour days are pretty dang sweet.
“When I moved down to Oceanside and started surfing beach breaks and windy swell that you don’t really get in Santa Cruz, ” he says, “I knew that I needed to re-invent the Outlier to meet my needs living down here in Southern California, surfing the beach breaks.”
His 7’0 Outlier is a good board for that. It’s got a pile of skate to carry you through the flat spots and a shrunken outline with a wider tail to help it work better in weaker waves. Those flat spots between those pocket sections? A breeze. C.J., however, is quick to point out that the Outlier ain’t just for junky days. It works well in good waves, too, but the new design is “specialized for the daily conditions found at average beach breaks around the world.”
