Kelly is a high-performance surfer who likes high-performance waves and a high-performance surfboard. Photo: Firewire
Kelly Slater is the epitome of a “high-performance surfer.” Even with the kids these days and their astounding aerial progression, the 53-year-old, 11-time world champion is keeping up admirably. He’s always been very involved with the surfboard manufacturing process, and recently he and Mike Woo released a brand new sled called the Spaceship.
It is not a surfboard for the middling surfer riding average waves. Instead, Woo and Slater decided to build a surfboard “built to perform in quality conditions.”
This is not the first time Woo and Slater have put their heads together. The last time was the Great White Twin, but this time they wanted to go a little more traditional. Traditional, but refined. The Spaceship first got under Slater’s feet during a handful of memorable sessions at Kirra, a wave that exposes all of a surfer’s flaws.
“This board was developed in Bali, Indonesia over the course of a few months, surfing day in and day out with Mike Woo,” said Slater. “In the type of waves you’re getting barreled and doing long carves. People might remember a clip of me from Australia — probably my most replayed clip ever – that barrel-to-cutback combination at Kirra. I think that wave more than any exemplifies what this board does well: barrels and carves.”
The announcement of the existence of the Spaceship was first made back in October, but now it’s being made in something called Proflex Technology. The Spaceship is the material’s debut.
“Proflex uses a lightweight EPS core with an engineered carbon cage to control flex and rebound, delivering a lively, responsive feel straight off the rack, without the stiffness or break-in time common to full-carbon boards,” the press release continues. “The construction is designed to maintain performance longer while increasing durability.”
That’s a good thing, assuming it all works as it should. High-performance boards aren’t generally the boards that last the longest. Lighter glassing, thinner foam — boards made for the highest levels of surfing aren’t really made for some heavy footed stink bugger who belly rides over the rocks. One has to assume that this one isn’t, either, but at least if some heavy footed stink bugger does belly ride the Spaceship over the rocks, his chances are better of walking away with an intact surfboard. He still won’t surf like Kelly Slater, but only Kelly can do that.
