Unless you’re a professional, more fun=better surfing.
I’ve been surfing a very strange board recently. It’s made of wood, it’s hollow, it has the roundest rails ever, almost zero rocker, and it’s by far the thickest board I’ve ever surfed. It surfed like a door when I first rode it. But now that I’ve got it halfway figured out, it’s the best board for bigger, sloping waves that I’ve ever owned. You can read about it here.
For a long time, I surfed it as a single fin, which I sucked at. Then, a few days ago, I decided I’d throw in two little finlets and make it into a thruster of sorts–and the whole thing changed. It got me thinking about all these strange new boards on the market. Sure, they’re not the tried, tested, and true typical shortboards, but depending on where you live, those boards suck. There’s nothing worse than watching some poor sap pumping his ass off on a mush-burger, desperately trying to get enough speed to bang off one shitty turn. And surprisingly, THAT is the norm. Instead of getting boards that actually work on everyday waves, many people choose to pick up a board much more suited for say, Indonesia. And unless you live in somewhere like Indonesia, that’s dumb. You’re cheating yourself out of so much fun!
One of the strange things about this strange board I’ve been surfing is that it basically has no nose. And you know what? I don’t need it, at least not for the waves I surf the most. In fact, not having a nose makes it much better–because it’s so wide up front, it paddles more like a longboard than anything else.
I recently watched a clip about a board called the Anaconda by Starboard. It’s their take on Tomo’s insane looking surf crafts, and I’d wager that it’s probably more along the lines of what the average surfer on average waves needs to have way more fun. With a flatter rocker and a double concave, along with a small lift in the tail, the Anaconda looks like it’d get you into those average waves with ease, while still having that release that a lot of smaller wave boards don’t have. The only thing I can see that’s wrong with it (for my surfing, at least) is the quad setup. I’ll never understand why all boards don’t come with a five fin set up–surf it as a thruster, a quad, or a twinnie, if you like. At least the option is there, right?
Gimme five. Come on.
I don’t get paid to surf. I just want to catch a lot of waves, stay up high, go as fast as I can, and blast a good turn now and then. I have no interest in getting in as many turns as I can, counting off each one as though they’re a measure of my performance. My measurement is how good I feel after I kick out or get smoked. And unless you’re getting judged, yours should be, too.
The Anaconda from Starboard Surf on Vimeo.
