I wish I could say these are shots of Rich making my latest board, but they aren't. These are from 2004 when he made me a wide diamond tail, single fin, 8'4" transitional shape. Kind of that Innermost Limits vibe—still one of the best surf films ever. Great soundtrack too. I've always been into the fuller-outlined boards and smooth carving from that era. That Australian, Greenough, Nat, Spencer, Lynch, etc. vibe!
Anyway, I'm not necessarily against machines, but I'm more into handmade customs. So, just thought I'd post these shots of Toby in hands-on mode. This board was a great utility vehicle; I pretty much rode it all the time for a while. It was heavily glassed and had substantial volume so there was plenty of inertia when you locked in, feet in the middle in full trim. I actually just sold that board to a friend in anticipation of two new orders. I'll talk more about those later.
2 comments:
Tell me more about the board if you would. I'm very interested in that eight to eight and a half foot range boards, especially after seeing that opening sequence from innermost limits! love that. thanks
Anon,
Thanks for commenting on the post. I rode bigger sized boards for many years. Not all were traditional longboards, but I did have those too. From day one, I have always been interested in fluid, down-the-line surfing; I'm not manuever-oriented. I do like to climb and drop, cut back, etc., but my prime objective is to keep the flow happening. Mid-range boards do this really well, especially single fins with flatter rocker. As long as you know where to put them on the wave, they just tend to go. So, you can turn from the tail or stand in trim from the center in a more carving approach. That's what the guys in Innermost Limits are doing so well and why I really love that movie. Plus, it's George Greenough! If you don't have it, it's worth a purchase.
The board being made in the photos was 8'4, pretty damn flat, wide diamond tail. It was heavy, fairly thick and the tail was also pretty thick. It was all about drop, trim-up, flow down the line, cutback, repeat. It was good in surf that was very small up to about head high; better in more open-faced waves rather than peaky beachbreaks.
Hope this helps.
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