I ride a longboard

i love longboarding i just never do it. i think itd be sick to get an early take off on a DOH winter day and just cruise through a barrel!

 

I ride a longboard about 90% of the time. I like the glide, I like getting into the wave early, and I like the longer rides. Recently, I was surfing at Witch's Rock in C.R. with some friends (who are all shortboarders), but I still had a great time in 6-8 foot surf on my 9'0" performance longboard. I have great respect for my shortboarding friends and try to lay off the peak in cases like the one mentioned above, but when it is all said and done, I usually catch more waves and have more fun on a longboard. To quote Allan Weisbecker in his book "In Search of Captain Zero": "I've taken to riding a longboard nearly exclusively these days,... Truth is, 90% of all surfing is done in the less than ideal conditions of size, speed and power that best suit most shortboard surfing."

 

In smaller surf, I ride an 8-foot 7S Superfish XL. I rode a longboard for awhile and loved its wave-catching ability but, truth be told, i never could get the thing to turn. I mean, like, at all... The Superfish markets itself as being able to "paddle like a longboard and turn like a shortboard" and in my experience it pretty much performs as advertised. If you can get over the fact that the 7S Superfish rolled off a factory production line in Thailand, I've found it to be a really fun board to ride.

And if anyone has any advice on how to get a 9 foot Robert August design longboard to turn, I'm all ears. It's an absolutely beautiful board, i just feel like I'm surfing on an aircraft carrier...

Stay stoked.

 

i longboard. i have a 9'10'' tim nolte performance noserider and a 9' walden epoxy magic model. those are the only two boards i have currently so i use them in everything haha. i also like the glide, early entry, and long rides

 

fins fins fins

just change to a narrower fin and a little extra wumph on the bottom turn and it will turn just fine. fin choice makes a HUGE difference in longboard performance. it can make a dog of a board into something really fun when you get the right match!
try the "wingnut" model fin or something similar, fairly narrowbase, very narrow in middle, then a bulb shape at end. plenty of hold for even my 10 footer, but way loosened up over the original fin.

 

i ride a 8'6 wavestorm about 50% of the time. thats kind of like longboarding right? i took it out while i was between fish and fell in love. next step is picking up a real 9'+ longboard YEW! where i live, 50% of the time its just not worth it to ride something small. peace

 

grew up a short boarder, got older and fatter, took to the longboard...love it, I go back to a thick, longboard inspired custom 7 plus shorter board at times...and when I feel fit, I dig out my kids 6'10", but I love the glide of my 9 footer. I take it on the big days. Yes, sometimes, I wipe bad, but oh well, it is part of the experience. As long as I dont get in the way of my brothers. And I too was inspired by my good friend Captain Zero. He can tear up the long board..just as long as he stays quiet and does not preach...lol...sorry Alan. Anyway, longboard keeps the old school vibe relevant. A good day on the big boy harkens back to my youth at the piers of 1970s SoCal. That my friend, is a true surfing moment now a days...flashback to the carefree funloving soul of the thing.

 

This was the best longboard I've ever ridden. It was shaped for the Mexican pipeline. The swallow tail made it turn like a shorter board, then when you ran to the nose, it just settled in. Super responsive front or backside. I could ride any wave on it. Simply magic.

I'm hoping to repair, or replicate it.

http://www.swellinfo.com/forum/asset.php?fid=4893&uid=13865&d=1337532967

 

Chicks like Big Fat Sticks!!!!!

 

I surf longboards almost exclusively. I have a custom 9'4" SOD that I surf most days, but when it is bigger than chest to shoulder, I have one of Tony Sylvagni's old 9'0" Perfections that handles the drops and holds on the the face a lot better.

 

i have a big stick....

i have a 9'"4 dewey weber performance that had a big 9inch flag-style fin and it was like being on a rail... hahaa...it only went straight. i changed it out to a 9 inch standard and it loosened a bit but was still slow to turn. my friend suggested a banana shaped fin made out here by harbour surfboards called their HP-1. http://www.shopharboursurf.com/shop/hp-fin-harbour-fin/
the thin middle flexes on a turn but the fin is long enough (9.5) to add stability on the straight. my board turns like something 2 feet shorter. i LOVE it. if you wanna loosen yer stick, try the banana....

 

If you enjoy surfing.... Period.... You should have a Longboard in your quiver. I ride a "Local Shaped" 9' HP Quad SurfCulture..........Can't beat it.

 

I had a similar epiphany. For the last four years that I've had it, I've been riding my longboard with a lone single fin, and last march I was cleaning out the car and found the side bites that came with it, I said what the heck and slapped them on and it made a world of difference. I can turn much smoother and casual and I don't bog down on the mushy stuff as much as I used to.

I need to do more experimenting with fins

 

Currently all of my boards are shortboards. When I used to live within walking distance to the beach I loved longboarding on the small days, but now that I live inland and can't fit a longboard in my car I just stick with the shortboards. My wife and I are hoping to move back to a beach town this year and I would love to pick up an old school noserider. They make the small, mushy days much more fun.

 

i have a 9' but mostly ride a 9'4" and am going up to 9'6" I also have an 8' Walden. i don't go out when it's much over waist anyway.

 

yo zaGaffer,

been under many a knife, currently battling knee **** again..both knees and feet are shot. Trouble getting up on board...but the Sea is our medicine...I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers or whatever works for you. Feel good soon brother.

 

some years ago...a dude across the street from my parents house saw me skating on a visit, and asked if I still surfed. He proceeded to open up a dusty garage and bust out a late 60's Hansen cardiff. He bought it new years ago to impress a girl. Could not fit it in his convertible MG and hung it up in the rafters. Only saw the water two times...mint...cherry, sweet. 40 bucs for a board that I have been offered several thousand dollars in the water. It is big and heavy and I only bust it out on special days. It is scary to strap that on top of a car and haul it down the mountain to the drink. But man oh man, they dont make um like that. It catches everything. I even bombed big storm swells. Taught my lil brothers to surf on it. It hangs above my bar and is still an eye catcher. Maybe she should see some water time soon. We call her "Big Red" and a million dollars would not fetch her from my clutch.