I’m in the market for something a little bit more high performance oriented in HH+ waves. Curious to hear what you guys have to say and use for those days. A lot of my bigger wave boards are and have been more of a wider nosed template with wide points forward of center. Think Roberts Dreamcatcher. I’m also pretty generous with my volume with around 29-30cl @ 5’9” and 165/70lbs. A friend is encouraging me to drop some volume and I’m interested in getting something a little more “hp-oriented” with a more pulled in nose and small squash or thumb tail. What do you ride?
In my very humble and novice opinion and from what I see the good surfers riding around here on those point days, this Beal Cougar seems to be really popular and they make mush look like Pipeline. Seriously. There are three that I know of in the low 6’ and very light volume wise but I don’t know what he does for bottoms or fin set ups as I believe that’s rider preference. I will say my daughters is 7’2”, light as hell and works even for me, when it gets quick and steep enough to get it moving. Scary fast if your not prepared or suck like me, but turns on a nickle and doesn’t feel small at all. But then again, I don’t know too much besides what I see and learn - just saying this design seems to work really well. Don’t know who makes it from major boart designers but I’m sure some do. And your obviously a charger with some time under your belt - talked to a shaper? Seems to me the best way to get what YOU know you need.
I'm trending back towards more performance oriented boards after spending a lot of the past 5 years surfing mini-simmons / stubby shapes when its smaller (like mushy/under chest high), and egg shapes when its larger (steeper/hollower/over shoulder high). I love those shapes and they work for me, but change is good. At 55 YO, I'm never going to go back to riding boards under 19" wide so if by "HP" you mean like a 6'0" x 18 5/8" thruster, then more power to you... I shaped two of what i would consider more performance oriented boards, but tried to keep features that would make them work for me, and make the transition less abrupt from the other boards i like to ride. for softer waves under shoulder high: 5'11" x 19 3/4" x 2 3/8" five fin squash tail. wide squash tail like an 80's shape/dumpster diver. Love it...it preserves the glide i've gotten used to but whips around like the SB it basically is. Been riding it for the past month. for hollower waves shoulder high and over: 6'1" x 19 3/4" x 2 7/16" five fin bump wing swallow tail. Basically the same template as the squash but stretched out a couple inches and the pulled in swallow tail gives it more hold than the squash. I rode it a few times last fall/winter/spring in hollow shoulder to hh and it felt great. I like the 5 box setup....having the option to ride as a quad makes the boards more versatile.
6’2” 2 3/8” 20” rounded pin Performance is relative. I’m holding on to a performance shape while trying to still perform. If the waves get good...like head+ and sucking up onto the sandbar I ride that (5’11” 188-195 lbs). Since we are talkingHP, a good 6 foot board shaped proper would be good for you. I rarely step up to HP status on the EC. I have a 6’2” 2 5/8” 20.5” shaped very different that I ride way more. Thinking 6’ 2 1/4” 19 3/4”
Nice Mitch. The benefits of being your own shaper are suite. You get to fine tune it exactly to how you want/need it. I guess when I think HP, I really just think more entry or tail rocker and a more pulled in nose. Something 19+-.5 width wise and 2 3/8” thick is up my alley. I don’t like my boards being so narrow and I like it a little thinner to hold a good rail. I’m really just confused as to what I should be doing size wise. I’ve been riding a 5’10” wide nosed rounded pin up to a couple feet OH. Thinking I’d like to maybe go a little bit thinner in the nose and longer, like 6’0” range but not sure if I need to go more or less volume on a HH+ shtick. It’s nice to have something you can really dive deep in thick waves so I’m leaning towards less, but is float your friend in bigger stuff? I’m way too caught up in the volume game.
I went back to a HP shape last summer. I'm your size and over 40. I went with a squash tail thruster with a big single concave that runs through the whole board. 6'x20x2 1/2. 32ltrs. Went for more float and paddleabilty for bigger days and thick rubber. Duck dives fine. Paddles fast and surfs loose. One thing I would say about hp boards is that you get what you put into it. If your surfing like doody on a particular day your hp board ain't going to help you. But it's the most fun when your on your game with a board like that.
You bring up a good point about rocker. If you get your dims right, and your shaper can dial in the proper rocker, then your experimenting. I have found that less rocker in steeper waves is kinda fun but when it gets good (late, steeper, and hollowed drops), a proper HP board (for you) is nice. I sorta leave that part to shaper...we know what we are trying to accomplish, it just needs to fit your build!!!
I like to hear that. Looking at a board in very similar dims, albeit a tad trimmed down. I feel like I surf better on boards with a little more float than less. Plus we are east coast, heavy wetsuits for half the year. My buddy loves to tell me I’m surfing boards too big but at 29-30 liters in my weight it seems right. Had me second thinking myself at first. But every board I’ve tried under 28 liters I feel like I just couldn’t make work right.
A little more foam in the right place means easier paddling and more wave catching. You can surf longer without gassing. I read an article that put volume as pound per ltr. At 170 lbs, 30 ltrs is 5.6lbs per ltr. 32ltrs is 5.3. You can get more volume by adding thickness under the chest and still keep a thinner rail.
talk to your shaper and let him work his magic. Or you can got a wavestorm, you can get seriously shacked on those things
My shaper is the one encouraging me to drop volume. I’m coming here to get more opinions so I can draw my own conclusions. I have a wavestorm that I get shacked on. Everyone on the EC needs a cheap shore pound board in the quiv.
It’s was put perfectly a few ago. Volume in the right places makes all the diff. And with my inexperienced eye, those volume numbers are very low for your weight imhop. If your narrowing down overall size, you need to counter balance with some volume increase somewhere or now your trying to surf a potato chip. Again, just my dumb pov
Ehhhh. It's all preference. I personally ride the same board as my 5'8 (my everyday good wave "hp").... just beefed up to 6'1, wider and thicker. Lower rocker on both. I feel it helps with paddling and getting in earlier, which on big days is key. Also, it's a solid 6L bigger than my 5'8. Duck dives just fine. The 5'8 is 28L. 6'1 34. I'm only 140. I love that extra float and my lack in weight doesn't hinder my ability to get under. My last point. Why HP on bigger days? Every guy is diffrent ofcourse. But i think most of us can relate to what im about to say. Waist, chest, shoulder, even head high. You open up and surf hard and push your limits and go for the big turns or whatever. But when it's BIG and it's throwing... your not doing that stuff. At least im not. It's a speed run to either not get clipped or pull in and get barreled. So why HP? Doesn't make sense to me. More volume and speed is what you need on those days. For instance, i could ride my 5'8 in anything we get here. No problem. It already has that extra volume built in. But when it's as big as it gets i go for that beefy 6'1 for all the benefits you get in that style wave from more volume. Ofcourse, placement of that volume is just as important. By the way, i know low rocker isn't the norm. But i love it and it's never been an issue with me on takeoffs. The added benefit of paddability is waaaay with it in my opinion
I hear you Bass. Just had a similar discussion with a buddy. I guess I’m looking for more rippability in the shoulder-head range, pushing it a little overhead. When we start getting a couple feet overhead it’s usually gonna end up as some kind of barrel around the areas I surf and I’ll probably want a rounded pin or pin tail. I guess I’m looking for a board that will help me “feel” the power of the medium+ sized waves more. Surf more in the pocket, get more vert, etc. My current boards are very hybrid-esq and I guess I’m after more of a standard shortboard feel. I’m sure my skills are somewhat of a limiting factor, but I’m trying to diversify myself.
At 5'9 and 165, I'm going to agree with your shaper and say come down in volume. If you're looking for a hpsb in HH+waves, you should not be looking at a Dreamcatcher or the like. That's for solid overhead, barreling waves, when all you want to do is get barreled. Jersey waves are not long, roping barrels. So I'd say forget that. And... HH+ waves is not big, overhead Jersey bombs. You know how big it gets... this is for "good waves." Correct? I'd recommend a more typical hpsb template, dims 6'2 x 19 3/4" x 2 5/8". Don't let that thickness full you. Dome the deck a little, stick with a performance rail volume and profile, and go deep single to light double. My preference is for round tails, but you could go squash if you think you can go out and throw buckets in solid 6 foot surf. At that length you can add a touch of nose AND tail rocker and feel confident taking off in what I would consider our state's finest - head high to a foot overhead and clean.
Thanks lbcrew. That sounds about up my alley. I should have clarified my interest. Ideally I’d like to get something that has full range between Shoulder to a *edit* a little OH with a nice wall. And you are right with dreamcatcher acceling in the bigger hollow surf. Got my first couple barrels on that thing. I just want something I can throw around a little more on the days I described. That forward stance on the dc is not very conducive to that, for me at least. I put myself way far forward and cannot jam it off the tail like I want.
Out of all the suggestions- I think LB has the best dims for NJ. Be careful cause our waves are different and a lot of HPSB are geared toward different waves. You know- a lot of those big huge clean days here (that I think your talking about) are very fast and pretty much closing out... so you want to still get in a bit early to have a chance. So take that into consideration. But choose your days wisely as mentioned the best performance will be in those spinning headhigh days here- not the 10-12ft closeouts. Also as LB mentioned - 2 5/8 is just right... 2 1/4 is to low unless your a little kid or pro. And 6'2 in my option is a perfect length. If your looking to pick off the shelf- AJW has (had?) a lot of nice shapes for our waves. I havnt looked lately since I'm really not into it as much... you know, the whole triple pump and turn thing
Quick thought- my aviator pic, from the Ljetty about 5-10 yrs ago, was on one of those spinning HH+ days on a 6'2 AJW HPSB I think pretty much the exact dims and discription as LBcrew mentioned. Super fun day and very memorable. That board used to just slip right into the waves...
