14 days: Testing a new Al Merrick

So, last night I was in Encinitas at my friends new place. He has a decent quiver, but NEVER surfs anymore. Last year, he bought a Brand new, 6'0, channel islands Flyer (O-side Surfride Model), with a Swallow tail and a Quad fn system....

So, after our long conversation back and forth about Al Merrick, I told my friend that I was confiscating his board for two week. I plan on riding it in every condition, everyday for 14 days and report my finding.

This shortboard is substantially thicker than my high performance boards, and I have never really toyed around with anything other than thurster shortboards...

I will take a picture of it on my digital camera and post it as well...

This will be my first experience on a Merrick for more than one session. First real testing of a Quad....

I plan on surfing beach break, jetty, point, reef.... I am most excited on the reefs.

I will keep an update on this post.

 

I agree that my review could be skewed by a history of thruster use, but I will primarily be surfing this board in multiple conditions at the same spots. The reefs and points will only work a few times in a 14 day window... So the results will hopefully be objective.

Day One: Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
Conditions: 3-5 ft HH sets, light offshore at the beginning, turning to about 3-5 kt onshore by the end...

The tide was 2.7 feet at 9:05am at the start and rising slowly to about 3.8 1.5 hours later at the end...

First few waves: I actually was able to get on the first few set waves that I offered at. It was a peaky day with a wedgy takeoff, followed by a mushy middle section to float and then a racing inside bowl section....

The take off was a little hesitated. It felt like when all 4 fins caught, I would get held up a second. So the first couple take offs were a bit late, but it was actually a good thing. The fins locked in longer at the peak of the wave on the take off. Then it would lock in on a very good line right away eventually gaining tons of speed on the decent. I was able to backdoor a few sections with a a very commited line...

So the take offs were different, but good. It is also a little more foam then I am used to so that was a big factor...

Bottom turns... Right off the bat I felt a huge difference. I took a very steep hard angled frontside bottom turn off my first wave, and when I hit the low point of the turn, I could feel my heel side fins pop out, and the board squirelled, and I lost speed for a second. They didnt complete lose control, but it took an ankle tweak to line back up on the face...

Top turning. I was very surprised at the responsiveness that the board had at the top. The eggaderated bottom turns due to the quad setup had me approaching top turns less vertically than I normally would, but when my frontside 2 fins would release at the top, the board turned and released very nicely...

I was never able to swing it around, but as long as you angle the board right, it had plenty of juice at the top. I didnt land any airs, but I tried a frontside air and ended up launching out over the flats. I had to bail, but that was surfer error, not the board, had I angled it a little less drastically, it would have lined up well...

Turning on the face.... EWWW... this is where I was not happy. I litterally slid the board out completely out of control when I tried to pull the tail around on a mushy face. The fins released and the things went dead... That is pretty much what I expected....

I totalled about 15 waves or so, and everything went well for the most part with the exception of one bad turn due to misunderstanding the board on a mushball. But Ya gotta try it I guess just to make sure it WONT work.

Day 1:
PROS: Easy to paddle. It locks in on a good line, right under the lip as you backdoor a wave. Very Easy to Land and finish tricks. Every big floater or hard top turns I ended up landing. The fins really catch the water right away and make it easy to ride it out in very turbulant water. Light and quick enough to get out of the water... While descending, it gains speed rapidly..

Cons: Turning. It calls for a larger turning radius so that the fin's integrity are not compromised, which takes adjusting, but it sets up for less elivated turns... Does not angle well while burying the rails. It is almost a must to grab you back rail to initiate a hard cutback from the top on a steep face. It does not roll from rail to rail well... Slow, hesitated take off (Probably not good on the low tide reef days where Inverted and steeper drops are required)

Over all, a fun day... So far, I will have to do some adjustments, but I have a feeling this board will perform even better when its a little smaller out.

 

Here are a few photos that I took of the board. I cannot find this model online anywhere. Not sure if it is a custom spin off of the Flyer II, but it is a flyer F

 

Day Two: Thursday, November 11, 2010

Surf Report: 3-4 ft and clean. light onshore (2-4kt)
Location: Beach Break. Same as yesterday... Slightly smaller today, chest to HH and cleaner.

Total waves: About 15 again.

I applied a little different technique than yesterday based on my initial findings. The faces and sections were cleaner and it was less wedgy. More long lined up walls with makable sections...

I was able to get a little smaller turning radius by keeping my center of gravity over the board as I did steep turns. You can't really go free weight and lay back in your turns... No need for arm digs, cause when those side fins release, if will squirel, so I had much better results by doing a little bitter longer turns, with a very commited line. Today I didnt lose the board because I didnt try and tweak the ankles and pull the tail around...

I got vertical on the face more today, and initiated the top turn about 2/3 of the way up, which worked great. Because the turns take a little longer and are more hesitated, it left a nice spray off the top by the time the board was turned back down... You just have to compensate your turns... You can't try and pop your fins out the top as much, you just turn sooner and they hug the top, never releasing but keeping all your speed.

I still had trouble with high steep lines, you have to take a wider, longer bottom turn around sections, or stay horizontal and float over the...

As I pumped on the face, trying to stay high, it was pushing me down, want to decent more.

Day two Pros: Getting the feel for it more. The fins are actually helpful if used properly. I landed a nice floater with my fins dropping out into the flats first (landed it backwards), and they caught and swung around without tossing me. The 4 fins are VERY stable when all engauged... But they just dont rotate quickly... You get a nice spray if you stay upright and more vertical in your stance, keeping your center of gravity towards the middle of the board...

Cons: Still had to grab rail on a few long cutbacks. I pigdogged a backside barrel today and the thing eventually pushed me out doggy door style in the closeout section... I grabbed rail trying to keep a really tight horiztonal line and the fins caught and pushed me more towards the beach.... Speed off the top was lacking unless all four fins were engauged....

Over all, the performance was similar to yesterday. Got a barrel today, and I feel like the board blew it for me, but It was a fast tube section.... Maybe i just angled it wrong but the 4 fins definately didnt want to stay up on the face, they want to catch and drive down....

The board did have really nice results on the smaller set waves. It held its line and maintained speed (mostly cause of the tail and overall foam volume), but that was nice...

Hoping for some different conditions tomorrow. Maybe a little more racey. I want to try and get some more radical turns done off steeper sections to see what happens....

 

I absolutely agree that the overall shape and foam is the main factor with the vertical application. Its just that the quad fins dont help the situation. I feel like that middle fin would allow me to push harder and turn sharper cause that middle fin is catching. I can feel the side fins pop out right in the point of the bottom turn where I primarily coil up and get all my power for projecting back up. Then it is basically the same idea on the top turn. The four fins dont make as much difference on the top turn, which is why i figured it out today, you can just keep centered and throw all your weight right on the top of the tail, rather than cutting the lip with the rail, you just hit the bottom side of the tail, almost lined up perfectly parallel to the wave...

But I completely agree with your logic there, which is exactly why I think this thing is going to kill it on the reefs. More straight gradual lines to play with. More open barrel placements. On beach breaks, if you pig dog, you can line it up that way, hit the bottom, but then you gotta pump real fast right down the line to get enough speed to come out... The reefs will allow you to line up in the pocket and lock in.... I always find myself trying to dig my ass or arms in the back of a reef barrel so I can keep slow. My thrusters just promote flying out of them... So where I usually need to hit the breaks real hard, this things should line up better.

Its a fun board though and the quality feels very high. For a thicker shortboard than im used to, it is very light (which could be a problem with torque)

 

Day 3: Friday, November 12, 2010
Condtions: Same as yesterday, no wind today. chest-HH, 3-4ft. Mid tide rising.

I really got the hang of the board now. I have learned to really line the tail up under the lip and punch up into it vertically. The fins catch, hold and land well.

This thing is REALLY fun backside. Im goofy and have been going left mostly the past two days. There were some sick right hand walls today and since most of the torque and power on a backside roundhouse is on your toeside, it makes the initial turn really easy/ You can really lay into it and blast some spray, then when you finish the turn, you are basically doing a frontside off the lip, and the force of the oncoming section bounces you right back down the lines. This is where the quad fins paid off. My front side turns were much sharper today, I have the idea down now...

The only real problem I had today was taking off on a really steep face, almost inverted, usually I can drop sideways on my rails and catch while im heading down the line. Since the boards fins want to descend, it pushed me straight down the face and the fins released. I got worked. So, I knew to take off deep and backdoor it the next time... Only bad part of it today...

Had about 12 waves today. I was out an hour. Pretty damn crowded...

Good though....

Ohh and the exact dims are:

6'0 x 19.5 x 2.5.... Slight rocker in the front. Regular shortboard kind of rocker on the back...

I am 5'9, 165ish.

My normal shortboard dims are: 5'11 - 6'0 all x18.5 x2.25

BTW: I have owned numerous fish and fish hybrids, so I am familiar with how the rail volume and turn is different. So most of my observations will be concerning the fins, although I have tried to comment in each area where I felt foam volume was a factor, I have and will continue to try and identify that as I report.

Forcast: 3-4 and holding, increasing sunday. So sunday afternoon I may be able to test this thing at a different venue.