We've all seen the huge, barely makeable surf so far this week in Tahiti and there were a few threads last week about the small/short a$$ quivers that the pros were bringing for the contest. The question is: why so small? What possible advantage could a 5'11" or 6'1" quad give even the best pro on that wave? At the current size, it's drop, hopefully make it, go straight left as fast as possible and out off of the shoulder. Wouldn't a slightly bigger, faster and more paddleable board give an advantage? The high scores have been for insane tube rides where the rider is high, fast and most importantly, makes the exit. There's no manuvering on the face, no power carves, no cutbacks; what am I missing?
know it sounds corny but these are GOOD QUESTIONS! Can't paint your answer with a broad brush but can tell 'ya what i know: 1) many of pros 'smaller stature'. a jordy or owen is rare...so a smaller stick is suitable. 2) the pros MUST ride a stick with the latest (positive, for them...) technologic advancements and most innovation equipment-wise is happening in this size range. 3) to say ITS HOLLOW is kinda an understatement.....nevertheless shorter boards are in general more adaptable to the curve of the face as well an air-drop. 4) everybody knows 'tweak your volume' can help and so they do and it helps. 5) longer boards incur higher baggage fees.
Ha! Yes to all of these but especially #5. The other thread talked about newer boards hiding volume meaning you can get the volume of a longer board when you distribute the foam differently on a shorter board.
Yes, and one of the biggest factors that they discuss and that were mentioned in the other thread, is that as long as you can paddle into the wave, there is no positive aspect to having a longer board at that point. They can check their speed, speed back up, and more importantly in a super hollow wave of consequence like this, they have to change their lines in a mili-second to make a proper exit sometimes. I.E. when the guy tucks into the barrel, he is taken a low line, then when he spits out, he is all the way at the top and barely makes it out under the lip. That is a huge change of direction and has to be done to perfection. Again, that is where their smaller boards give them a huge advantage. Speed control and board control. If you have ever ridden a step up or one of those long, bigger wave board, you know that the responsiveness is lost, they drop in a little later that you would like, and in a real critical area, where inches count, you can't just do an ankle tweet and adjust your line immediately. And if you look at Teahupoo from the side angle, you can see that it actually has a very makable, vertical shoulder on it, even in the critical areas, so while it looks almost upmakable at that last second before they paddle in and that it is going to pitch them, it doesn't. They have ample space and lines to paddle in with ease, and these guys are paddling monsters. They can paddle into anything. I guess the guys on tour are just getting more athletic over the years as well. And Kelly for many years has been breaking the ASP paradigms about board selection. He won events in huge surf on his little 5'7 disc thing and he has always pushed the envelope in the last decade about what boards to ride on what waves. I think watching the new age surfing at Pipe and Teahupoo is changing the game. More talent out there, guys are riding better boards, which gives them the ability to put themselves into tight pockets and go for waves of any size.... I mean, is it me, or is everyone on tour just pushing the limits of surfing right now? I mean, these guys are stepping up to Huge Teahupoo, not even blinking, and just pushing the limits of it all. They are all going big, deep and critical.
I saw owen's first heat, they did that thing with the blue pop up showing what they're riding. it said he was riding a 6'8. dude is like 6'3 and a lanky paddling machine, but I was still surprised by it given the conversations surrounding the pro's equipment. 6'8 sounds somewhat reasonable or even more "conventional" if you can make a statement like that about chopes i'd think. regardless, it's fun as hell to watch this go down on any equipment from a safe distance.
Freddy looked like he was on a tank too. You can tell a few guys are out on some of the more traditional boards there. But the judges were talking about it last night, how these guys, even on the Huge sets are eventually going to have to go out on the face, throw a big power turn or something to finish the waves. He said the scores will start slowly dropping for just the in and outs. Everyone is getting barreled, they are going to expect guys to go after that wave face Andy Irons style, which is where these little boards will come in handy too. To get spit out and then get out there on the face and do a really precise turn. I think I only saw one turn after a barrel yesterday. The judges are noticing it too and these guys are going to have to push even harder, and use more of the wave for a longer paddle and potentially dangerous closeouts sections there at the end.
to me all that is a reaction to jjf. i mean, like, fack!!!!....how am i gonna beat this guy??!!......HAS to be on their minds....
