this.....sure you could noseryde on a sub 9' but it will be drastically be for a shorter amount of time and not true noseryding like cool dudes such as alex knost does
@OP. I'm also in the camp that a real long board is over 9'. That said, I've had boards that were in the 8-9' range that were super fun. One in particular was just a touch over 8', 2 plus 1 fin setup, super wide, but relatively thin and foiled for such a long board, with a wide diamond tail. This 8 footer, although only slightly shorter than a longboard, rode entirely different. Much more fun and maneuverable. Almost like an enormous fish. Still caught the tiniest of waves. It was shaped by Bill Schrosbree for a strange label (CREAM), not sure if he is still shaping now. I think his main Label is/was Fresh Pineapple If you have decent shortboard skills, you might actually prefer something other than a full on (boat) longboard. I say that as someone that rode longboards extensively for a while, and I can walk and noseride etc. At least I could when I rode them last. Another consideration is the lot of stubby boards out now. My current longboard is 6'. Shaped as a bloated mini-simmons style board for me at 220lbs. Now at 180lbs, I ride it more like a longboard, but with way more manueverability. I wouldn't trade it for anything, and don't feel disadvantaged compared to a longer boards in even the tiniest of conditions either. Fits in a car really well too. My plan is to go back to longboards.....only when my aging body forces me to.
I think Tudor's style is better than Knost's. They're both surfing at a totally sick level, ad Knost's noserides are awesome... I just think Tudor makes it look a lot more natural and smooth. Tudor's cutbacks are better, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOF8cjnXq1w Pope "Bisect". Good luck finding one, they come apart in the middle, two halves for easy storage.
