Jerry wrote:If memory serves me correctly, I believe it was Abraham Lincoln, when asked how long should a kneeboard be, responded " Long enough to get barreled on."
I was thinking about the same quote but couldn't quite work it in!
I kept getting stuck at 'long enough to reach the... the... ' ah, foggetaboutit
hey Chris.....you really can't go wrong with a 5.10 or 6 foot board. i've got 7-8 boards i ride and 3 of em are 5.10's and two are 6 footers.
tiny boards are great for perfect barrels but how often do you ride perfect barrels? even the missus will cringe if you pull a head dip on a 2' wave
"This sucks more than anything that has ever sucked before." Butt-head
I have boards that I ride that range from 4'9" to 6'1", 9 boards total. I`m 5-7, 165. I agree with some of what some of the guys have said and I disagree with some of the others. What I have learned from this site is you have to be open minded. I shore I would never own a board 6' or over. Now I have 2 of them. I really agree with the person that said "the hardest thing to do is pick the right board for the right condistions". I have been out on days in which I have felt over gunned, but I have never felt I have been under gunned. I disagree with EQ`s comment that short boards are easier to ride. I think they are harder to ride because they have more down falls that you have to over come. But EQ is right that they do turn quicker and I find them more responsive. I see now, that my boards were designed for a certian type of wave. Since I don`t surf the places I use to, i`ve uped my size board. As I have increased my quiver, picking the right board gets harder. So, most of the time I go by this thinking, screw it, i`m riding this one this one and I make the best out of it
what it all comes down to...board length should be dictated by:
1) the overall size of the rider, and
2) what type of waves are to be ridden.
As an analogy: about 8-10 years ago when Kelly Slater was at the top of his game and beating the contest world down with his bag of maneuvers and "slidey s#!t" (not my words), he was doing it on short, ultra-thin boards many likened to "potato chips".
Although his surfing could not be defined as "powerful", many lemmings thought the kid-slide stuff was really cool, and tried to emulate KS...even down to the boards he rode.
What many sheeple found out was that they could not ride the boards for s#!t, and that KS performed well on these boards because he was KS, and that the board had no bearing on his surfing. KS could surf on an ironing board and outsurf 99% of the world.
Moral of this story? Don't be a slave to fashion.
Last edited by kidrock on Fri Jun 12, 2009 8:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
waaay back in the day when i lived on the North Shore the summers would be fairly cruel wave wise compared to the rest of the year. lots of two foot days that would barely be considered rideable. but you had to surf!
i had this 5' something board made for a kid i used to ride that barely floated me. this was during my standup days and paddling that sucker out to Goat Island and surfing gutless crap for hours on end was one of the best training methods ever for big surf. i might surf 2 or three sessions and only pull one decent maneuver. riding big perfect waves is easy. it takes a lot of skill to make sh&t waves look good. it may not be macho or cool but it definitely has it's place. i'm packing up now to head to the other side of the island for a couple of days to surf in what is no doubt going to be sub par conditions. but no doubt i'll run into some old friends, it will be hot and sunny and the water will be cobalt blue and warm. cold beers good food and various agricultural products will be on offer apres' surf.
sure glad i have some modern slightly longer boards to make those two footers seem a tad bigger
to each his own
hey Rob...maybe you should try one of Capt.s paipos. should be easier on your back!
"This sucks more than anything that has ever sucked before." Butt-head
I was thinking about the same quote but couldn't quite work it in!
