Bruce Irons on a 5'6" quad getting pumped but lovin it

Bill F · Post by **Bill F** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 4:31 pm

That pic above is my favorite kneeboarding photo.Every time I look at ..it blows my mind !

KenM · Post by **KenM** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 5:28 pm

Speaking of quads, Slater was riding one today in the Pipe Masters. "You can push harder on 'em."

Masons · Post by **Masons** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 10:47 am

Bud's definetely right. And it's been pretty obvious what the newport crowd has chosen to ride in big heavy shorebreak... aka where I grew up. Wedge.

Romo's four fin setups are dialed, honestly the reason I went over to aussie style tri's is more due to the slower almond shaped pointbreaks where I now live.

RMcKnee · Post by **RMcKnee** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 10:25 pm

The CW piece is fluff, obviously. The whole 'short from long' drama was played out first a long time ago on beaches, reefs and pointbreaks both sides of the Pacific, and a fair bit in Hawaii as well. Funny thing is that during the development of the early ultra-short (fish) boards in San Diego in '67, there wasn't very much hype about what the future of surfing would be: the people concerned just paddled out and rode waves their own way.

In spite of the persistence of the historical record, folk keep on coming up with "innovations" that will help you go better, faster, harder in big/small/mushy/barrelling/pointbreak/beachbreak waves. The latest radical developments seem to offer a "fish style" board anywhere from 5'6" to 6'6" with a swalllowtail (???) and your own selection of fins. This is about as far from the root of fish design as it's possible to get. My understanding of it is that the fish tree starts with paipo, grew through Lis and the Southern California "underground" (oops!) and has lately blossomed in the Islands with Bud (and others) and in Australia with David Parkes (and others). All those involved in the development of things fish understand that they're only points on the trajectory this classic design paradigm continues to take through surfing history.

For mine, BI would maybe have benefited from either a little more width to get planing a little earlier, or some extra propulsion to get him into the waves a fraction earlier. Getting him to wear flippers, well that really would be a revolution!