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gear<br />
BALSA BEAUTY<br />
Looks good, feels good, surfs incredible.<br />
words: dave swan<br />
First of all, this board is drop dead sexy. If<br />
you’re currently single, this will fill any void<br />
in your life. Secondly, it is incredibly light.<br />
Indeed, I have never owned a board this light<br />
(and I presently have a 6’4” Sunova quad<br />
in my quiver that doesn’t even come close).<br />
Thirdly, the length and plan shape are just<br />
what I love and being a twin, it was the icing<br />
on the cake. With all that said, I confess to<br />
some trepidation when trying out this board<br />
for the first time.<br />
My surfing over the last five to six months has<br />
been limited to say the least. Regular readers<br />
will know I am accident prone way beyond<br />
the norm. Over the last half a year I have torn<br />
my calf twice, in two different spots, a grade<br />
two and then a grade three tear, just getting<br />
myself right from the first injury to do it all<br />
over again before I got a chance to surf (how<br />
do you even tear a calf twice when you don’t<br />
even have any?). Then, when I was finally<br />
right and heading out for a surf one afternoon,<br />
just before I ventured out I managed to fall<br />
three metres from a ladder onto a frameless<br />
glass pool fence somehow avoiding cutting<br />
myself in two but still managing to near<br />
sever my left ear off, split open my head and<br />
break six of my ribs. A trip to the hospital,<br />
five staples to the noggin, some crafty<br />
plastic surgery stitching to the ear and a can<br />
of toughen up for the ribs is what ensued<br />
and needless to say, I was out of the surf<br />
for another couple of months. Anyhow, this<br />
incredible board arrived as a cheer-me-up<br />
Christmas gift from none other than Mark<br />
Riley of Riley Balsa Surfboards. I was super<br />
keen to try it out as soon as my body healed.<br />
My first surf back was on a longboard to<br />
simply test all my injuries had healed, and the<br />
second surf back was on this beauty. Before<br />
I entered the water however, questions rolled<br />
around inside my head that, given the amount<br />
of injuries I had sustained, my extended<br />
absence from the water, and the fact my<br />
surfing was never flash anyhow, could still<br />
surf a board like this? This little fish quickly<br />
allayed any fears. Thanks to the EPS core it<br />
was super buoyant and easy to paddle out<br />
which in turn made it just as easy to paddle<br />
onto waves. A magic rail line with a tucked<br />
in tail enabled me to slot into the pocket of<br />
some little Sunshine Coast sliders. Thanks<br />
to the two hand-shaped wooden fins it had<br />
plenty of drive whilst enabling you to perform<br />
some nice drawn-out curves. The boards<br />
lightness further assisted in this area as it<br />
allowed you to whip it around.<br />
This board featured the Versa traction grip,<br />
and this was the first I had tested it. It was<br />
steady under foot, I didn’t slip at all and in<br />
fact noted no difference to wax. What I did<br />
appreciate however was not having to wax<br />
my board and the fact the board looks so<br />
pristine. This shape was also the first Mark<br />
had produced with a matte finish as opposed<br />
to a gloss polish. Not only did it look amazing,<br />
but I far prefer it to the polish. For mine, it<br />
complements the light colour of the balsa<br />
better than the gloss and you have more<br />
traction when gripping the rails duck diving<br />
and getting to your feet.<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #55 / 86
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