SB-issue59_digital
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
2.<br />
4.<br />
1.<br />
3.<br />
1. Black Apache Mini Simmons<br />
5’6” x 21 ¼” x 2 5/8”<br />
Jesse Watson was the master of the mini<br />
Simmons, and I just had to have one of his, plus<br />
the resin and glass work were out of this world.<br />
When the Sunny Coast delivers glassy little<br />
gutless winter beach breaks, this is the board<br />
I reach for. It’s a speed machine thanks to its<br />
rocker profile (it is basically flat) and its pinched<br />
rails, which mean you can whip it around and<br />
are not just confined to big, wide, arcing turns.<br />
2. Takayama Humuhumunukunukuapua’a<br />
Fish<br />
5’10” x 20 ¾” x 2 7/10”<br />
The longest name for a surfboard model I<br />
have ever come across. Despite the difficulty<br />
in pronouncing its name, this board is very<br />
user-friendly and so enjoyable to ride. One of<br />
my best mates, Angus Brown, gave me this<br />
board for my 40th. Flat as a dime with a very<br />
thin blade-like tail and raked fins, it effortlessly<br />
generates more speed than any fish I have ever<br />
surfed. It can also handle overhead waves.<br />
3. Bill Hamilton Missing Link Bonzer<br />
7’6” x 20 ½” x 2 7/8”<br />
When a decent swell arrives, this is the board I<br />
reach for. Plenty of meat in the middle, but with<br />
very refined rails and heaps of rocker for taking<br />
a big drop. Any mates who jump on this board<br />
immediately comment on how it paddles like a<br />
longboard. I particularly love the rounded pin<br />
and refined rails, as they allow you to literally<br />
turn it on a dime. This board has the need<br />
for speed. Bill shaped this board on a trip to<br />
Australia some 20 years ago or thereabouts.<br />
4. Rabbidge Five Finger Splade<br />
8’6” x 22 ½” x 3 3/8”<br />
(6’3” minus the fingers)<br />
This one glides like a dream for those days<br />
where there is nothing much doing. Get a little<br />
runner and trim, and this thing takes off. People<br />
immediately want to know what I am surfing<br />
and how I can get so much speed on a 1ft wave<br />
when everyone else is floundering. It’s so much<br />
fun. Definitely keen to get another of these,<br />
albeit a shorter version next time.<br />
(Refer to image overleaf)<br />
5. Gerry Lopez shortboard<br />
6’0” x 18” x 2 ½”<br />
This one is more of a wall hanger these days<br />
— definitely way too small for me. This board<br />
dates back to when a mate of mine had the<br />
Gerry Lopez licence for Australia way back<br />
around the year 2000.<br />
6. Rabbidge Pacemaker<br />
5’0” x 21 ½” x 3 3/8”<br />
At a time on the road with the mag, I couldn’t<br />
help myself when I saw this little baby in Mark’s<br />
workshop. I just had to purchase. El Pinko, as<br />
I call her, is so much fun on those glassy days<br />
when the swell has a bit more punch. Given she<br />
is so small, it needs some punch, and your foot<br />
placement has to be pinpoint perfect from the<br />
minute you get up. This board is always a good<br />
measure of how I am surfing at the time. There<br />
is no room for error. Get it right, however, and it<br />
is incredible.<br />
7. Sunnova Boss<br />
6’4” x 21” x 2 5/8” (37.2l)<br />
This is the board I regularly surfed in Bali. Nice,<br />
light, fast, easy to turn with plenty of volume to<br />
make the long paddles out not such a quest.<br />
An absolutely magic board. My preference for<br />
performance shortboards is most definitely<br />
quads, as I am more of a front foot surfer and<br />
need every bit of assistance I can get to shorten<br />
the rail line for turns and to generate speed on<br />
the wave face. This is further assisted by the<br />
flatter rocker profile on this board.<br />
8. Vampirate Gravedigger<br />
5’2” x 20” x 2 5/8”<br />
Don’t be fooled by its size or the fact that it is<br />
a twin fin. This board can be surfed in small<br />
through to decent-sized overhead surf. It<br />
paddles easily onto most waves, given you<br />
have so much volume under your chest. The<br />
big glassed-on keel fins mean you have plenty<br />
of purchase for bottom turns on big waves. It<br />
is not skatey in the slightest. I am a huge fan of<br />
the cutoff nose and hence replicated it on The<br />
Flathead — a hollow wooden surfboard I built.<br />
Basically, the board paddles longer and surfs<br />
shorter if that makes sense.<br />
9. 10’ Channel Islands SUP<br />
Yes, I must confess, at times I am a street<br />
sweeper of the sea. I do love getting out on the<br />
paddleboard in winter when the Sunshine Coast<br />
swell is near non-existent. When the waves start<br />
to build, I am more inclined to go back to my<br />
surfboards, but this is always fun, plus it is good<br />
to acquire new skills and experience different<br />
forms of surfing.<br />
10. Bear Surfboards Fat Arse Wombat<br />
6’4” x 21” x 2 ¾”<br />
I have rekindled my love for this surfboard over<br />
the last few weeks. Years ago, it was my go-to<br />
board, and then I had a few surfs where it was<br />
pitching, which it is not suited to because of<br />
its flat profile, and I went off it for a while. In<br />
the right conditions however, like the Sunshine<br />
Coast right now where it is a little fullish, it is<br />
a dream to surf, particularly when combined<br />
with a Hanalei Thumb fin. It provides drive and<br />
direction, thanks to its length, but the scooped<br />
away base delivers a looseness whereby you<br />
can really whip this board around. Best name<br />
for a surfboard by far, and a fitting description<br />
of its rider.<br />
# 59 // smorgasboarder //<br />
89