Awesome surf this arvo, and Steve Ryan snapped a few pics of me in bright afternoon light. But he also mentioned he got some pics of me a while back in "slow shutter", and he said they came up really nice. I guess similar to this photo below... I will post them in due course...

This is Chissa, head shaper and owner at South Coast Surfboards / Hydrophilic...

Hi guys,
Most of you know I have one of Bob McTavish's hand shaped pin tails. He shaped about a half dozen of them earlier this year. He gets a bigger commission on his hand shapes too!

Here's a photo;
It has a 10 inch Single Fin (Blue) on the otherside!


I was originally interested in the smaller 9'1, but when it came to the crunch and my 9'6 was one of the only ones left, I decided to take up the offer... especially since it was also a reduced price.

The 9'6 (x22"1/2 x 3"1/4) is a great paddler. It has a very mild Vee through the entire board. Modern hard rails up in the tail... and elsewhere the rails are mostly softened up modern rails, rather than old school log rails.

It's the only board I have ridden since I received it (except for riding the EvoII in The Maldives for 10 days).

How does it go... - UNREAL! It goes really well in EVERYTHING. The 1 Board Quiver, with a slight old school influence.

Knee High to Thigh High Waves - paddles in like a dream, a real wave hog, keep your bottom turns smooth, and get ready to walk forward for trim time, and run back onto the tail for a great drawn out cutback... and repeat again...

Waist High to Shoulder High Waves - you can jam a nice hard bottom turn if you like, or you can draw it out. The only limitation I have found, is when you jam hard off the bottom, and then jam hard off the top, it sort of gets hung up, on the top turn, but that can be OK because the wave face can really steepen up and it makes for a challenging steep 2nd drop...

Head High to 1.5 overhead - still goes really well. You kind of miss the extra speed that you can generate from the side biters on other modern longboards. Plus the extra/faster maneuverability that modern multi-fins can deliver. But once you understand that you can very quickly adjust, and the pin tail handles the business, and the smooth long cut backs are amazing.

Overall, it probably feels shorter than a 9'6. Paddles fast like a 9'6, probably because it is meaty through the middle... But you could cut 1"1/2 off the nose and 2"1/2 off the tail, and you would have a 9'2...

Rating - 10 out of 10 - for a single fin volane board at 8.8kgs.
The Rails have that green volane tinge to them too!

Karate Man,

Can you please pass on an equiry to SDR next time you see him. I am looking for something like my 7'10 x 21 3/4 x 3 Uf8 shrunk into a 7'6 and a bit more lively of the tail but remembering I'm 95kgs and weak as water (you have seen how much foam there is that FireWire I have). This will be a beach break and bigger point break board. The UF8 goes great but I'm looking for a bit more versatility in the next one. Maybe a cross between the UF8 and a Carver as I am tempted to get another Carver. Checked out some more traditional shortboards but i now now conceded those days have passed Smaller days I will be on the FW or a longboard.

It's difficult ATM to get to the factory between Mon & Fri and don't want to order over the phone as I want the shaper to see the UF8. I'll catch up hopefully next Sat but can't send the photos by PM. I might leave the uf8 with you to show him.

Cheers


the uf8





Maybe something a bit more like my old 8ft Carver which surfed well but paddled like a dog! (apologies to the forum k9's)

Got a call on Wednesday, not long after catching the best wave I have ever caught... On the other end of the line, a guy called Greg asked me, "what fin do you want in it,... 10 or 11 inch?". I said "10 will be heaps thanks". Greg said, "what colour, clear, blue, smoke, red, black, white or orange?". I said... wait for it... "Blue thanks!".

I want obct to tell us a tale about being the first one to put a fin in the box!







Image, courtesy of SP!