Mini longboards

I am probably wrong here, but isn't that just a "fun shape". I have a 7'4 that was passed on to me, and I have had a ton of fun on it over the years. Its what I lend out to any friends who want to learn... Just long enough to "hang 5" or so depending on your size, but you can still turn it like a shortboard...

 

I have a 7'8 "mini longboard". It's a fun board. Single fin, I'm not to knowledgeable in concaves and what not but it's got that spooned out nose. Fun board for most conditions but I don't use it much. Like Zach said, it's just a fun shape. I'd rather be on a LB or SB.

 

I have an 8'1" McTavish 8 Ball which is just a shorter version of the Fireball. It came with a thruster setup but I went to a single fin and it's sh*t ton of fun! I'm getting a custom LB shaped for me right now though, so I don't know how much action it will see after I get it, but it gets into waves that most LB's can get into and it rides nice in bigger surf too.

 

I'm working on a real mini longboard right now. Its very traditional along the lines of the Cooperfish Device but scaled down to 8'4". Glass on fin, rolled bottom, knify 50/50 rails, heavier glass, gloss. Board is being made for a 115# rider but I can't wait to try it myself.

Hopefully by Monday I will have it glossed and polished for pictures.


The board in the link by the OP isn't what I'd consider a longboard. That's a funboard. I've had boards like that twice is the past and both times I hated them and sold them. If I want to surf like I'm on a shortboard I'll ride a real shortboard. On the flip side if I'm gonna ride a longboard I want to be on a traditional longboard with lots of glide and noseriding ability. To me there is nothing more ugly than someone attempting to ride a longboard like its a shortboard.

 

I feel you. This is actually a video that was from swellinfo. I happened to watch it a couple weeks ago and I REALLY enjoyed watching dude surf. He is on longboards and SUPs, but the guys style is kinda ill... He moves that longboard around like it's a potato chip SB... Not everyone can look graceful doing it, but it really got me excited to get out on a bigger board soon.

A buddy of mine from OB surfed like this. His names is "Butter" Joyce. Ill try and find a video. He was a LB team rider for Southcoast, but he literally moved his boards around like a ASP shortboarder.

[video=youtube_share;oURIvlQxuWc]http://youtu.be/oURIvlQxuWc[/video]

 

Don't know about the stinger wing but if you get one I bet you will love it. But probably won't pull chicks very well. Looks like a one board middle age beer gut quiver. That the kids will have fun on too.
Wait a minute........
I resemble that remark.

 

I had a Stretch "it". Funboardish in that it really didn't go in waves under waist...which defeated the purpose of a board that long for me. The stinger/round pin combo is no bueno for small waves. Single fin log is way to go for a summer in the northeast.

 

the "squashing" of a lb into a sb is a current trend and way cool. i'm lovin it and my
board of choice is the firewire addvantage which surfs quite well though doesn't nose ride quite as well. its 7/2.

 

I second that. I have one of these and it's such great fun aside from this difficulty and more or less expecting to get foolproof takeoffs on just about any wave because you're paddling out with that much more volume. Unless the wave is completely gutless, I'm able to get up on knee to thigh on it. It's quaffed so that helps but you're right about all the volume taken out of the tail affecting the wave-catching. Would like to hear more of your experience with this board in detail. It's definitely worth having.

 

walden mini magic

thank me later

 

that is indeed a magical board. i pulled the craziest floater of my life on a borrowed one last summer with the owner looking on...he nearly killed me bc he thought i was gonna break it in the shore pound. I just had to get vertical on it!

 

Foil... it's all about the foil.

A funboard will usually have really soft rails, no to very little concave, more nose rocker, wider tail and pretty much every other element to make the board as forgiving as possible.

That Stretch link 'splains the mini longboard really well... 50/50 rails, scooped/channeled nose, flatter rocker, maybe some vee out the tail. Not nearly as forgiving as a funboard, and IMO much more fun.

I've been toying with shaping something along those lines for my first forreal shape, but going more for the "hull" design with a constant vee through the bottom, hardly any rocker and super knifey rails.

Alrighty, back to my seemingly never-ending projects that have had me neglecting my SI brethren...

 

How do you make a high performance longboard MORE high performance? Make it shorter. Read Stretch's description... it pretty much says it all: Great for the hplb guys trying to eek more performance out of their boards. Great for kids who can't really muscle around a 9'2. Great for big dudes who can't ride a shortboard. I am none of those.

My personal take on mini longboards? The one genre I just can't get into. I shaped an 8'6 like the IT a long time ago, and rode it for years, in every kind of surf we get around here, just to see what it does and does not do. My conclusion was there are other designs that do everything it does, but better. I personally don't have any midlengths in my quiver, and probably won't until I'm just too old to ride anything under 8 feet.

 

You asked about what conditions you use 'em.
In PR when Wilderness gets to OH +2... the regulars pull out the 7-9 ft boards. You need the length to catch the long period bombs, the stability to hang on to it (winds get rowdy) without all the bulk of a full log for the nasty paddle back out.

I started surfing with a 7'9 BIC, and wasn;t too impressed..thought it was the worst of both worlds with the diminished glide and manueverability ...but that was probably more me learning to surf. I moved to a Walden Magic a couple of shorter boards... Now I'm thinking of a good 'mini size' that will fit in my car for days too small to wall up for a mini simmons.

 

this is a bow to the way things were. as you know our industry can change explosively as such i (humbly)
suggest you NOT ignore this genre cause it seems to me with respect to fun board types of late its
been rain in the desert. more neat stuff than ever and my $ is where my mouth is cause i just bought a
firewire advance length 7/2 and i find it zippy and last couple sessions quite enjoyable.

 

What size is yours? I had one amazing day on it. Head high and choppy beach break, and with the length you could get in way early before they peaked and closed out. The board was almost like a gun. Super foiled and I could get the nose under the wave pretty easily. Love the rail channels that Stretch puts on his boards.

 

Cool video, dude can LB and SUP

 

Yes he can.

zach, good looks on posting that up. Love the goofy riders too.

 

Anyone ride a ricky Carroll mini me? Been eyeing these for a while.