"The modern shortboard is a hoax. It is the biggest distraction to surfing..."

Just wanted to share this interesting interview with Geoff McCoy

http://www.coastalwatch.com/news/article.aspx?articleId=5393&display=0&cateId=3&title=Which%20Way%20Is%20Earth

Hopefully, we can keep the train on the track this go-around (yeah, right!)

I don’t think Geoff was a fan of the article, as he mentioned when he discussed one of his newer designs: http://www.coastalwatch.com/news/article.aspx?articleId=7567&cateId=3&display=0

I thought i would add that he is refining and doing something with his Lazer Zap design in 2010 - called the ‘JC’. i don’t know much about it, other than it will be strictly a thruster and is just about ready to be produced.

I am a massive fan of McCoy’s boards - but i also enjoy mals, eggs, quads, and even some of my old paper thin thrusters from the mid 90s (although i’m struggling to keep them afloat now…).

I like surfing and the variety that comes with it. I like it better when you have a board that suits the conditions.

and now some cliches: at the end of the day, whatever blows your hair back.



Somewhere in a box at the back of my mums garage sits an old tracks surfing magazine.I  think printed in 98 or 99 i guess around the  hieght of the slater/merrick waffer era when almost everyone rode  shortboards   under  the 19 inchs wide  and 2 1/2 thick no matter if you were 18 and fit or 40 and fat, kook or not this is the type of surfboard you got in australia . In this particular issue is an article on geoff mccoy where he states  ( from  my  memory)  80 % of surfers are riding the wrong boards !  Then goes on to make it clear these boards didn't support the average surfer (nearly all or us I.M.O) and were holding us back and we needed more volume .

 It goes on asking some of the leading Australian shapers of the time if he was right most were shocked and denied it. A couple understood and agreed  the average aussie surfer said   WHAT THE  F !  In  the next issue was another story where geoff mccoy states i made a mistake  it's 90% of surfers on the wrong boards .  That got em!

So here we are 12 years or so latter and whats happened finally the average guy is rideing boards that were considered boats back then but are floating a bit higher  catching waves easier and  heaven forbid, but i imagine they are haveing more fun too !

Geoff mccoy states "The modern shortboard is a hoax and a distraction" ... She  itt   we have an add on tv here where a gold coast shaper called JS tell us we can buy an exact copy of a bruce irons  board . Ride what the pros ride  the add  states .Well bugger me i don"t surf like mr irons most don't ! We coud never hope to get to the peak of our own ablitys  on a board that most would struggle to paddle

NOW  think about what you see around you when you surf what's are your mates/ buddies rideing ? Look at the kooks at snapper or noosa probably Malibu or Huntington how are they going ? Are they killing it?  Is their board really meeting their needs ?  Can they paddle against the rip?  Are  they makeing most of their waves or even catching enough waves ? Could they maybe of made that last section if their board held it's speed a bit longer ?  Or caught that set wave if they were actually paddleing on top of the water instead of half under it . Maybe they could surf a bit longer if they weren't so tired from paddeling. Have a good look next time you surf look at what most short boarders  are rideing  tell me  the masses haven't been or are not still being hoaxed  ....... Really

I love this article. I think McCoy makes a good point. I am always telling my friends they are riding the wrong boards. I hate watching them flap about on a potato chip whilst I fly past them on my fish but they rarely listen. There is a time and a place for every kind of board but i do think that most people ride the wrong board for their style/ability/waves etc. My surfing improved 10 fold when I ditched my thruster and started riding a varied quiver of fish, single fins and logs and a thruster when the waves call for it. Although even my thruster is a fair bit thicker with most of the weight under the front foot, low rocker and 6oz glass (cheers PlusOne)

Yeah, the average Surfer Shmo is caught up in the magazine/contest/pro scene and chooses a board based on what his/her hero is riding. It's like fashion. IMO contest style surfing is easily as much of a distraction. There is something wrong with beginners trying to get air before they even know how to duck dive..............

Let them eat chips!

They paddle poorly, miss waves and are rarely ridden competently.

More likely they’ll try them and quit…good for me!

 

I confess that at 61, I’m a fulltime longboarder who hung up his shorties 15 years ago.  But it’s not just old age that makes me prefer full-template boards with plenty of planing surface and volume. I ride isolated beach breaks a lot to escape the crowds. There are lots of backoffs and flat spots, which a longboard will cruise right over to connect with the inside zippers.  I see kids trying to ride this stuff on their little wafers, even on the smallest, most juiceless days.  It’s almost sad to watch them hop, butt-wag and flounder (or just fail to catch waves at all) when they could be having more fun on equipment better suited to the conditions.  But longboards are SO uncool…   :stuck_out_tongue:

Around 1994 I had Bob Sakota shape me a 8'6" modified modern Pig based on Nat Young Template. Nat was influenced by McCoy and I would also say that McCoy and MAcTavish have had a influence on each other. 

Great article and nice to see that those Like McCoy the Campbell Brothers  and others, that have have been working outside the norm are now getting  the props they  deserve.

 

Wow! What a refreshing read. Thanks for the post. Huckleberry.

Trying to ride the wrong board for the type of waves being surfed can easily ruin a session.I ride evrything from a 16" handplane to a 9’6 x 23 x 3.5 thick longboard.I’ve got a few thrusters and wider thicker shortboards in between.You just have to know what the waves will be doing and show up with the right equipment.In Florida though if I’m in doubt at all about the size I just bring a longboard or a wider thicker shortboard.You catch more waves if your unbiased about specific surfcraft IMO.Oh,I dont ride SUPs,sponges or matts,they are not surfboards!!:-p

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Let them eat chips!

They paddle poorly, miss waves and are rarely ridden competently.

More likely they'll try them and quit....good for me!

 

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I agree, but dont tell them anything. I'd rather be a kook who gets heaps of waves and has a ball, than a pro clone who doesnt catch shit, but looks a million bucks hahah

rebuttal:

 

People come in all shapes and sizes, some people are fat slow and lazy.

Same goes for surfboards!

There is a difference to riding a wave and surfing one… Go figure!

Everything has its place.

Yeah, but when most of the surf you get is under head high beachies, what's the point of a shortboard?? I can think of a handful of guys i see surfing shortboards in tiny beachbreaks here who surf them very well. Interestingly, they are both north of 40, and one in particular can pull off 360's on a waist high wave with no leash. Super impressive, and a great bloke too. BUT, most of the guys i see on them are struggling big time, and in turn get the shits with people who are riding a board better suited to the wave they're on.

I like seeing someone ripping on a shortboard, but the reality is most of the time its ugly to watch, mostly due to the conditions.

Like driving a ferrari down the road to get milk and bread

 

 

 

 

 

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rebuttal:

 

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Great wave, and great surfing mike. I can fully appreciate the skill and fitness in surfing one of those at that level, and its great to see it locally in front of your own eyes.

Yeah true, I agree. Its all about fun at the end of the day.

Cheers.

I like the look of that yellow McCoy single Cheyne is holding with the narrow tail…But I personaly don’t like the Nugets, zaps those type of shapes, Granted easy to ride the wave. But I just don’t like em.

I Think Jeff is an awesome guy, I really admire him as a person (from what I’ve read/heard) and wish him all the best and I hope he gets everything he deserves. That type of passion and dedication should be rewarded… Maybe if I could ride one that was 5’3’’ and 2’’ thick that would be fun. Just never seen one like that.

…I’m waiting to grow up, I, personally, still like chips.

However I do make a lot of boards for 90kg (200 pound) surfers.

Even though I ride boards from 6'4 to 9'6 I'd rather ride a shortboard any day of the week.  Even at age 41 and living in the NorthEast.  So long as the wave has some push a shortboard is fun in anything from stomach high on up.   Even waist high beachbreak can be a hell of a lot of fun on the shortboard. 

One of my most fun sessions this summer was a waist to stomach high beachbreak a few weeks ago.  It was the sort of wave where you could pop to your feet and cover 20 yards real fast and then launch a floater into the shorebreak and jump off on dry sand.  It was a blast and the wave was totally unsuitable for a longboard.

Luckily I only live a quarter mile from the surf and it is no problem for me to go back to the house and change equipment.  It would suck to be limited to whatever board I drug with me for the day.

A couple shots of a local grom from that waist high day.

…Im with the MD picture and Yorky s first comment…

 

I as a shaper provide different kind of designs to the surfers but no one retro. I mean, why some one wants a retro board except for novelty or for try to learn to surf that way.

I make fish, eggs in weekly basis but nuthin retro in those that I make

modern rockers, modern rails, modern fins and fins config, different foils than the older ones, kick tails, etc

As a surfer, today I used a 5 10 bonzer type shortboard and frequently I use a  5 2 fish (with “2 in 4” splitted fins).

Normally the kids, etc surf in small shorties and they surf VERY good; the problem start when some one with no good surfing skills and with no physical training but with too much dedication to watch the surf shop/mag  posters and with no more direction than the pro tour, ride shortboards (smallers or medium ones) in gutless conditions OR/AND small but fast beach break conditions…

Today the other guy with me in the water is older than me and have a wrong board (a medium shortboard style board around 6 10 or may be more) and I was oversized with a 5 10!

I catched and surfed more waves than the fella. The guy only rides down the line…only if the waves are mellow or fats.

I told him several times what type of board should perform better but he s the type of person who go to the surf shop and pick a shortboard that float so normally more than 6 10 and there is where the problems begin to surf daily average conditions

I think that once you have facial hair you can no longer be categorized as a grom…

Where I’m at this year the shorter, wider, thicker shortboards (such as the Al Merrick pod) that are supposed to be for small surf have become very popular. It’s very rare to see someone who can make them work. The guys who ride them don’t seem to get into the wave until they are already way behind the section. I like to ride a board longer with a ton of volume when its like this. I catch a lot of waves but its nowhere near as much fun as riding a shortboard. Then again when I’m on a shortboard the waves are usually good…

 

Interesting read would love to try out one of his shapes. 

 

“The modern shortboard is a hoax. It is the biggest distraction to surfing that we’ve experienced in 20 years,” he claims. “It’s a dysfunctional object … It doesn’t want to bottom turn, it doesn’t want to turn in general.”

 

I don’t understand this. Most experienced surfers on shortboards seem to make them turn fairly well.