Who's got one?
When do you ride it?
Pics?

I have many of them, it's what I do.. be careful asking for pics.

MC, yes you had one too....a good cruiser that will handle the grunt

then had a Taky Speed shape, quite nice

then had an outer island STEALTH( mitchells personal board), lateral flex provides turbo charged drive and speed....the fastest design so far

However , not far behind was Andrew Mckinnons V2 flex outer....flat bottom, narrow(20.5) and super fast down the line

sold all of them because I didn't need them when ive got 3 8/0ish guns...

Re-thinking and contemplating the 8' length with less width and volume than the mal guns for early entry in grunty beachbreaks where the sheer mass can be a liability.
Something along the lines of this...
www.mcsurf.com.au/products/big-guys-gun-80ft-/1740/1
Then there's this which is made by the GSI anti-christs of local surfboard production but they are selling dirt cheap and actually look fun on the video...
http://www.surfindustries.com/shop/au/surf/shortboards/modern-blackhawk-shortboard/?utm_source=shop-button&utm_medium=button&utm_campaign=btn-1
What do you have in the way of 8'ers Wavemaniac?

I hear you cuttlefish....I've been working on a few lately..."where the sheer mass can be a liability" sums it up nicely....its finding that happy medium though...around the eight foot mark seems to be the go...its still small enough for some performance and long enough to get you in early....this is my "all that jazz" model....which takes in that criteria......8' x 21 3/4"x 2 3/4"

7/10 outer island...8/0 mCoy...8/1 surfstik...19.75 to 20.5 as size increases...2.75 to 3.125 as size increases

I know 3 surfers with the GSI moderns....all are very positive about their performance and so they should be because the original designs were AMs

also had another ex Andy mak MC...8/4....it flew....met a guy with an Islander and he likes it, and have had about 7 or 8 MCs over the last 40 years....ALL have been excellent boards...guns and fish

off topic,Cfish but the XF poxy mCoys perform well from the one I own and the people ive spoken to.As far as the Astron Blob goes in that construction...it would have to go better, but use a better fin.just my opinion , from the sensation I got from the ZOT I owned,which is the actual one on RS that the thread was started from.i bought it from OG.

Very nice planshape Mr Goddard.
I'm thinking of a bit more pulled in for the nose since I've changed tangents to a more beachbreak focus.
Just to have a bit less foam up front for duckdiving and lowering swing weight.

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wavemaniac said..
I know 3 surfers with the GSI moderns....all are very positive about their performance and so they should be because the original designs were AMs

When you say AM? Who's AM (I can only think of Al Merrick off the top of my head)?
Speaking of MC's and Andy Mc...I bought a 9' gun that MC had made for Andy to use at Sunset and it was the best paddling board I have ever owned. Paddling into solid waves was child's play but of course the size and power I was using it in meant it felt quite stiff once up. Paddling against a fast flowing Tea tree or Nationals rip was entirely do-able while others wore out their arms and eventually succumbed.
On a McCoy related question I'm looking at a McCoy all round nugget at 6'3" and wondering if you can answer me this...when riding shorter ones can the technique of jamming the wide tail down into the wave and letting you slingshot onto the wave work well, as opposed to paddling in normally.
Asking this as the wide tails like to float up the wave face rather than being inside it like a lower volumed tail.
Very tempted to grab an XF nugget since I've owned zaps, zot and stumpy but never an all round nugget.
I rode OG's zot once and actually found it not that great for my size paddling into waves, although nice and loose once up.
So when I bought a zot I grabbed a 6' X 22" X3" which caught waves really well and loved doing bottom turn into vert reos combos. Unfortunately had to sell it and my islander and a few other boards last year to fund a van and am now trying to rebuild with the specialist boards now its the time of year to use them.

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Cuttlefish said..
Very nice planshape Mr Goddard.
I'm thinking of a bit more pulled in for the nose since I've changed tangents to a more beachbreak focus.
Just to have a bit less foam up front for duckdiving and lowering swing weight.

I have reduced profile thickness through the nose to reduce swing weight....good luck duck diving an eight footer

CF, MC made Andy 2 near identical boards....pretty sure you had the bigger one....9+....I had the 8/4....green bottom and overlap? was that your colour.

OGs zot was too volumed for me...im a touch shorter than you and a touch lighter at 6/0 85kgs....but older !....I also rode the orange FRANKENzot, that's on the swellnet thread but it was only a single at that stage...1/4 inch narrower than OGs....same sensation, very bland

However, after riding the XF 8/0 and comparing it to the 2 PU 8s I have....the lighter weight is great....its only a board i'd cruise around on in waves to about waist to shoulder high....regular mCoys with modified fin systems come into play when theres real waves.

On the subject of the smaller XFs I cant comment as I don't go that short but on RS, read the surf agency thread theres good info on performance and durability.

on the AM subject, yes...Al merrick.

GSI used to sell the Anacapa brand, Als designs....they deleted them from the range but bought them back as the 7S wave magnet....that line finished(wet rub finish)

then they bought the same shapes back under the modern Blackhawk model, tinted and glossed AND on special(at the moment and good value) so that run could be ending OR theres a new colour range happening? ? ?

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wavemaniac said..
CF, MC made Andy 2 near identical boards....pretty sure you had the bigger one....9+....I had the 8/4....green bottom and overlap? was that your colour.

OGs zot was too volumed for me...im a touch shorter than you and a touch lighter at 6/0 85kgs....but older !....I also rode the orange FRANKENzot, that's on the swellnet thread but it was only a single at that stage...1/4 inch narrower than OGs....same sensation, very bland

However, after riding the XF 8/0 and comparing it to the 2 PU 8s I have....the lighter weight is great....its only a board i'd cruise around on in waves to about waist to shoulder high....regular mCoys with modified fin systems come into play when theres real waves.

On the subject of the smaller XFs I cant comment as I don't go that short but on RS, read the surf agency thread theres good info on performance and durability.

You're right...I had the longer one. I didn't know there was an 8'4".
One of the things I liked about the 9'er was its lower nose rocker compared to most of the guns MC does.
Even my 8'2" Islander had too much for me. Just makes them harder to duckdive which I can do but not for many waves in a row.
I'll see if I can get a look at one of those Blackhawks and feel them up or maybe find a demo for later in the week.
Since the Noosa festival is on this week I might get lucky in that regard.
I might ask the take off question with the McCoy riders group and see what they say.

I sort of went through a similar thing recently and decided on an 8 footer. I wanted to get in earlier without necessarily surfing much bigger than I already did (4X head is about my limit). I am getting less nose rocker than many other boards of a similar length, but more than a mal shape has. Sounds like you are chasing an off the shelf board, but my tail is 13 and the wide point 22 to keep curve in it and avoid it being too gunny. I was looking at the Mctavish G2 but decided it was too much of a gun. Nose is 14 I think but I might be wrong on that.

the G2s are 13 nose and tail....y reliable boards im told, not that ive ridden one yet

**** you mid length riders are a gimpy lot.
what ,,do you walk around with a protractor,spirt level and tape measure in ya pockets.

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wavemaniac said...
the G2s are 13 nose and tail....y reliable boards im told, not that ive ridden one yet

Yeah I spoke to a bloke at my local who loved his. I wasn't bagging them so I hope it didn't come across that way, just trying to explain my thought processes to someone on what sounds like a similar journey.

And to be honest, I am still eyeing off a G2 for the NEXT board when I want a true gun. Maybe a 9'2".

A man should try a McTavish at least once in his life hey?

Mctavish are very good for production line boards, they can have faults due to the piece rate workers getting in and out of the factory as soon as possible( and take their $$$ with them)...many different shapes depending what style or waves you want to ride.

At around the same(lotsa)$$$$, Outer Island provide HIGH quality custom builds.Once again lotsa shapes and brilliant artwork.

Went and had a look at some of the Modern boards today.
The ones on special were B grades which looked really crappy.
Looking along the deck of one of the boards you'd swear it had already been surfed and had heel dents but no it was brand new.
Very poor Chinese glass jobs.

I suppose that's disappointing CF, all the ones ive seen with glosses have been pretty good....the wave magnet model a friend has is a bit battered from a Acheh trip(planes handling not from surfing)....looks like back to an islander or get McCoy to do you a semi gun

What I ride!... :)

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Cobra said...
**** you mid length riders are a gimpy lot.
what ,,do you walk around with a protractor,spirt level and tape measure in ya pockets.

Didn't a mate of yours have a Wave magnet? A mid length one ?

I always found 8ft to much board for a beachie. Can't duckdive it.
I'd prefer something max 7'5x 20ish.

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Cobra said..
**** you mid length riders are a gimpy lot.
what ,,do you walk around with a protractor,spirt level and tape measure in ya pockets.

you've been outgunned cobra. milked of your venom


not so tough without your side kick are you hey hey

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SP said..

Cobra said...
**** you mid length riders are a gimpy lot.
what ,,do you walk around with a protractor,spirt level and tape measure in ya pockets.

I always found 8ft to much board for a beachie. Can't duckdive it.

you can't duck dive an 8'er with a spirit level in your back pocket….god every mid length rider knows that.



be off with you and your ginger ninja mate.

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Cobra said...

SP said..

Cobra said...
**** you mid length riders are a gimpy lot.
what ,,do you walk around with a protractor,spirt level and tape measure in ya pockets.

I always found 8ft to much board for a beachie. Can't duckdive it.

you can't duck dive an 8'er with a spirit level in your back pocket….god every mid length rider knows that.



be off with you and your ginger ninja mate.

I hear flutes....Out of the basket cobra

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Simondo said..
What I ride!... :)

That is an awesome backdrop brother wicked colours to those cliffs ..... what a view ya lucky bastard

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SP said..

Cobra said...

SP said..

Cobra said...
**** you mid length riders are a gimpy lot.
what ,,do you walk around with a protractor,spirt level and tape measure in ya pockets.

I always found 8ft to much board for a beachie. Can't duckdive it.

you can't duck dive an 8'er with a spirit level in your back pocket….god every mid length rider knows that.



be off with you and your ginger ninja mate.

I hear flutes....Out of the basket cobra

Id like you and your doppy Mate to know that's a 9' custom.

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Cobra said...

SP said..

Cobra said...

SP said..

Cobra said...
**** you mid length riders are a gimpy lot.
what ,,do you walk around with a protractor,spirt level and tape measure in ya pockets.

I always found 8ft to much board for a beachie. Can't duckdive it.

you can't duck dive an 8'er with a spirit level in your back pocket….god every mid length rider knows that.



be off with you and your ginger ninja mate.

I hear flutes....Out of the basket cobra

Id like you and your doppy Mate to know that's a 9' custom.

Haha...

Simondo, lovely board shape....was it made as a single and the plugs added later?