I'm looking at getting a performance Mal. 9'1". Something nice and loose. Any suggestions ?

Currently ride 6' keel fin fish, 6'6" hybrid fish, 6'8" quad, great board & 8' Tuff Light Yater. l love the Yater. Thruster fins, flat rocker, fast but nearly 6 year old and getting a bit tired. Its small enough to turn but big enough to cross step and nose ride although the fins slip a little when on the nose.

Deano

OK without doubt I am a huge mc fan and have a few, I have played with the Fireball for years and have just picker up my second Razar, this is a weapon.

Let the good times roll

i had a mc razor 9ft 1 tufflite highly recommend it as it felt like i was on a shortboard,keeping in mind i am 95kgs.

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asea said...

i had a mc razor 9ft 1 tufflite highly recommend it as it felt like i was on a shortboard,keeping in mind i am 95kgs.

same same we had three foot perfect long wallers today and the razar stuck it up the crowd and its jacking up to five foot tomorrow, I bet that will ease up the holiday crowd

95 kegs = Razar 9.3 x 23 x 3

hey mac , mine was 22 1/2 x 2 3/4 x 9 ft 1.

Hmmmmm - very very tough question indeed. As always it will come down to budget and what you really want out of the board.
Ok Mac - don't shoot me for the following :

If you like tuflite and want full blown high performance then Tolhurst 9fter is pretty much unbeatable and a bit more forgiving and user friendly than a McT Razar and the Takyama (I think Noah) gets huge raps from my mates who ride them. The Mctavish Original Tuflite is probably the best beach break mal ever made and is a personal favourite of Bob Mct himself and is a board you will see most of the time on Bobs car. I personally am not a huge fan of the Original because I reckon the rocker pushes too much water - but I must admit I have mostly ridden the board on points and they really aren't made for those kinda conditions.
If PU is your thing then the Laguna Bay MSJ super is perhaps the best h/p mal ever made (IMO) and the Laguna Bay Taylor Jensen model is also superb but slightly more allround than the MSJ. And of course if more allround is where you want to go then you have to put the McT fireball in the mix.
I've probably confused the hell out of you - sorry.
If I was choosing then what would I pick ? If it was a custom then I would look at 3 options 1) Laguna Bay Taylor Jensen model or 2) McTavish of some kind 3) Brett Munroe H/P

Tuflite options : Probably a Takayama of some kind.

It is damn near impossible to demo really good PU boards but there are heaps of tuflites around for hire/demo so try as many as you possibly can before you part with your hard earned dollars. Mctavish do have a full demo range of all their boards both in PU and tuflite so maybe there is someway you can arrange something through your local surf shop to try some of the McTs.
Good luck with the journey. Let us know which way you are leaning and I will try to put you in contact with someone in your area who may be able to help out with a demo or two.

Haha Bill, all good sound advice mate, I've looked at the Tolhurst and was very impressed

We know he shapes Robert August Designs under license as per the recent world champs boards but I was surprised yesterday to see an older Town & Country with one of his stickers on it.

I like his 9.6" tuffy that I have but I just wish he made a tuffy with about another 15cc of volume, then I would never need to touch my 10' board on the hard paddle days.

O'Donnell makes a nice perfomance longboard - I might have a jadded opinion as I have one

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cRAZY Canuk said...

O'Donnell makes a nice perfomance longboard - I might have a jadded opinion as I have one

Never stopped mac before

Hey deano - would be worth your while having a chat to Steve Del Rosso at Clearwater Surfboads in WA. He divides his time between WA and Qld nowdays I think and he is a very good mal shaper and surfer. His longboard designs have been proven in very tough conditions in WA and he is pretty much a no b/s kinda guy so I am sure he will give you some sound advice. If there is one piece of advice I can give you though - if you get a custom h/p longboard, get it shaped by someone who rides h/p mals and be very very honest with them about what you want and your ability on that type of board. In my opinion if your shaper gets it wrong or you overstate your ability then an under volumed mal is just as useless as an undervolumed shortboard - yes, being over 9ft it will still float and catch waves but thats about it - it will be a pig and you will hate it. Sometimes h/p in a mal can just mean making some small adjustments to a standard allround shape, like maybe thinning it down a bit or hardening or softening a rail or pulling a bit out of the nose or something really simple that will just suit your style a bit better and allow you to surf it harder.
I am no expert surfer but to this day the two best surfs I have ever had in the biggest and nastiest waves was on a 9.6 x 23 x 3 Mctavish Fireball and a very high performance Laguna Bay Pro board. No, the Mctavish is not what I would call a high performance longboard but it was the board I felt the most comfortable on in very big surf and as such I surfed well on the day and it was a great allrounder. The Laguna Bay was something outta the box and just a freak board but it was not an allround board at all in my opinion. The Laguna is still the best board I have ever ridden in my life and its the best I have ever surfed BUT it was made for a specific purpose and that was going hard in hard conditions - not something we all want to do or have the conditions to do every day.

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doggie said...

cRAZY Canuk said...

O'Donnell makes a nice perfomance longboard - I might have a jadded opinion as I have one

Never stopped mac before

Thanks for the input. Great stuff. I'm not going to rush into anything just starting the process.

Deano

I went upto see Tully (Laguna Longboards) on Easter Saturday to look at getting a more performance orientated Mal! He was a great help, looked at many boards and decided on a blank which he had started to shape, which he was working on out the back, placed an order..... Now I only have to wait until next Saturday to drive back up to pick it up.

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NPF83 said...

I went upto see Tully (Laguna Longboards) on Easter Saturday to look at getting a more performance orientated Mal! He was a great help, looked at many boards and decided on a blank which he had started to shape, which he was working on out the back, placed an order..... Now I only have to wait until next Saturday to drive back up to pick it up.

First up welcome can you explain the shape of this new weapon of choice, dimensions ect

mac

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NPF83 said...

I went upto see Tully (Laguna Longboards) on Easter Saturday to look at getting a more performance orientated Mal! He was a great help, looked at many boards and decided on a blank which he had started to shape, which he was working on out the back, placed an order..... Now I only have to wait until next Saturday to drive back up to pick it up.

That's a pretty quick turn arount

Deano, where are you planning on riding it the most, what size waves, points, beaches, are you natural or goofy, and do you ride rights or left more ??

Does anyone have any thoughts of any board being a better backhand or forehand performer ???

I have an McTavish Original, and it rocks ! Fast point breaks with a steeper drop, when overhead... the Original is great for that too. Yes, Original is awesome is beach breaks. The hips near the tail work really well forehand, toes over on the rail.

I've heard good reports on the Razor's too.

In PU, the McTavish Boards with hand written dimensions are made in Oz, and the ones with "Type Font Dimensions" are from Asia. The ones from Asia are cheaper.... but try and stick with the Oz ones.... The Oz ones will have better resale. But some people are not aware, and you can luck a good resale from an asian board too.