I have just surfed knee high onshore waves by myself and had fun. I had some time to think about this question as i have on numerous surfs with all types of craft.
I am 52, 6'3" and 100kg and mainly ride a 6'3" webber minifish. It goes great in crap waves and is suited to very small surf. My biggest board is a 6'10" Simon Anderson which goes great in overhead waves.
There are so many boards around for fat old guys like me, why would anyone want to ride a 9ft long board that you cant turn in tiny waves and when the waves are good why not ride a high volume short board?
Is it that these longboarders have just given up on short boards because they are crap surfers? Mark Richards, Simon Anderson, Rabbit are all older than me but ride shortboards. I have a metal hip replacement so its no excuse that your body is not up to riding a shortboard.
Is it the nostalgia of riding the first surfboards, why not then drive a 1968 Holden with no power steering? I like 1975 single fins but i would never ride one in decent surf as my first choice. Maybe 62mac can enlighten me?

It's kinda like if you love your footy, rugby or soccer. You're never going to convert one to the other with what it appeals to you. When I had a log, I loved how easy it was to pop up and glide but it didn't feel right or what I liked hence SB'ing was the go. I'm keen to find a decent longboard though. Would be good to reaffirm my hypocracy by jumping on one due to how much crap I say about it in the LB forum

P.s. The mini fish is a great board hey. When I get the footing right, it just goes!

Select to expand quote

kleb said...

I have just surfed knee high onshore waves by myself and had fun. I had some time to think about this question as i have on numerous surfs with all types of craft.
I am 52, 6'3" and 100kg and mainly ride a 6'3" webber minifish. It goes great in crap waves and is suited to very small surf. My biggest board is a 6'10" Simon Anderson which goes great in overhead waves.
There are so many boards around for fat old guys like me, why would anyone want to ride a 9ft long board that you cant turn in tiny waves and when the waves are good why not ride a high volume short board?
Is it that these longboarders have just given up on short boards because they are crap surfers? Mark Richards, Simon Anderson, Rabbit are all older than me but ride shortboards. I have a metal hip replacement so its no excuse that your body is not up to riding a shortboard.
Is it the nostalgia of riding the first surfboards, why not then drive a 1968 Holden with no power steering? I like 1975 single fins but i would never ride one in decent surf as my first choice. Maybe 62mac can enlighten me?

longboards can be more fun than shortboards in the right conditions....and I normally ride a shorty but still think a LB has a place in every quiver.

Well - I would always prefer to be riding my 'big blokes fish' but thankfully today i took the 9.1 out - as I know I got twice as many waves -and for twice as far. No i didn't get any reo's or cutbacks in, but I zipped through the flat and the fast sections that the guys on shortboards could not... and importantly I had FUN.

I think it also helps you appreciate the fish when I get back on it.

Select to expand quote

kleb said...


why would anyone want to ride a 9ft long board that you cant turn in tiny waves and when the waves are good why not ride a high volume short board?
Is it that these longboarders have just given up on short boards because they are crap surfers?

If you can't turn a 9ft board, you're certainly not going to be able to turn a sub 7' board with an vigor. you'd ride a 9ft board in tiny waves because there's no way you can have as much fun on a short board as a longboard (im talking tiny, as in perth summer tiny). longboarding provides a fluidity and craft to riding a wave that shortboards simply cant. sure, on shortboards, you cant do a vertical snap, a round house or ride a (small) barrel a lot easier, but you cant nose ride without looking like a kook, and you certainly cant cruise and make the ride look pleasurable and chilled out like you can on a longboard.

im 21 and i can see immense benefits in riding longboards. im surprised, at more than twice my age, you seem to refuse to accept longboarding has pros, just like shortboarding does, even though you'd have had profoundly more exposure to the history behind surfing and the various crafts involved than i.

Select to expand quote

kleb said...


Is it that these longboarders have just given up on short boards because they are crap surfers? Mark Richards, Simon Anderson, Rabbit are all older than me but ride shortboards. I have a metal hip replacement so its no excuse that your body is not up to riding a shortboard.

The part that kind of kills your argument is that I have seen Simon ride Longboards in small waves. He even rides a SUP (GASP!!!!!) So does MR, they both shape them even..

Instead of people having their head in the sand and being locked into riding a shortboard as some kind of way to prove something to themselves or friends you find that different equipment in its suited conditions keeps you in the water longer, teaches you different techniques and keeps you tuned when you back on the shorty's.

it's your day off...you have an assortment of surfcraft in your car and your up early and off to the beach...you pull up at your local and it's tiny, but it's perfect little pealers rolling through...you wax your nine two and don your boardies....you casually walk to the water...the early morning sun feels great...you paddle out...swing around and take off on a clean little wave...gracefully you swing out of a bottom turn that takes you to the top of the wave...you cross step to the nose...in 4 steps you have five of your toes over the front of your board...trimming with the nine feet of board locked into the curl of the wave behind you...shifting your back foot up next to the other you have all ten toes over the front of your board........It's then kleb when....you will never ask that question again

At 100 kgs your going to need some juice to surf a shortboard and living on the eastcoast we don't get it often,so do we sit around for months like so many shortboarders do waiting for the swell,hell no we can ride anything from one foot up and have some much fun.Nothing sh-ts me watching a shortboarder pumping along a wave just to keep on the thing,its not a good look and cant be fun.Dont worry we can ride a HP longboard like most shortboarders can, yes going vertical.I was a shortboarder for years and at 50 the longboard keeps me in the sport.
A big volume single fin log is so much fun in one foot and a HP is even more fun when the waves are on.

ignorance is bliss, with this comment if u dont ride all surf craft in all conditions then how can be called a surfer, u should ride everything from hand planes to sups

Ha ha a webber minifish is a longboard for guys who can't turn a nine footer. 6'3 and 50 litres that is high volume, HP longboard volume... personally I like to be able to sink my rails in a turn and a rail over 3 inch think just don't do that.

And yeah I have ridden a Minifish, they are a nice board. Fins are a bit odd, are you using the webber fins?..

I agree high volume shorties are good but so is a longboard.... Just try it or at least don't write off people who do, ride what you want...

Select to expand quote

cameron2156 said...

ignorance is bliss, with this comment if u dont ride all surf craft in all conditions then how can be called a surfer, u should ride everything from hand planes to sups

I just ride shortboards, and I surf. I'm I a surfer?
You don't have to ride everything ride what you enjoy not what other people think you should.

Select to expand quote

arkgee said...

it's your day off...you have an assortment of surfcraft in your car and your up early and off to the beach...you pull up at your local and it's tiny, but it's perfect little pealers rolling through...you wax your nine two and don your boardies....you casually walk to the water...the early morning sun feels great...you paddle out...swing around and take off on a clean little wave...gracefully you swing out of a bottom turn that takes you to the top of the wave...you cross step to the nose...in 4 steps you have five of your toes over the front of your board...trimming with the nine feet of board locked into the curl of the wave behind you...shifting your back foot up next to the other you have all ten toes over the front of your board........It's then kleb when....you will never ask that question again

Couldn't have said it better myself arkgee. Having a mal opens doors to surfing days you normally couldn't,....plus they get this amazing glide even in tiny waves

Stuffed shoulders is another reason....
Much easier to paddle a 9'2.
The over 40 surfer's curse-wouldn't wish it on anyone...

Select to expand quote

kleb said...

I have just surfed knee high onshore waves by myself and had fun. I had some time to think about this question as i have on numerous surfs with all types of craft.
I am 52, 6'3" and 100kg and mainly ride a 6'3" webber minifish. It goes great in crap waves and is suited to very small surf. My biggest board is a 6'10" Simon Anderson which goes great in overhead waves.
There are so many boards around for fat old guys like me, why would anyone want to ride a 9ft long board that you cant turn in tiny waves and when the waves are good why not ride a high volume short board?
Is it that these longboarders have just given up on short boards because they are crap surfers? Mark Richards, Simon Anderson, Rabbit are all older than me but ride shortboards. I have a metal hip replacement so its no excuse that your body is not up to riding a shortboard.
Is it the nostalgia of riding the first surfboards, why not then drive a 1968 Holden with no power steering? I like 1975 single fins but i would never ride one in decent surf as my first choice. Maybe 62mac can enlighten me?

Kinda along the lines of this discussion, but really just trying to show that ride whatever suits

All valid points, i have ridden 9ft long boards when i was a grommet and had fun walking the plank, but after riding a minifish, with the volume of a sup, i can still glide along on knee high waves, and even do turns.
I do understand that the east coast doesnt have a lot of push, and i hate watching guys flapping along on their latest pro model board, but i still reckon most of the guys i see riding mals are just greedy kooks who show no regard for shortboarders and have no concept of sharing. I realise there are people on all craft with those traits, it is just amplified by longboards sitting further out and getting most of the waves.
Im trying to think of waves in our southwest where a longboard would be the board of choice and there are not many. Where as waves like the Pass and Crescent are probably perfect.
My minifish is 3.25 thick and although it has limitations it keeps me in the water when the waves are tiny, i have a Firewire Dominator for mid size waves, and a set of quad fins on the way. I ride the Webber as a thruster but will experiment with fins like a smaller centre fin, i was worried the big red twin fins would cut me up into pieces.

Select to expand quote

kleb said...

All valid points, i have ridden 9ft long boards when i was a grommet and had fun walking the plank, but after riding a minifish, with the volume of a sup, i can still glide along on knee high waves, and even do turns.
I do understand that the east coast doesnt have a lot of push, and i hate watching guys flapping along on their latest pro model board, but i still reckon most of the guys i see riding mals are just greedy kooks who show no regard for shortboarders and have no concept of sharing. I realise there are people on all craft with those traits, it is just amplified by longboards sitting further out and getting most of the waves.
Im trying to think of waves in our southwest where a longboard would be the board of choice and there are not many. Where as waves like the Pass and Crescent are probably perfect.
My minifish is 3.25 thick and although it has limitations it keeps me in the water when the waves are tiny, i have a Firewire Dominator for mid size waves, and a set of quad fins on the way. I ride the Webber as a thruster but will experiment with fins like a smaller centre fin, i was worried the big red twin fins would cut me up into pieces.

Yep nice points, but you're still missing the point, people will choose to ride what they want cause they like it... Just like you like your Webber and I suggest if you've never seen any1 turn a longboard on small waves you've never seen a good long boarder or even an average one, as for the wave pig comment, I get just as many waves on my high volume shortboard and my choice of board has nothing to do with greed.

And put those dirty big red fins in your Minifish and you'll enjoy it even more but don't come back and tell me it is better than something else.

Select to expand quote

kleb said...

I have just surfed knee high onshore waves by myself and had fun. I had some time to think about this question as i have on numerous surfs with all types of craft.
I am 52, 6'3" and 100kg and mainly ride a 6'3" webber minifish. It goes great in crap waves and is suited to very small surf. My biggest board is a 6'10" Simon Anderson which goes great in overhead waves.
There are so many boards around for fat old guys like me, why would anyone want to ride a 9ft long board that you cant turn in tiny waves and when the waves are good why not ride a high volume short board?
Is it that these longboarders have just given up on short boards because they are crap surfers? Mark Richards, Simon Anderson, Rabbit are all older than me but ride shortboards. I have a metal hip replacement so its no excuse that your body is not up to riding a shortboard.
Is it the nostalgia of riding the first surfboards, why not then drive a 1968 Holden with no power steering? I like 1975 single fins but i would never ride one in decent surf as my first choice. Maybe 62mac can enlighten me?

Gotta love peer pressure, ride what puts a smile on your dial, not what you think makes you a "surfer".

^^^^^

x2.

^^^yep..the biggest grin wins every time even at the pub, i will ride things most people laugh at

A ride almost everything from performance to longboard depending on mood and conditions. Tried a SUP once but didn't like it [}:)]

I havent done one of those shots for a long time.

Here's an old one. Murray doesnt even really shape under Pipedream anymore. The current one would be much harder to take. More boards, SUP's, Outrigger Canoes etc.

I kind of like this photo though, I pretty much loved all of these boards, a real high point in quality of quiver.

6'0, 6'2, 6'10 single, 9'4 Log, 7'0, 6'8, 6'5 channel, 6'3.

^^ Still got the Darlberg?

Select to expand quote

doggie said...

^^ Still got the Darlberg?

Dahlberg....Haven't heard that name for a while. Rodney wasn't it ?
Does he still shape ?

Select to expand quote

Scotty88 said...

doggie said...

^^ Still got the Darlberg?

Dahlberg....Haven't heard that name for a while. Rodney wasn't it ?
Does he still shape ?

Nah, no more Dahlberg. Rod is a great guy, most perfect shaper ever.

Still shaping quite a few boards, still quite a long wait to get one with a huge waiting list.

Select to expand quote

CMC said...

Scotty88 said...

doggie said...

^^ Still got the Darlberg?

Dahlberg....Haven't heard that name for a while. Rodney wasn't it ?
Does he still shape ?

Nah, no more Dahlberg. Rod is a great guy, most perfect shaper ever.

Still shaping quite a few boards, still quite a long wait to get one with a huge waiting list.

I had a close look at a channel bottom that he did for a mate, it would have to be the most acurate shape I have seen. I ran a shapers square over it quickly and it was spot on. I recon he must sweat over every board

Select to expand quote

doggie said...

CMC said...

Scotty88 said...

doggie said...

^^ Still got the Darlberg?

Dahlberg....Haven't heard that name for a while. Rodney wasn't it ?
Does he still shape ?

Nah, no more Dahlberg. Rod is a great guy, most perfect shaper ever.

Still shaping quite a few boards, still quite a long wait to get one with a huge waiting list.

I had a close look at a channel bottom that he did for a mate, it would have to be the most acurate shape I have seen. I ran a shapers square over it quickly and it was spot on. I recon he must sweat over every board

I guarantee it mate. If he shapes it for you it will be perfect in every way.

A bit of a late reply, but I recon this clip from 2:15 onwards explains the matter quite well :) :

Yep, great for small gutless surf

The Marshall boys can rip on long and short boards

Select to expand quote

DSB said...

A bit of a late reply, but I recon this clip from 2:15 onwards explains the matter quite well :) :

great video - great perspective.

Its not the wave but how much you connect with it that counts.

4 waves for me stand out as my best ever - in no particular order

1. a 3 barrell barrell death defying supersuck 6 ft bomb in the nw desert on a 6'4 short board. It was All luck making that wave

2. A waist high perfect reeler ridden on a 10 ft SUP nose rider style board at Meimbula - toes on the noes for 100m

3. A perfect left - chest high - near esperance - bodysurfed in the pocket for about 150 m

4. A 7ft thrower at margs - aired off the peak and out into the flats on my windsurfer. That one was probably the scariest!


If you get stuck on one discipline you get a very narrow perspective

Select to expand quote

GPA said...

Well - I would always prefer to be riding my 'big blokes fish' but thankfully today i took the 9.1 out - as I know I got twice as many waves -and for twice as far. No i didn't get any reo's or cutbacks in, but I zipped through the flat and the fast sections that the guys on shortboards could not... and importantly I had FUN.

I think it also helps you appreciate the fish when I get back on it.

Hey GPA

If I recall correctly we both have the same 'big blokes fish', and even with that I catch lot of waves that others leave alone. The long board must be a buzz in bad conditions.