There was new attention paid to the flexspoon concept around 2006. A few people (Bob McTavish, Ryan Lovelace) have posted bits of info in the last few years. However, in the ~10 years since a fresh look was given to these types of boards, I've seen only sparse evidence that they are being ridden. The most well know proof (to me) of actual riding of these boards revolves around a person who made a few of his own and rode them. He goes by Man O' War, lives in Florida, and is no longer pursuing the craft. He visited in California branch of his family years back and I managed a few waves on one of his boards. For me, the board had obvious merits and I decided I wanted one.
They were and are expensive, but through patience I tracked one down for a reasonable price. My first session on it I got my barrel, but also broke a rail. I decided to overbuild the board with many layers of glass so that it wouldn't break again. In retrospect, I feel that was an overreaction. I also think the reason I never rode the board much was because of the lack of flotation. I never gave the board a try in softer waves, and the one time I tried it mid-winter my session was shorter than usual due to full body exhaustion from swimming around the surf pushing a neutrally buoyant spoon, and being cold from setting up to my chin in the water. These feelings were relived recently when I took the HPD out for it's first surf. The flexspoon and the HPD have very similar rocker profiles and, with the exception of foam nose-rails, are very similar for the first 1/2 or so. The HPD continues the rail template line and has a wide point very near the tail, the flexspoon has a more surfboard styled template.
The first two sessions on the HPD have been in summer surf. Warm, easy, but also somewhat soft. If the HPD works in these conditions, maybe the flexspoon would also. It's time to give it another try. I think my best bet is to do what I did with the HPD and bring it down to mi4le.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
A Good Day
Last week I left home before dawn to arrive at mi4le at dawn. There were three small swells, south, west, north, in the forecast and an early morning low tide. I figured it was a good combination for that spot and to try out the HPD paipo on a wave that I am familiar with. It was a beautiful morning and only a few other guys out. There weren't a ton of waves, but there were enough, and of good quality so that everyone stayed stoked. Onto a review of the paipo.
As expected the paipo took a few waves to get used to. The issue remains that I need to orient my body off center, legs more onto the inside rail. Once I got into that groove, I started playing with other riding technique. I rode the board way forward, hanging way off the back, dragging legs off the side. I tried pushing, pulling, and letting the paipo do all the work. The wave I was surfing does a steep bowl take-off that goes into a section that often throws a small barrel, then either fades away, or sometimes lines up for more of the same through the inside as the wave shrinks. I'm going to compare the paipo to the surf mat, which is the other prone riding vehicle I like to ride at this spot. Because the paipo is a hard board (as opposed to a bag of air), pulling on the outside rail results in a major change in velocity. Mostly I used this to stall into the pocket as I have not yet figured out how to move my body across the board for a cut back.
I was writting a thourgh review of the paipo, but I ran out of steam and didn't come back to it until now, a week later. Long story short is that the paipo is slower at this wave, which made me happy to swap it out and ride the mat. I was having so much fun that I started to mess around and do a high line slide. Bottom turn up the steep face and let things slide as my feet are down and my head is up. This is an awkward position to rcover from, but I think if I continue the rotation I can pull through the move functionally. Something to play with.
I surfed the Pacheco a bit the next day at Wadel reef corners. Not as much fun, but good to change things up and get some variety. Mi4le was looking crowded even in the predawn light, and I didn't want to sour the memory of the day before.
On my "to-do" list is:
keep playing with the paipo to find its sweet spot
Pull out the spoon and give it a go
Keep on matting!
As expected the paipo took a few waves to get used to. The issue remains that I need to orient my body off center, legs more onto the inside rail. Once I got into that groove, I started playing with other riding technique. I rode the board way forward, hanging way off the back, dragging legs off the side. I tried pushing, pulling, and letting the paipo do all the work. The wave I was surfing does a steep bowl take-off that goes into a section that often throws a small barrel, then either fades away, or sometimes lines up for more of the same through the inside as the wave shrinks. I'm going to compare the paipo to the surf mat, which is the other prone riding vehicle I like to ride at this spot. Because the paipo is a hard board (as opposed to a bag of air), pulling on the outside rail results in a major change in velocity. Mostly I used this to stall into the pocket as I have not yet figured out how to move my body across the board for a cut back.
I was writting a thourgh review of the paipo, but I ran out of steam and didn't come back to it until now, a week later. Long story short is that the paipo is slower at this wave, which made me happy to swap it out and ride the mat. I was having so much fun that I started to mess around and do a high line slide. Bottom turn up the steep face and let things slide as my feet are down and my head is up. This is an awkward position to rcover from, but I think if I continue the rotation I can pull through the move functionally. Something to play with.
I surfed the Pacheco a bit the next day at Wadel reef corners. Not as much fun, but good to change things up and get some variety. Mi4le was looking crowded even in the predawn light, and I didn't want to sour the memory of the day before.
On my "to-do" list is:
keep playing with the paipo to find its sweet spot
Pull out the spoon and give it a go
Keep on matting!
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
New Stoke
I just had a really great day of surf. It started out with me arriving at dawn at the north end. Crappy onshore small mush with to many guys out. I drank a cup of coffee and ate a donut and that motivated me to give it a try anyway. I'm glad I did because over the hour I was out the crowd dwindled and so did the wind. I matted waves on my Neumattic and stayed warm in my new wetsuit (Sierra Trading Post score.) After an hour I headed to the beach to meet a guy. He was already coming down the sand with his mat. He and I and only a few other guys surfed fun 3-4' peaks for another hour as the surf glassed off. I was even considering swapping out for my Pacheco. Things started to deteriorate and we headed to the beach. He showed me his HPD XL that he was selling, which was the reason we were meeting today. It was clean, nearly perfect condition, and came with a padded bag for a great price. I gave him the cash with no haggling and told him to keep in touch if he wants to surf again.
After he left I continued talking with a guy we had been surfing with. He was riding a modern 8' Hansen 50/50, leash-less, and with much skill. We chatted about surf mats, San Diego, and weird boards. I got him stoked on the idea of a longboard Bonzer from Mike Eaton. I hope to see him again sometime because he was friendly, a good surfer, and is into "not thrusters."
While we had been talking the surf got good again and since I still hadn't taken off my wetsuit, I decided to give the HPD a dip. It's a bit odd to ride because the tail is really wide. This makes it so you have to put your whole body on the inside rail to get it to hold a line. I did it right a few times and got the feel, but also got a good feeling of the wrong way to do it.
Before today I've surfed here and there. A Sunday at bad LMar with my kayak buddy, a few weekday mornings with my little buddy at LMar. It's nice to see him getting more comfortable, strong, and skilled at surfing. "In my day" we learned to surf by someone taking us out and we just had to deal with it alone for the most part. Now we pull our young ones out through the waves and push them into the right ones. Follow them to shore to make sure everything is okay and pull them back out again. It gives people a more fun experience for their first time, but is less fun for me! He was getting the hang of things last time and I had more time to catch waves on my own.
I did get a day at the north end a few weeks ago that was similar to today. It started out crummy but got pretty good! I was out with JZ and he got a look at my wave that is the closest I've gotten to a tube ride in years. He couldn't verify it from his angle, but I saw the lip over my head. I'll say I was under the lip but not behind the curtain.
I'm out of shape for the coming winter waves, but I have the free time to fix that before the first swell of fall arrives.
After he left I continued talking with a guy we had been surfing with. He was riding a modern 8' Hansen 50/50, leash-less, and with much skill. We chatted about surf mats, San Diego, and weird boards. I got him stoked on the idea of a longboard Bonzer from Mike Eaton. I hope to see him again sometime because he was friendly, a good surfer, and is into "not thrusters."
While we had been talking the surf got good again and since I still hadn't taken off my wetsuit, I decided to give the HPD a dip. It's a bit odd to ride because the tail is really wide. This makes it so you have to put your whole body on the inside rail to get it to hold a line. I did it right a few times and got the feel, but also got a good feeling of the wrong way to do it.
Before today I've surfed here and there. A Sunday at bad LMar with my kayak buddy, a few weekday mornings with my little buddy at LMar. It's nice to see him getting more comfortable, strong, and skilled at surfing. "In my day" we learned to surf by someone taking us out and we just had to deal with it alone for the most part. Now we pull our young ones out through the waves and push them into the right ones. Follow them to shore to make sure everything is okay and pull them back out again. It gives people a more fun experience for their first time, but is less fun for me! He was getting the hang of things last time and I had more time to catch waves on my own.
I did get a day at the north end a few weeks ago that was similar to today. It started out crummy but got pretty good! I was out with JZ and he got a look at my wave that is the closest I've gotten to a tube ride in years. He couldn't verify it from his angle, but I saw the lip over my head. I'll say I was under the lip but not behind the curtain.
I'm out of shape for the coming winter waves, but I have the free time to fix that before the first swell of fall arrives.
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