Anyone have any experience of these shapes?

Would they be any good on beachbreak or are they strictly a pointbreak board?

Been thinking of picking up a step down board when we are in NYC next month.

Currently have a 9'2" Loose-fit log, wondering how small i can go from this also.

Thanks.

I dont know a lot about them to be honest - read a good article in the SJ on them and it was all about point breaks!

Some nice looking hulls from Mollusk Brooklyn http://www.newyorksurf.com/modules/ipboard...showtopic=15625

they are supposed to be difficult boards to ride and take a while to figure out. drop a line at newyork surf or do a search there. their is loads of info on them discussed on that board.

There a load of discussion on swaylocks about the, (20odd pages)

I think if you converted, you done for life but they sound like a very different experience and might no be the most forgiving to surf.

If you get one can you tell me where your based, cos id LOVE a crack off one:)

I've never ridden one but have been tracking the discussion on them for a while also watched loads of videos of them.

From what I see they are all about drawn out rail turns done from the middle of the board, nices big smooth S shapes. They are technically difficult to master and very difficult to ride on the backhand. They look like tons of fun.

There is a wide variety of hulls. Liddle seems to reign supreme and he has introduced a new beach break version which is slightly a compromise.

So yes they seem to be a fun board, but they are very specialised you need a long point break on your frontside to get the most out of them.

Mollusk in NYC stock them. If you get one I have to try it!!!

Thanks for the quick replies lads, much appreciated as always.

I've looked in on some of the discussions on them alright. It seems that the Liddles and some Finelines are of a more pure or hardcore hull design and the Andreinis are perhaps a little more user friendly?

Theres some nice Andreinis and Finelines on the Mollusk NYC website and blog, they look pure, simple beautifully shaped and easy to surf

Hmmm, I might be biting off more than I can chew with one-on the other hand "nothing ventured, nothing gained.."

Suppose I could pick up a cheaper (than here) Surftech Wombat ..

I would say give it a miss unless you have a very high standard of surfing or you have a lot of time to dedicate to getting the board to work for you.

Sprout shows them being ridden badly by extremely good surfers. The latest Baffa film shows what his face (the small fella with the black hair) riding one. He rides it well, but he has been riding one for years, and some of the turns still look to be sketchy.

jimmy gamboa - you have to do a full rail turn?

Pretty much, the whole board is near enough in contact with the water owing to the hull design/concept. It wouldnt leave much room for error.

Sounds like a very specialised board then mpb.

As i'm still at early intermediate level in my surfing It might not be my best option.

At the risk of veering off topic, are there any other options for a sub 9' beachbreak board thats easy to ride?

Longer Fish or an Egg perhaps?

Why do you want a longer fish? They generally have enough thickness and width to make up for the lack of length.

How about the Bing Karma or the Malibu Foil ?

With a fish if it is wide and fat then you can get away with it being shorter than yourself quite easily. If you want some thing a bit racier, with less volume through the board and tail, then having a bit more length seems to help.

Generally fish dont surf as aggressively as an out and out shortboard, but they are fast, relatively easy to paddle, can duck dive, and are good fun.

Plenty of people on the forum surf all types of fish, hybrids, twins, quads, etc, so if you see something your interested in post it up and I'm sure someone is likely to give you the low down on the board.

I have never had much luck with eggs.

i only surf beachies and it's usually on either a 6'6" Bonzer Egg or 6'0 Fish.

I also have a magic 7'6" Bonzer egg.

The eggs are a bit harder to duckdive and the 7'6" is neither here not there when it comes to battling thru whitewater. Too big to duckdive and too small to turtle roll. My favourite board though. Likes a good shape wave.

The 6'0" fish is the most general purpose board , will handle anything, but sometimes its too fast, where on a thruster you get out on the shoulder you jam a top turn back to the pocket the fish has to be allowed to slow far out on the shoulder before you cut back.

You can go vertical on a fish but you need to fade out onto the flats before initiating your turn to burn some speed. For some reason I can only do this properly on the backhand.

This is all dynamite info lads!

I'm 5'6" tall- if I could go for a Fish that size or smaller I'd be made up.

It would be nice to have something I could duckdive through the whitewater, but mostly i'm looking to try something smaller for a change and as a second board.

If the volume of a Twin Keel/fin allows me to downsize then thats the job for me!
I'm looking for fun rather than performance.
I 'll do a search on Quads also- probably a bit more Hi-performance are they?

I surf Beachies at present that are often all over the shop wave wise
So if the fish'll do it- its all