Wednesday 20 July 2011

get clean

with a bar of soap..........in this case 5'2 stringerless, shaped by Tyler Warren with Daniel Partsch wood keels......

Kind of an impulse purchase. As previously noted, i've been loving my point concept velo sim over the last year. It's resulted in a few raves on here but at 5'8 it's always felt like i could have gone smaller. Tyler Warren's bar of soap version of a simmons had caught my eye and i knew there were small numbers available through Thalia and Surfy surfy. I thought about ordering one before our trip out to california and JP from surfy surfy did get me the chance of a board but for a variety of reasons i didn't commit.

Imagine my delight then, when i wandered into the Hobie store in Dana Point to see this advocado tinted beauty tucked in behind the SUP's. With the good fortune to have sold a couple of boards before we left, the temptation was too much to resist and i caved in with little resistance!

It took a while for the stars to align and for me to get a chance to ride it. No matter how much you like the look or idea of a board, it's not until you catch the first few waves on it that you know if your enthusiasm has been well placed.

At 5'2 , 22 wide and 2.5 thick, there's still a reassuring amount of foam. Very little rocker and a distinct foil out to the rails so they are less chunky than my velo sim. Bottom wise it's belly to single concave to a fairly deep double concave through the fins which are a little closer to fish keels than the half moon classic sim shape.

It paddles well, great for it's size and no more difficult than a 5'8 fish would. Like wise it's into waves easily, getting in early or late if necessary, the short length really helping despite the flat rocker.

First wave was a chest high mushy righthander and the board flew, in fact it flies in everything i've had it out in so far. There's less belly and more concave than my velo sim and this manifests as a much more "alive" feeling once you are up and riding with a real big squirt out of the bottom turn. It's so short that it's easy to get on rail and wrap around a cutback and the short rail line makes it feel much more dynamic and connected to your feet backside, despite the tail width.

Whereas the velo sim feels like a hull with a fish's ability to cutback, this feels like my favorite larry mabile) fish with a rocket attached! Needless to say, i'm amping and i don't think it's just new board euphoria. Further reports to come as testing continues!

12 comments:

Thos said...

You make it sound as super as it looks! Hope to meet it one day. But not as much as I hope our surf would bleedin' well get its act together and give us something decent to play on...

CP said...

Hopefully I'll have it slip sliding round the gate soon! It is really fun! We'll have to do a swap to compare with the simster

Thos said...

The Simster is fun. Really big and glidey - had it going in tiny waves yesterday at the gate. It's certainly good for easy paddling & wave catching and being a 'one board quiver' but I think for really going for it on a good wave it may be a bit too buoyant (but I guess I'm not good enough to make big judgements on its shape really). Going to slide it out again this afternoon on the push.

HD said...

hmmm, well I am envious of both of you guys, with your big flashy california toys ! Please post some more shots of this little board, would like to see the colour of the tint too. Looks really interesting. I am still messing around with my own hand made mongrels, but most importantly just having a laugh in crap surf. These shapes work so well for the Uk coast line, I just don't understand why more people aren't on them.

CP said...

I'll try and take some more pics. You're welcome to pop round to see it in person if you're this side of the river sometime Howard.

I agree they are great in uk waves. Trouble is hardly any shapers over here are making them. I was wondering what would happen if you kept the bottom contour and rails but pulled the tail in more and put a big flexy single fin in? Not quite a hull but could be fun!

Thos said...

Hi Ho!ward - the Simster's not that flashy, it's probably the worst finishing I've ever seen on a surfboard - exposed weave, bubbles (that I've already had to Suncure) you can see the sanding circles on the glass and the nose is wonky. The bottom shape is good but the nose isn't as refined as I thought it was going to be (I was expecting more of a scooped nose like the Caspers). The bottom shape works well. It seems like function over finish. It was fun in 1-3ft messy Combesgate yesterday.

CP, have you seen this board?
http://theswallowtailsociety.blogspot.com/2010/04/kookbox-x-manuel-caro-skarab-from-recal.html

CP said...

yeah i saw it but it's concave through to spiral vee, no simmons-esque convexity up front .

Thos said...

Yeah, yeah, of course, I know, you're right. You mean more like this don't you:
http://www.deluxepaipo.com/2010/12/mini-simmons-and-single-fin.html

Thos said...

But with more of a hully nose! I know, whew, got in there first!!!

CP said...

yeah kinda like halfway between those two. kinda the template of that single fin but a bit more rounded with a wider tail but with the bottom contours of the simmons......
it's probably a terrible idea which is why no ones done it!

CP said...

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n157/jory04/78b6dd2f.jpg

There's another pic HD!

Anonymous said...

Ive got a 6 footer myself was thinkin of going 5 or so, being about 12 stone and pushin 50. Curious with riding a 5 something allready how old and how much do you weigh?
posted a shitty Be Cool Man video review on my site too. Did you get a copy?

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