Having ordered my new board I was counting the minutes until it arrived - Due date Thursday - No chance whatsoever of getting on it today but I was like a kid at Christmas - 'Santa' for the purposes of this story is played by John Hibbard of Starboard.
Slight spot of artistic licence there but you get the gist - never been so keen to get a board.
You can just about see the change in the deck grip area where the Diamond 'Target Zone' is for your feet.
4.30pm Thursday - text to Santa
'Where the f#*$ing f#*$ is my f#*$ing board?"
5pm Thursday Santaphone text reply
'In the back of my f#*$ing Sleigh, I'm 5 minutes away from Tim's - now chill out dork'
And rest. Pulse is a steady level 3 about 150bpm - Not getting it tonight!!!
Picture shows Tim explaining to the world that it would be a better place if we all rode the 9'0" Extremist. The board immediately behind is the Tufskin 9'8" - left of shot is a rack full of Starboards - new Jimmy Lewis' - C4's and Custard Points. That's walking the walk as well as talking the talk.
9.00pm Text from Gavin to Dork
'What's the board like?'
'What's the board like?'
AAArrggh
Slight spot of artistic licence there but you get the gist - never been so keen to get a board.
Got to Tim's just after 10am Friday to be confronted by the 9'0" in pride of place Bugger - I reckon I could ride that. Tim halfheartedly suggested going to the harbour to give it a go - He is as excited at stocking these new boards as I am at getting one.
Santa John turns up with more boards - we chat for a while and I PUT THE BOARD IN MY VAN, Oh yeah it fits without popping the front screen out!!! Done that before, and drive back home racking my brains for some sheltered little spot for a test run.
I wax the hull, fit the fins and leash and wipe all the fresh drool off and gloat for a while.
She is so pretty - decent proper rails and rocker and side fins and light and pretty and short, and pretty.
And its got wood! On the deck - apparently its makes it stiffer and lighter than the tufskin jobby.
You can just about see the change in the deck grip area where the Diamond 'Target Zone' is for your feet.The bevel on the tail is a nice feature and this shot shows off the rail plan. Tried to turn the pic but couldn't (be bothered). There are two leash plugs - one for goofy's a nice touch I feel catering for the disabled . . . . . (and duck).
This next shot shows the rails,tail and rocker quite well - The rails on my Jimmy are ummm - soft, yeah that's fair I think, the Starboard - well its has them they are quite hard and they go well up the sides.
The daft thing about the fins is - you don't get side biters with it. You get the big red Drake centre fin - and an FCS key in amongst the comprehensive owners wallet, Stickers, Warranty book and cuddly toy - but you don't get any side fins - Why is that then? Arent we meant to use them? Was it a mistake putting the slots there - sort of a slip with a router?? Come on Starboard - you got a great piece of kit here - not cheap - so don't get all cheap on us for a pair of fins.
Top side the deck is just beautiful the faux stringer line conceals a first joint deep handle - could be deeper but so nice to have.
Two or three phone calls later and I'm on my way to Praa sands - meet Shane there but it's so grim - I bail out to Perranuthnoe - Its shockingly bad - but I have a new board and can conquer anything - well almost. I manage one or two waves, get blown down the beach and sort of kneel and stand paddle my way back before getting blown back down the beach again. But I know that I would not have been able to look at it on the Jimmy and probebly not even been able to stand up.
Can't wait to get a decent day on it - shame is it's not likely to be this bank holiday weekend.
Please please please - if you read this rubbish - leave a comment. Anyone?
4 comments:
Great write up and the board looks drop dead gorgeous, one question though are you sure you need such a large box fin if you are also using side bites, I always use a shorter middle fin with sidebites aka performance longboard setup.
Ade.
Hi Ade - I honestly don't know - I have never really played about with fins that much UNTIL I swapped the huge fin on my Jimmy with something a bit smaller after I stopped falling off frequently. I have fitted the fin that comes with the board and pushed it forward - not all the way - to see how it goes but will possibly try a smaller fin as I settle down with the board. Conditions were so bad Yesterday I was pleased top be able to stay on it Kneeling!! Many thanks for the reply - Steve.
Hi,
I'm in S. Devon, also just bought a 9'8".
Because of a combination of the weather and excessive paint roller-ing, it's yet to get wet...
I think that we are going to see a few of these boards - and the 9'0" - can't wait to get a ride on that one as well - but for the moment I am more than happy - I admire your constitution - new board and doing DIY - My wife does all ours because I'm crap at it. Steve
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