9’0 TORE Baby D Dimensions: 9’0 x 22″ x 2″ 7/8

This board is by far the best longboard I’ve ever ridden. I’ve tried boards from Takayama, Aipa, Pearson, Griffin, Infinity, Tanaka, Schaper, and countless others and can honestly say nothing is faster, more maneuverable, and noserides better than the Baby D. Believe me, I’m not writing this to hype the board but you really need to give it a try. If you’re looking for a cruiser/log type board, you’re probably better off getting a Takayama. However, if you’re looking for a high performance longboard that still allows for insane noserides, this is the only board you’ll ever want.

TORE Surfboards Baby D Longboard

I originally rode this board in a 2+1 setup and it rode great but for some strange reason, I put in an FCS thruster converter in the center box and turned it into a tri fin. I was skeptical as to whether the board would hold in larger surf and have enough drive off the bottom but after a few rides, the board’s performance answered my doubts. I was able to get a number of solid hang five noserides without the tail slipping.

The TORE Baby D is a very unique shape and at first glance it might not look like your conventional longboard. It has moderate nose and high tail rocker with vee off the tail. The fins are positioned way forward compared to your stock longboard and although this may look a bit odd, its performance will definitely make up for it. The nose features a very deep concave going way back through the first quarter of the board allowing for insane noseriding. It noserides just as good as a traditional noserider…you can set a high line and lock the board in for a hang 5…10 if you really try for it. It’s just unbelievable that a board can turn and race down the line yet still noseride like a plank.

The outline of the Baby D is pulled in dramatically ending in a baby diamond tail, hence its name. The pulled in outline combined with flipped tail allows for incredible turning ability where you can pump it from the tail, just like a shortboard. Round house cut backs, foam bounces, off the lips, and re-entries are all within easy reach. While the board works great in small piddly surf, the board excels in long overhead walls. It grips the open face with tons of traction allowing you to take a very high line and pump down the transition of the wave allowing for insane down the line speed.

The noseriding capability of this board is unmatched. You can easily stall in the pocket, set your high line, and hang five with ease…10 isn’t out of the question either. I know ‘best board’ is way overused, but this board is just that. It has incredible turning ability, tons of speed to burn, easy paddling, and insane noseriding. You seriously need to try this board out for yourself…you will be amazed.

I’ll try to get some video of this board in action. Stay tuned for updates.

Tore Surfboards Hawaii: www.toresurfboards.com
Haleiwa, Hawaii
Phone: (808) 638-0124
Email: toresurf@hawaii.rr.com

7’2 Surftech Al Merrick Water Hog: 7′2 x 21″ x 2.63″

I usually don’t ride fun boards being that I rather surf a shortboard or longboard but I had heard great things about the Channel Islands Water Hog that I decided to give it a go during a recent south swell. I took the Water Hog to one of the better waves in town, Number 3’s.

The wave at 3’s (or Trees as the locals would say) is like a machine spitting outperfect long peeling rights and decent but shorter lefts. It’s a great wave to ride a small board on but because the regulars all ride longboards, you’re forced to ride a longboard or barely catch any waves. The problem with riding a longboard at 3’s is that when its pumping it’s a really fast wave and quite tough to get turns in on that wave as you’re always trying to outrun the wave which is why I thought it would be a perfect chance to try the fun board out.

The Water Hog features a pretty narrow outline for a funboard and pulled in tail featuring a squash tail. It utilizes Merrick’s own FCS templates in a tri fin setup. It’s pretty thin through out the length of the board and felt like a pretty high performance board…unlike most eggy shaped funboards out there.

I scored a bunch of good rights on the Water Hog and was amazed at its speed and maneuverability. It rode down the line like a shortboard, gripping the big walls of each right at 3’s allowing me to take a high line on the steep face and drive down for incredible speed. The turning ability of this board was extremely good allowing for lip smacks and nice full round house cutbacks into foam bounces.

I managed a few lefts at 3’s and the Water Hog surprised me at how well it rode backhand. I was able to drop into the flats making hard backhand bottoms turns followed by nice carves at the top of the face. This board seemed to ride like a shortboard allowing for the best of both worlds; great paddling and remarkable turning for a board of its size.

This board works extremely well on long peeling waves both big and small. I did take it out to another spot which is a quick right and it didn’t perform as well. The board generates heaps of speed as long as you have enough time to generate speed…it didn’t respond as quickly on a shorter waves probably because of its length (7’2). I would recommend the Water Hog for better surfers looking to get more performance out of a bigger board…I think inexperienced surfers will do better with a larger funboard that offers more forgiveness and paddling ability.

The Water Hog is also featured in a 7’10 x 22″ x 2″ 3/4 model for even more paddling ability.

5’8 Surftech New Toy Dimensions: 5’8 x 20 1/8″ x 2″ 5/8

Surftech’s brand spanking new New Toy by Doc Lauch of Surf Prescriptions features a pretty rad checker board paint job in Tuflite construction. The New Toy comes with Future quad fins with real pivots. Overall, the board looks like a wide/fat shortboard with a lot of thickness in the middle…and seemed to be the perfect grovel board.

I took this board out in small mushy waves and surfed it for a week straight. It paddled well and caught waves pretty easy but didn’t quite have a whole lot of speed in the mushy garbage surf as the Xanadu Wave Rocket. The board required you to surf in the pocket as it lost a lot of its speed way out on the shoulder. Some background on the wave I surfed…it’s a right hand wave that has its moments but for the most part is a pretty sub-par wave…quick barrel section (sometimes) and then mushes out until the reform on the inside…you’re basically able to do two maneuvers if you’re lucky and one cutback before the reform.

For most of the week, the waves were pretty small (3-5 ft faces) and slow all of which I struggled to get the board going and gain any kind of speed. I did manage to score a couple of waves that bowled a bit more providing a steeper face and better wall to drive across and the board finally came alive. This board rides more like a wider shortboard than a grovel fish.

The board works great with a longer and steeper wave (doesn’t have to be fully barreling but enough of a face to generate speed). It works great for those who don’t want to fully commit to a retro fish but want some of the benefits that fishes provide (better paddling/wave catching and speed) again when on the right type of wave. It also works for surfers who predominately ride fishes but want to ride more of a shortboard outline but can’t really get a stock high performance shortie to work well. Remember to keep the board close to the pocket…it also works well backside…much better than your average wide tailed fish…obviously due to its rounded tail and pointy nose. I personally rather ride the Wave Rocket in smaller surf.

The only real negative about this board is the black checkered paint job…you’ll find your wax melting within seconds on a hot day so make sure you wax prior to getting to the beach or carry a stick of wax in your pocket and wax in the water.