05/07/2026
A couple of boards for good waves, Ben is off to G-Land, then the Mentawai’s. He wants to challenge himself, so he’s got a channel bottom. Its happy place is in the barrel, and going straight up and down in the pocket. They love a sucky, fast wave, not for the faint hearted.
Channel bottoms are a personal favourite of mine; it’s been a while since I’ve made one. It brought back lots of memories of when I was young and full of energy and enthusiasm.
Thanks for ordering one Ben, I hope you have as much fun as I did.
Millie, has a 5’9 x 20” x 2’ ¾” round square tail, epoxy with a single concave in the tail. It’s good for small waves around here, but it’s maxed out on a head high wave.
She’s going to the Mentawai’s, so I’ve made her a step-up board. It’s 5’11 x 19’1/4” x 2’5/8” round tail. Less volume in the tail, I’ve shifted the concave forward. It splits to double in the tail. The rails are similar but more refined nose and tail.
The idea is to create a big sister to her board for small waves, as the power in the waves increase the small wave board ends up creating too much lift in the tail.
Her body weight ends up centred over the tail to pin it down, thus robbing her of the ability to drive through her rails. At this point its time to swap to her big sister board.
The waves have more energy now. That compensates for the reduced volume in the tail, and the concave forward is creating more life under her front foot, than in the tail. The balance is now on the front foot allowing her to drive through the rails and attack the more powerful waves with confidence.
I hope you have an awesome time, Millie.
So, these are the things we talk about to create the right board for you and what you want to do. Happy surfing!
Cheers Millsy.
