"I had a great trip. We got a ton of surf on the Alaia boards, and because the waves where so long and clean you could pretty much make the boards do anything. We got to surf one wave where we could actually get barreled on the boards it was insane. At the end of our trip we ran into a couple of Aussie guys that had brought over a bunch of Alaias and a Hot Curl board and a Keko'o which is like an Olo. They where insane boards made buy Sage Joske and his father. All exactly like the ancient boards in Hawaii. They where filming with Nathan Oldfield, and it was a treat to surf with those guys. Here are a couple of shots that I took none of which are me and most of them are on the day after the good days because I was surfing when it was good."
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5 comments:
the horror. a land where screwfoots
rule?
see that on star trek?
landscape sure looks alien.
i figured that'd be a nice lil' spinal tap for ya!
nice..
good to see the alaia movement has progressed to hot curls..
soon,I reckon, someone will bolt on a skeg to an Olo..and go stand up.
after that ..who knows?
I'm calling for a thruster revival in..15 years.
a thruster revival!? as the Jet said, "the horror!"
actually... you've inspired serious thought... humor aside... i feel Simon Anderson's brainchild will forever be an important, highly relevant mainstay in surfing, deserving of utmost respect even from those who have found other fin configurations (and/or finless) to be "better" suited for satisfying the personal feel on a wave they are looking for.
to me, what feels "missing" when riding the type of thruster that's currently found most commonly in the surf shop racks is not so much due to what is actually Simon's very well balanced fin design, but rather all the glide that has been removed from the foam/shape/outline. add some thickness and width back to it, such as with a twin-like/fish-like/hybrid-ish outline and it goes insane...
maybe the forecasted thruster revival, and yes i agree it will happen, will actually be a foam revival? though we have seen a bit of that with the thruster already... such as with 80's-like thrusters, and more importantly Slater's latest board "experiments". whatever the case, i expect the mainstream industry/consumer relationship will always be thruster-centric (unless WCT judging criterion changes... that'll be the day!), so the revival will be among the people who have presently discarded the thruster in search of other feelings when they re-discover its merits when combined with foam proportioned for more glide.
though... the foam proportion of the current common thruster does well at NOT outrunning a perfect barrel... which brings me to think about the scene in the film Pacific Vibrations, if i remember correctly, where Bill Hamilton says something like he's working on a single board design for all conditions, and the outspoken Chuck Dent slams that idea by saying something like there's just too many different variables between waves and riders for that to be possible.
damn, Dr., you always get me thinkin'— and figure a lot of what i typed is pretty much what you were getting at anyway. THANKS! Cheers!
well said RT!
I kinda' think the vehicle of choice for the thruster revival will be a faithful
early 80's replica..Tom Currens' CI board from his OP/Huntington performances...would be a good candidate.
Just add some reforms,a few beers, and it could be a riot.
It's an interesting time in the surfing world..the ASP etc keeps slogging away, while a significant group of..hipsters..is running as fast as possible backwards..doing the "Future History" bit.
For the latter example, we must thank Derek Hynd..and Litmus..for getting that ball rolling.. and really upping the ante with Musica Surfica...
when you think about it..you could say Derek is the most influential surfer of our time.
I just wonder where the inevitable commodification of nostalgia will lead.. I'm all for historical context..but sentimentality as a way of life...?
It is great though to see talented people opening up to varieties of different craft options.. definitely breaks up the wham bam monotony.
Oh well,I guess I'll just mosey on down to the lumber yard for supplies,sharpen my sure form, put some Honk on the turntable, and shape me a stand SUP alaia in my garden.
Gotta stay current.
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