Noosa Longboards by Tom Wegener
After a very long journey with hollow wood longboards I have turned my focus back to foam. The foam boards are really quite good and half the price of the wood. It is like coming home. I know the shapes so well. Working with Noosa Longboards I have developed a very good range of models that are always in stock in their store at Hastings Street. It has been a pleasure to work with Tim, Glen, Sam and the entire team at Noosa Longboards to make some new shapes as well as bring back my tried and true old friends like the Model A, the Joker Model, and The bubble,
Joker Model: It is a very versatile longboard that will ride big waves with confidence. It has a deep double concave and a chimed vacuum rail (like my seaglass boards or a boogie board). This lets the rail engage in the wave and the board naturally lifts to the highline across the face. The tip of the tail lifts like the Model A tail with lift to the deck. This tightens the turning radius dramatically. So you turn from further up the board and work more off the rails than the fins. This gives far more control in a critical pocket and you the board never bounces up and down on a big wave when going fast.
I developed this board in the year 2000 and I have been getting great feedback for years from the first ones I made. I recently bought back Joker number 2 and I love it! The board are lasting longer now because the materials have become so good and my glassing techniques so refined that a foam board can be surfed hard for 13 years and still be in very good condition.
Model A: The Model A is the ultimate shape for learning the traditional 60’s surfing style. It pivot turns smooth off the tail and noserides great. The feature is you need to step up the board and then back as the board comes in and out of trim. It is like the board talks to you; “One cross step forward through the section, one cross back to turn back to the shoulder.” The key is the fin right on the lifted tail. The bottom lifts to the deck at the tip of the tail which gives a very thight turning radius and makes the board lively in small waves (though in waves over head hich with power this creates drag). The Model A is the top small wave longboard for people focusing on style! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzxs4gFikdI
Bubble: The bubble is the most basic surfboard. It is a simple rounded pin with a slightly rolled bottom and smooth curves. It is a very good beginner board and will ride anything.
Short Single Fin: This is a quick, loose little board that I wish I had when I was in high school. I started shaping in the 1970’s, long before the thrusters, making single fins and they had one huge flaw at the time. They would lose so much speed in a cutback. The thrusters took over so fast because they accelerate out of turn (but decelerate when not turning)s. From the finless journey I now know that the fin and a hard down rail through the tail fight each other in a turn and create drag. With my single fin I have rounded the tail rails and sharpened the down rails in the front. The board does a bottom turn off the front down rail and a cut back off the soft back rail. It does not lose speed in turns. I let the fin do its work without a down rail interfering in the tail. You get the smooth single fin feel and maintain speed in turns. In this video ripper Bowie Pollard show how loose the board is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21QW_9ZYOVU
Noseriders: I have developed three versions of the Noserider for Noosa Longboards. They are in the photo above. The four stringer board is the First Point Model. The blue one is the Little Cove and the orange is the Johnson's model. The noserider has become so refined that people really know the difference between boards. The wider nosed boards ride hang ten easier while the narrow noses ride deeper in the pocket and go faster. Thin tails flex and give tight turns in the pocket and work in sucking hollow waves. Thicker tails give more lift and speed when hanging ten and drive through whitewash far better. We can take you where ever you want to go on a noserider.
The First Point Model: This is a very traditional California shape with a 19” nose and 17” tail. It lets the rider on the nose easily and turns well. It is for someone who is after the 1960’s Malibu feel.
The Little Cove Model: This is my favourite longboard to ride on the points. The nose is slightly pulled in and the rails and tail are a bit thicker. This gives the board more volume through the back half of the board. The wave pushes against the more volume and puts more pressure on the fin to hold the board in the wave and this is pressure is what squirts the board across the wave. This board will ride further back in the pocket and through the whitewash better because of the thicker tail. I have put a slight concave all the way down the bottom of the board to the fin box. This lets the board plane easier and lets the board traverse further out on the shoulder. This is the most all around noserider. Please check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccm0JyBqclw
Here are the three tails. The Johnsons Model on top is thin and the rails are knifey. The First Point in the middle is an old school suction tail that will easily allow a walk to the nose. The blue board is the Little Cove Model that is a bit thicker and rounder (the way I like them).
The Johnsons Model: This board has knifey rails and is thinner at 2 ¾” thick with a heavily rolled bottom. It is designed to flex and have a flexi fin as well. It is going back to late 1960’s where the crew were pushing their boards hard in the pocket and liking the way the board and fin will flex into a turn and then bounce out with great speed. Dane Peterson and Alex Knost have taken this style to dizzy new heights and the Jonson model is designed for that type of surfing. This is a video I made of the first Johnsons model that I made for ripper Bowie Pollard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCS_R_ER1hs
For more information or to order a board please go to www.noosalongboards.com http://www.noosalongboards.com