Filed in: Surfing Trends | On: December 18th, 2008 | Comments:
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If you watched the finals of the Vans Triple Crown 2008 Pipeline Masters contest, then you probably saw Kelly Slater’s stubby looking Al Merrick surfboard. I had heard the commentators talking about Kelly’s board, dubbed ‘Deep Six’, and how unique it was compared to most Pipe boards. His board reminded me of the boards I normally ride; flatter rocker, stubby nose, and slightly thicker and wider. Another odd part about his board was its round pin tail. Surfline.com was lucky enough to get their hands on the board and talk to Kelly about his new hybrid board. According to Kelly, he actually shaped his 5′11 x 18.5 x 2.5 Pipeline Masters winning board and did it while experimenting on the computer. He laid his Channel Islands 7′0 Step-up and 6′0 K-board on top of each other and blended the two together. The wide nose was the result of pushing the wide point forward which he claims helps him with late drops and helped him maneuver in the constantly shifting barrel at Pipe. He also added a bit more thickness and width to compensate for shorter length which helped him get into waves earlier and maneuver the board as only a smaller board could. Another interesting aspect about this board was he pushed the fin placement up on his 5′11 like he would on a longer board while utilizing fins with more flex. According to Kelly, larger waves accommodate fins with more flex because the turns are longer whereas small waves require stiffer fins because you don’t have as much time to turn. The amazing thing to me is that Kelly shaped this board by himself and actually one the biggest contest of the year on his prototype. He was actually planning to ride a 5′3 he shaped but broke that board a week before surfing in Micronesia! I would have loved to see him surf 8 foot Pipe on a 5′3! It’s a coincidence that I read somewhere that Al Merrick had been trying to push Kelly to start shaping boards…probably because Kelly has given Al a ton of feedback over the years and is very keen on details. Slater says he plans to keep working on his new boards all winter…who knows, we may see that board in surf shops next year. Congrats to Kelly, the greatest surfer of all time and future master surfboard shaper? 6 Comments »mattias, on January 15, 2009 @ 3:52 am |its just another admirable facet of kellys confidance to be experimenting with shorter fater boards while surfing the pipe masters, inspirational,,! David Bosque, on April 29, 2009 @ 11:34 am |I think Kelly Slater is making a big mistake buy using those new boards. He thinks he is going to win the world tittle with those new boards; well he is wrong…. Here is the logic to it: Neal, on April 29, 2009 @ 1:25 pm |David, you gotta give Kelly credit for changing his quiver so drastically. No one on the tour is willing to ride anything but a rockered out potato chip. Having said that, it’s awesome that he’s willing to try different equipment out with all that on the line. Also, there’s a reason Kelly has won all those world titles, he’s not an idiot…I’m sure he knows what he’s doing. The reason he didn’t do so well this year is maybe the fact that he’s getting old! Anyway, glad to hear your input…this is a great discussion. Leslie, on August 3, 2009 @ 1:30 am |i think hes looking to win on a new design to say it can be done, to continue his charge of redefining the way of surfing as we know it.. im sure after so many years on tour you get tired of just using what works and want to start seeing what else works… Leave a commentRSS feed for these comments. | TrackBack URI |
robert, on December 18, 2008 @ 4:24 am |
i saw the photos. fukin unreal. this board will sell to older experienced surfers for hollow beach break conditions. where can i get one????