When I was thirteen I started surfing on old, yellow longboards from my buddies backyard. I loved them all. When I was 15 I got my first handmade, custom board. It was an Andrus 5’11″ which quickly became a single fin 5’2″ after a mishap between myself, the waves at Ehukai beach park, my skeg, inner thigh, and the sand. I loved that board too though, both pre and post midget phase.
Since then epoxy’s and Firewire surfboards have blown up despite their poorer performance. They might last forever but they’re too stiff and and generally don’t feel right. Anyway, with the spare time a part-time internship has offered me lately I figured I’d head into surfing’s past since it’s treated me well so far. My buddy and I started this Alaia board last week Thursday and put maybe 8 hours into it so far. We didn’t really know what we were doing and our next should be a lot quicker, but in the end, we’re pleased with how it came out.
This one is probably a bit too small for us but if anyone’s looking for a wall hanger board I might know a guy….
There are many ways to skin a cat or ride a wave but I take issue with your comments that Firewire’s offer poorer performance and are too stiff.
Not everyone is going to like our boards and that’s fine, but lets not throw out critiques that are in direct contradiction to the facts.
Taj has clearly shown that Firewire’s performance is on a par with, if not superior to anything else out there. And given that traditional surfboards with center stringers barely flex at all, I don’t understand how you could characterize Firewire’s as ‘too stiff’.
Just my 2 cents.
You’re right…to each his own. I’m no Taj so maybe it has something to do with skill. My opinion stands. I do have friends who like Firewires though. And as far as flex goes I’m not sure what the facts are on Firewires. However, check out this clip (specifically at 5 min 25 sec) to see a regular board flex: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwfjYKjG1MQ&feature=related