What is a 2017 Naish Mad Dog Bare Bones 8"1 x 29 SUP worth?

[marvinhecht]

… my post.. continued.

After surfing in the wave pool I said OK I'll brave the cold and see if surfing in the great lakes actually works.  This is me in Inverhuron (Lake Huron). Use this video to see how crappy our waves are. On that day I only caught a few short rides.  Note: Don't use this video to asses my skill - I wanted something to post on FB and I asked a stranger to video me quickly and didn't want to hold them up long. I only went out as far as I needed to be able to stand on the board, mess around  a bit and get some video- mostly to show my friends I had lost weight - not my sup surfing skill! I am well aware that I was paddling WAY to slowly and that normally you want to get up to the speed of the wave.

https://www.facebook.com/marvinhecht/videos/10158696620314559

Ok a bit more about conditions here. They say it can get good or quite good on the Great Lakes. Maybe it can - but so far it seems it depends a lot on the wind and directions it comes from. When there is no wind it's like God turned off the wave machine! I had to take a wave forecasting course just to not get skunked everywhere. I've had some good sessions at Port Stanley Little Beach and Kinkardine and Bayfield (Lake Huron)- but I would say the good waves are typically between 2-5 feet. If the weather says it will be 7 feet or more, it seems like its really stormy and mushy and GOOD LUCK trying to actually GET ON anything. And if the surf report says its anything less than 3 ft well its pretty much a bump or nothing it all. Yesterday I went to Toronto and couldn't even get in the water at Woodbine Beach - I nearly got blown away with my board due to some gusts and the water looked stormy and mushy - and yeah some die-hards were in there, working hard to catch 1 or 2 waves in an hour or two.

What was useful is that I met a new surf friend in Toronto and he had an 8"8 x 27 Surf SUP. It was a "Sunova Speed" and it was about 103 L. I took 1 look at it and said there is NO WAY IN HELL I will be able to stand on that potato chip, let alone surf it! It looked like it was a kid's surf sup. The guy was maybe 150 lbs and super skinny, so I guess it was the right board for him. He did manage to get in the water and later told me he should have brought his 9"0 board. In fact the local surf shop (Naish dealer) recommends that the shortest board I should consider (if I do go shorter) is a 9.0" - and go with a regular Hokua. I think Gerry Lopez even shaped the 2019 Hokua GTX.  So based on this and everyone's input here, I messaged the seller of the 2017 Naish Mad Dog and said I'm out, I won't be buying their board because I'd need to loose 30 lbs on top of the 30 lbs I've lost to get to 195 lbs.

I now realize that I DO have a LOT of ways to go on my current board, and that is a  pretty darn good board. When I do have a good day here, I can connect the sections and go from out by the pier all the way into the beach, and turn and go along the wave at the end near the beach (to prolong the ride) - and some spectators will even give me a high-5 - probably because they are Canadians who are impressed enough!   And I have been finding that if I can get my rear foot back more, keep low, use my paddle for support etc I can be more maneuverable. Also, angling down a wave heading left or right allows me not to pearl- then when I get in the pocket that's when my lopez picks up some nice speed.

OK I better press "post" before I lose all this text. I will post once more as I have some remaining questions about surfboard shape and fin options. I realize the title of this thread is now defunct but it's better to finish here than start a new one..

BTW if you are really interested you can read old posts of mine on this board, has more information and pictures. You guy's have been really great with awesome feedback. So while it is a little hard to have my weaknesses discussed, I know that being honest about it will help me get to the next level. I should also say that while I have done many sports / and tried many things (perhaps due to my ADHD), a good SUP surf session beats everything else combined, hands down. I do hope to go to Costa Rica once Covid-19 is over and maybe take some SUP surf lessons from Blue Wave- they make good youtube videos. I am also learning by watching various videos that to do a bottom turn I need to move my back foot not only more back, but also more toward the rail of the board, on the side that I want to turn. I also even recently learned that a back-side bottom turn is harder than front-side, so I'll have to start with front side (and I'm goofy - I like lefts)…

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[marvinhecht]

I still have questions about fin setups but let me re-read everyone's replies and make that a separate thread tomorrow. OK so my remaining question is as follows. First, I am still trying to figure out how board shape and dimensions affects turning ability. Below is the 2013 surftech lineup for Gerry's Boards. I have the purple Big Darling, and I think in the video of Gerry that someone posted he is on the Lil Darling (Light Green). It is a nearly identical shape. You can see the light green, purple and blue boards have a nearly identical shape. The red, yellow and dark green (Sweetie Pie) are shaped to be more "fat" in the middle.  (Note: in 2014 Surftech came out with the Big Darling II that was in-between the purple/light blue boards and red/yellow boards. There was a dark blue 10"6 x 34" and an orange 11"2 x 34. I loved renting those boards, they had length and that bit of extra width making them perfect for me just before buying my purple board.)

Now when I was renting I rode the red one, the yellow one which are both 34" wide - those things turned on a dime! In fact I think I started turning BY ACCIDENT the first time on the yellow SURF MUSIC, I still remember the feeling. The red one was fine at turning but it was so fat in the middle I remember I could not paddle in a straight line no matter how hard I tried, the nose kept going to one side, then the other. What I still don't get is .. is it the actual width of 34 inches that makes these things turns - to you need ACTUAL width? Like actual honest-to-God WIDTH is needed on tires for any good race car, so it can grip the road the best...

Or ..  is it just the RELATIVE width for the shape of the board?  For example on the very left is the Sweetie Pie, would that turn better than the Lil Darling, even though both boards are 28.5" wide? I think Gerry himself did ride the Lil Darling the most - at least that's what I have seen in youtube videos, don't know if I've seen him on the Sweetie Pie.

[devon_sup_surf]

Hi Marvin

To answer your question- neither 9f your statements is quite correct- but the closer answer to the truth is a board turns better with *relative* width in the middle (in relation to a narrow nose and tail). It gives the board curves.

It's more complex than that- there are lots of other factors- I won't pretend to understand them all- board shaping is a lifelong pursuit. 

Note that a board narrow in the nose and tail will be less stable than a board of otherwise equal size but wider in the nose and tail.

One thing to note is that almost all boards turn much better when yoir weight is right back on the tail. Some rely on this more than others.

So if you were riding a smaller board- your weight would automatically have been further back- so it would have turned more easily.

Based on what you have said in previous posts- it really doesn't sound like you have mastered your current board- despite doing it for a number of years. If you want to change the board and drop down a bit- go ahead-- your surfing will *look* better overnight- but it won't necessarily *be* better. And you may well catch fewer waves and your progress will slow down. So be careful! VOE!

[marvinhecht]

Thanks All - I'm keeping my board, gotta a LOT to get done yet to maximize it: work on my form, and play with fins. I made a separate post regarding fin setups posting pics of all the various configs I can do (given that I've lost some fins) - I could also buy a set V2F4s.