Anyone surf with their Glide?

[H2Oman]

I've never had my 14' Glide in the surf, just flat/chop.  This weekend we are planning a coastal paddle, passing some surf breaks along the way.  I'm trying to decide to whether to take the C4 or the Naish.  Curious how the Naish would handle in small/fun waves.

Thanks.

[Pureadrenalin]

It like to go straight kind of hard to turn with those hard rails it will buck you off. It does'nt have a softer type forgiving rail design so don't expect much from it but it does pick up the small surf great and a lot of fun.

[Mana Karma]

i ride the 12' Glide and probably only weigh 160ish right now.  i can tell you its a blast when i get a fun day or cruising + waves.  it is incredible how easy that board catches even a ripple, and compared to my 8'10" quad fin it offers a new and exciting practice. 

i've used it in ankle-waist high beach break. had some fun clean days along the reefs at waist-chest.  the one thing that never changes is that you pretty much need to keep your entire body engaged from before you drop in through the entire wave.  heavier guys can probably manage the board with a little less effort ... but i can only imagine that the 14' can offer quite a challenge.  you also probably dont want to be anywhere that you might need to "depend" on your leash. 

let me know when you come cruising to san diego

[DavidJohn]

I have a couple of friends that take their Naish 14s into the waves all the time and love using it so much it's often a toss up as to what board to use.. their wave board or down wind board.. I guess it's also gotta be good for your down winding skills.

DJ

[Marcelo]

I'll see you guys there on Sat...

[H2Oman]

awesome Marcelo.

Thanks for the feedback.  I figured I could surf the board, but know it wouldn't be ideal.  Maybe I'll take it to San Onfre one day to see how it rides.

[tautologies]

I've never had my 14' Glide in the surf, just flat/chop.  This weekend we are planning a coastal paddle, passing some surf breaks along the way.  I'm trying to decide to whether to take the C4 or the Naish.  Curious how the Naish would handle in small/fun waves.

Thanks.

how do you think the board paddles? I've only tried a 12 ft board, and not in ocean conditions. Do you think it would be a good board for a beginner DW board?

[Pureadrenalin]

I've never had my 14' Glide in the surf, just flat/chop.  This weekend we are planning a coastal paddle, passing some surf breaks along the way.  I'm trying to decide to whether to take the C4 or the Naish.  Curious how the Naish would handle in small/fun waves.

Thanks.

how do you think the board paddles? I've only tried a 12 ft board, and not in ocean conditions. Do you think it would be a good board for a beginner DW board?

It paddles nice and its a great downwind SUB. I have just compared the naish with two other 14's I have rode and it was not the SUB for surfing. The other two were a production 14 bark and a custom 14 bark. SO with that being said the bottom contours on the Naish 14' is not my ideal SUB of choice or should I say for Hawaii's surfing conditions.

[H2Oman]

Today we had a decent swell hitting and the wind was suppose to be up.  I grabbed the Glide to met up with my buddy for a flatwater paddle inside the marina.  When he arrive, he was gung-ho to surf, so I agreed to paddle out to the break and planned on just cruising around while he caught some waves.  The waves were breaking 4-5' and after watching him catch a few, I couldn't stand it anymore.  I figured since I'm selling this board, I might as well try it at least once in true surf.

I know there's a thread where someone asked how the 14' Glide surfs, now I can give you a first hand answer.  The board catches wave with ease and it turns surprisingly well.  I dropped in on a couple good sets, step back on the rail with a small paddle dip and away it goes, shooting down the line!  Super fun and it's a strange feeling catching a wave on 14' of board.  I didn't have to fight it or step too far back to keep it from pearling.  You're not going to be whipping it around, cutbacks, floaters, etc., but it really was fun and handled the decent size wave very well.  I wouldn't want to take it out in a heavy lineup, we were fortunate enough just to have the 2 of us at the break.

If you have a Glide, I say go for it

[Punipaka]

I have a blast surfing ankle to knee high waves with my 14' Glide.   I can get on faster and the board turns fine once you find the sweet spot and be patient (everything happens a little slower).   Only issue I found was sometimes I would step too far back and do the splits right off the back!   But that's only because I was trying to cutback too fast. 

[mik911]

Today we had a decent swell hitting and the wind was suppose to be up.  I grabbed the Glide to met up with my buddy for a flatwater paddle inside the marina.  When he arrive, he was gung-ho to surf, so I agreed to paddle out to the break and planned on just cruising around while he caught some waves.  The waves were breaking 4-5' and after watching him catch a few, I couldn't stand it anymore.  I figured since I'm selling this board, I might as well try it at least once in true surf.

I know there's a thread where someone asked how the 14' Glide surfs, now I can give you a first hand answer.  The board catches wave with ease and it turns surprisingly well.  I dropped in on a couple good sets, step back on the rail with a small paddle dip and away it goes, shooting down the line!  Super fun and it's a strange feeling catching a wave on 14' of board.  I didn't have to fight it or step too far back to keep it from pearling.  You're not going to be whipping it around, cutbacks, floaters, etc., but it really was fun and handled the decent size wave very well.  I wouldn't want to take it out in a heavy lineup, we were fortunate enough just to have the 2 of us at the break.

If you have a Glide, I say go for it

Thanks for the info H20!  I was under the assumption that the 14 Glide would not surf at all.   I'm interested in hearing how a Bark 14 Expedition would surf.
btw, how was the Action Watersports demo at Mother's?  I was thinking of checking it out, but something came up.

[H2Oman]

The demo went well.  A friend and I went out early to catch some of the surf before the wind picked up.  Action had the Coreban, Pau Hana Surf Supply, C4 and some other boards to try out.  I finally got to try a C4 inflatable ISup.  NOT A BOARD FOR ME!  It was like paddling a giant cow tongue or a stiff air mattress.

As far as surfing the Glide goes, it really did surf decent.  I wouldn't buy one as a primary surf board, but it catches wave well and I didn't have much of a problem turning or controlling it.  Dropping down the face on such a big board is scary at first, but once you catch one wave, you're good to go. 

Actually was my best day ever on the Glide.  I think my balance has improved a lot with the surfing I've been doing and I was relaxed.  The swell was pretty big, but I was able to paddle out past the breakwall and didn't fall in the process.  The board is great and can be a lot of fun, but for the stuff I'm looking to do, it's not the right tool.  Lakes and harbors no problems.  I want to take it down the coast in open ocean.  Unless you are going with the swell and wind its tough.  My mojo goes to shit.  Since we mostly get hit with West swell and wind, it means I'm paddling perpendicular to the wind/swell most of the time. 

If you want to take it out some time let me know.  I'd like to keep it, but I can't afford or store 4 boards.  The wife will shoot me.