LIFE'S BETTER IN BOARDSHORTS

Looking back through history, explorers upon sailing into new lands wrote in their ship journals that they had witnessed local natives riding waves on planks of wood and canoes and described it as surfing. So, for centuries the term surfing, riding the surf, has been around well before the sport developed into what we now know. Like all recreational pursuits and sports, techniques and processes develop over many years, and for us surfing began in the form we currently partake on longboards, massive wooden ships, before the foam and fibreglass developments infiltrated offering better performance and longevity. Yet since those early days surfing has developed into many differing forms. But I ask the question what is surfing? Surely it is the act of riding along or within a breaking wave, also known as surf? So why is it that in this current day that we have almost pigeon holed ourselves into thinking that surfing is short boarding? Longboarding we call logging, bodyboarding we call lid riding, and if anything dare not have 3 or 4 fins it’s termed retro. I’m as guilty as anyone, but recently I was at the spot pictured here, and over several decades I’ve visited this place many times and always marvelled at how this could just quite be the longest right hander in NZ rivalling some of the longest in the world, yet it really only becomes surfable a few times a year in the biggest of swells, and there we go again, the term surfable! Where it would be deemed big enough to ride on the shortboard, but my god, many many days a year this wave right here would be a heap of fun on other craft, riding 1-2 footers for a kilometre laughing while your thighs locked up from an unfamiliar movement. The obvious choice would be a longboard or a high volumed fish type shape, but would you be going for a surf or going for a longboard cause you couldn’t go for a surf! Get my drift? There are so many days where surf conditions don’t co-operate exactly how you’d like, days when the waves are perfect but just a little on that small side. I know many guys, including myself, that simply wouldn’t even attempt to ride waves like this cause they are un-surfable! But what is considered surfable or even surf? Is it only when it is 2-6 foot? Or is it 6 inches to 30 feet, onshore, side shore or offshore, does it really matter? Yes, right here in this very magazine, we tend to feature predominantly short boarding, driven and directed by what you could say those that invest in the publication, those that have like many of us also come to believe that the only surfing is short boarding. But where did we come from? Take a look at the evolution of the surfboard and how over the decades it has morphed into what we now ride the most. Do we ignore our history, our past? Even the best surfers will acknowledge that certain design developments on say single fins and twins had their place in certain types of waves, that still can’t be matched by the modern thruster or quad, yet admittedly do not offer the all-round performance of our current standard design. So why not pull out these types of crafts when those conditions are suited? The Hawaiian surf culture can teach us a lot about surfing, our Pacific cousins over there on the rock, are simply stoked to be at the beach and immersed in the ocean. And many superstar shortboard surfers I know have stacked in their garage a vast range of surf riding equipment which gets loaded into the back of the car depending on location and the conditions at the time. Should it be dumping on the shore they may throw in a bodyboard or a hand plane and flippers to bodysurf, should it be long peeling runners they strap a longboard to the roof and throw a twin fin fish in the back of their ute for momentum down the line. If it’s a 2-6 foot beach break in goes the shortboard and if its piping pits then in goes a semi gun or if bigger piping pits a full gun 7 foot + and so on. Then there may be days that are blowing a gale, they’ll pull out a kiteboard or perhaps even a windsurfer, and surf the hell out of this mushy broken up surf. Perhaps an open ocean swell is running down the coast which doesn’t offer the necessary angle to provide in shore surf, they take to the open ocean in the outrigger canoe or the hydrofoil and ‘SURF’ these open ocean swells. I mean surely partaking in activities such as these examples while they may not be the norm to you, they sure as hell are better options than sitting on the couch back home watching the Kiwis get whopped. So, this summer, whatever you find laps the shore in front of you during your time off work, holidays and adventures. Take a look at that surf and ask yourself, how would I best approach these conditions to maximise my experience. If you reach for the single or twin fin for a trim and glide hand jive session, no you’re not a hipster. If you pull out the dust gathering longboard from under the shed, no you’re not a greedy wank on plank, you’re all surfers and this is surfing! Get Amongst it. Have an epic festive season, surf hard no matter what you’re riding. Yours in Surfing , Cory Scott and the Team at NZ Surfing Mag