Rider: 87kg Intermediate
Style: Surf
Weather: 10-30 knots
Build Quality: 9/10
Satisfaction: 9
/10
After snapping in half and more recently putting a heel through a so called extra strong Bamboo epoxy board thought might have to try a locally made custom board from Peter Mahaffey at Anna Bay just north of Newcastle.
Some of the local kiters had some of Pete's boards made up last summer. A couple of the Stockton boys have given these boards a real hard time (jumping lunatics) and they have had no problems with fractures or snapping, so for a bloke whith suss knees who only gets to kite weekends this surely is a better option than shelling out upwards of $1000 for a board which only lasts 3 months.
The boards are shaped from blanks supplied by the legend Midget Farelly in Sydney. They are a "Silver" blank which is the most dense available.Dent this sucker by depressing your finger or hand, no way.
Pete hand shaped the blank to similar dimensions of the last "made in china" board.
He glasses the blank with two 6 and one 4 matting using good old polyester resin. He also gives the overlaps a bit more to beef up the strength.
The board end up being 6ft x 18.5 x 2.75.
The footpad securing box's were four of the 5 hole type and these can be positioned according to your desired stance. They can be offset for riders who don't switch foot position. The 5 holes gives you a bit more fine tuning when securing your pads. I slapped on a set of North deck grip and pads and had them aligned pretty well parrallel to the stringer (which is a pretty meaty one).
I do switch stance and the grip and pads work well. The board has a matt finish which is good for hideing any scratches.
The last epoxy board end up weighing about 3.6kg. This board end up weighing 5kg. It is slighlty more bouyant than the old epoxy job.
Only test driven the board a couple of times in gusty 10-30knt westerlies. One thing that I think stands out is the extra weight makes the boards more stable in the chop and during lulls the board planes better than the lighter less bouyant epoxy board of identical dimensions. The extra weight was not really noticeable on Gybes and turns or smacking the slop I was out in. I did notice that my stance seemed to be a bit more upright and I had to put less effort in to edge.
Jumping the board the extra weight is not noticed but the landings are quite a bit smoother than the lighter board.
Overall I think this board is ideal for your average weekend punter who likes to get out in the surf and also get into some jumps without worrying about snapping boards. The price was about two thirds of the purchace price of my last epoxy job, and with the prospect of the board lasting an entire season I think it is excellent value.
Nice board, and that blank will have a bit of resistance to dents, hope the standard glassing holds up against snapping though
Keith gives his a hammering, still going strong!
My brother just got one also to add to the stocko crew riding them
i bought a peter mahaffey surfboard about 10 years ago. nice board. it is still in good nick.
I am not being critical, but the reality is that you want a board that snaps BEFORE your bones do.
Think about it, I am sure you will agree.
Board looks sweet, which 90% of the time means they work well.
I have gone from Boards like this to lighter weaker boards, because they perform better in 90% of conditions.
The great thing is that you could get Pete to put less strength in to up the performance by lightening it with less glass.
This is more important for strapless than say strapped in overpowered situations.
More a comment about 1 board does not fit all situations, but if it is a good design then you could always build in more performance.
Hope this didn't sound negative because it is not meant to be, Boards look sweet.
