Select to expand quotejustaddwater said..
Obijohn good post ,triggered a thought process,if the fin cluster is moved forward on the ghost, perhaps the stomp pad should be further forward as well?
I was doing a demo with Sean Poynter when I showed him my 8'8 Ghost and asked him that exact question:
Sean said not to move the stomp pad forward because he liked the leverage you get from having your foot behind the fins.
That was what he was pointing out in these pictures
The secret sauce!! I have seen yours and Casso's videos and lets not forget you blokes could ride a dunny door and make it look good! Also loved Casso's elegant tome re the ghost experience.
Rick do you have any thoughts re a US box so the ghost could be ridden as a twin (large fins) with stabilizer and/or a 2+1?
Look forward to the ghost up review-doesn't make it any easier in the decision making process but.
Select to expand quotebackbeach said..
The secret sauce!! I have seen yours and Casso's videos and lets not forget you blokes could ride a dunny door and make it look good! Also loved Casso's elegant tome re the ghost experience.
Rick do you have any thoughts re a US box so the ghost could be ridden as a twin (large fins) with stabilizer and/or a 2+1?
Look forward to the ghost up review-doesn't make it any easier in the decision making process but.
Thanks backbeach!
ha ha... the thing about the Ghost? It's so freaking fun that I almost never think about fins.
I just put Quobba Thrusters in and go surf.
But I am running out of medium Quobba center fins, so I did throw a 3.6" Ho Stevie trailer fin in the center and holy cow... so much fun!
Loose and skatey in small surf.
When I went out to my van to take a fin shot below, I grabbed a set of big Twins and put them next to my 8'8... I will try them next. (with no trailing fin)
My feelings:
Why consider changing a board you have never ridden?
I wouldn't install a US center box, honestly there really is no need to.... the performance is there.
After three years of riding my Ghosts, I am never happy riding anything else. I just go smaller Ghost.
Large Quobba Sides
Ho Stevie 3.6" fin in center
Good stuff Rick, I'm hearin ya. BTW love the Fosters sign-carving up a frothy-no doubt Bert's christened you an honorary Aussie!
This is an update on my experiences so far with my new 8'10" Ghost. At this point, I have had a chance to ride it in a good range of conditions, from knee-high mushy to fast overhead waves over shallow reef.
The board handles everything well and is definitely allowing me to surf better and younger (this is important at 74
). The board generates great speed and projection, allowing more lip-hits, and carrying more speed into and out of roundhouses. The sharp rails in the tail are great for speed, and the soft rails up front are forgiving for coming down from floaters.
Previously, someone asked about whether the more forward fin position negatively affects the ability to surf off the tail. For me, there is a dramatic improvement with the new fin position when surfing with your rear foot back on the dark brown portion of the deck pad. While I can surf easy rolling turns from on, or in front of, the bump in the rail line where I first surfed this board in tiny waves, the board really comes alive in better surf when you get your rear foot at least back on the dark brown portion of the pad where the tail narrows down behind the rail bump. The difference is day and night, creating sharper turns and much quicker response.
When I first wrote, I was experimenting with thruster setups with 4.5" fronts and a 3.6" trailer. This worked great in tiny waves, but for anything over knee-high, I am now preferring an upright quad setup which works great on the widish tail. The quad setup requires more flex and power in the turns, and rewards it with more speed and projection coming out of those turns. I am using NVS Peregrine 4.54" fronts and 3.95" NVS J/L rears with some of the tip rake sanded off the rear fins to make them more upright with more release. I have been hand-shaping the tip rake on the JL rears to find what I like, and just ordered a set of NVS Album Fascination rears, which are very upright with less surface area than the JLs.
FWIW, for me, at 74 years old with messed-up balance from multiple concussions, double vision from a surfing injury, and multiple rebuilt parts, 8'10" is the perfect size. In the mixed-up cross-rollers we often surf in, I would struggle if I had gone any smaller. If it gets really windy and messy, I may occasionally retreat to my 9'0" Tabou, but 99% of the time, the 8'10" Ghost is the perfect balance of performance and stability I was looking for. (Thanks Creek!)
Select to expand quoteobijohn said..
rears with some of the tip rake sanded off the rear fins to make them more upright with more release.
Nice report!
Yes, I think SUPs need less rake in their rear fin(s) than prone shortboards. Being heavier and longer, they do not need the stabilization effect that shortboards need. I remember Tom Caroll saying the same thing in one of his SUP videos.
Select to expand quoteobijohn said..
This is an update on my experiences so far with my new 8'10" Ghost. At this point, I have had a chance to ride it in a good range of conditions, from knee-high mushy to fast overhead waves over shallow reef.
The board handles everything well and is definitely allowing me to surf better and younger (this is important at 74). The board generates great speed and projection, allowing more lip-hits, and carrying more speed into and out of roundhouses. The sharp rails in the tail are great for speed, and the soft rails up front are forgiving for coming down from floaters.
Previously, someone asked about whether the more forward fin position negatively affects the ability to surf off the tail. For me, there is a dramatic improvement with the new fin position when surfing with your rear foot back on the dark brown portion of the deck pad. While I can surf easy rolling turns from on, or in front of, the bump in the rail line where I first surfed this board in tiny waves, the board really comes alive in better surf when you get your rear foot at least back on the dark brown portion of the pad where the tail narrows down behind the rail bump. The difference is day and night, creating sharper turns and much quicker response.
When I first wrote, I was experimenting with thruster setups with 4.5" fronts and a 3.6" trailer. This worked great in tiny waves, but for anything over knee-high, I am now preferring an upright quad setup which works great on the widish tail. The quad setup requires more flex and power in the turns, and rewards it with more speed and projection coming out of those turns. I am using NVS Peregrine 4.54" fronts and 3.95" NVS J/L rears with some of the tip rake sanded off the rear fins to make them more upright with more release. I have been hand-shaping the tip rake on the JL rears to find what I like, and just ordered a set of NVS Album Fascination rears, which are very upright with less surface area than the JLs.
FWIW, for me, at 74 years old with messed-up balance from multiple concussions, double vision from a surfing injury, and multiple rebuilt parts, 8'10" is the perfect size. In the mixed-up cross-rollers we often surf in, I would struggle if I had gone any smaller. If it gets really windy and messy, I may occasionally retreat to my 9'0" Tabou, but 99% of the time, the 8'10" Ghost is the perfect balance of performance and stability I was looking for. (Thanks Creek!)
hey John ,what are the main difference between your SP 25 8'8 and your now new Ghost 8,10 ,
as they both have the same litres and similar width ,I'm guessing the 8,10 has better glide ,does it turn as quickly
and does the speed carry through the turns better .?
I've been trying to buy a set op large Quobba's side fins but they seem to be sold out for a long time, need dubble tabs and prefer the stiffest ones. Anyone any info on this ?
I think Quobba is going out of business.
It is too bad, I tried to helped them, but the owner is quite opinionated.
He pursued things (the shifter) with no market demand and very hard to design (the shifter is not yet market ready although being advertised for years), and refused to sell via high volume resellers, choosing instead tiny surf shops that did no advertisement and did not even carry the whole line (at least in France).
He should have quickly added quad sets, twin fins, singles, more sizes... what people actually needed and pushed his product through high volume retailers. Or even try to license his patent to foil makers, foils could benefit a lot from the interference drag reduction of the Quobba design at the junction of the mast with the wing.
Grab what you can from shops or direct (I bought all my Quobba fins direct) asap...Seems to me just another tale of a great product killed by marketing issues. (and the Covid economic disruption was also fatal to lots of small businesses... and now the tariffs madness)
Hey Colas, I have a surfing mate who lives in my town, whom Quobba hired to do their marketing in the earlier days, as he had substantial marketing experience including with Patagonia in the States. Basically said they were good people and very passionate about their great product but didn't take on any of his input and wanted to steer their own course. In essence difficult to work with so he left, on good terms.
It's a pity, whenever I've dealt with Taryn she's been nothing short of amazing.
Totally agree their product development was slow and never reached the market, i.e. esp quads and single fins which I was personally always checking their website for. The packaging was way OTT and must have added a big financial cost to them, my shifter fin sits in one of the snap close pouches unused, at least it doesn't collect dust!
I wish them all the best always been a big fan of the small business taking on the big guys.
Select to expand quotebackbeach said..
Basically said they were good people and very passionate about their great product but didn't take on any of his input and wanted to steer their own course. In essence difficult to work with so he left, on good terms.
It's a pity, whenever I've dealt with Taryn she's been nothing short of amazing.
So true.
Such a waste, nice people with a stellar product that fails... alas so frequent :-(
PS: my shifter rusted, they told me to send it back for an updated version with a better grub screw stainless steel grade... but never heard back from them. I just had a short US Box added for the rear fin in my last board, a simpler solution :-)
Yes, Taryn is amazing!
Great communicator, super friendly and responsive!
It is a great loss to fin lovers.... Quobba Fins are unique and spectacular!
I have started more experimentation on my Ghost and Ghost Up and finding they excel as Twin Fins, so I am gathering different types of twins to run on them.
Twins I currently use are 6" deep with 5" base... simply amazing on the Ghost Up!!!
The other fin combo that I love is the Quad Set by 'Ho Stevie"
The back fins are 3.6" and 50/50 foil, with zero cant, so I can use them as a center fin.
The small center has been my Go To setup even when I used the Large Quobba front fins.
I also use the small rears as front fins in a 2 + 1 setup, matched with a larger center.
Just make sure when you order the Ho Stevie Quads that you specify:
Single Tab = Futures
Twin Tab = FCS
Select to expand quoteCasso said..
Here is that vid Rick mentioned earlier, now on YouTube...
Thanks Drew.... I LOVE the way you shred on my Ghost!!!
And now, on the Ghost Up.... which you are also riding that as a Twin as well. Super Cool!
