I have had my current board, a 6’2”, for 7 years. This is a long time for me to have one board. The reasons I have had it so long are:
It has been the best board I have ever ridden. It is so smooth and fast through turns, be they hard sharp and quick or longer, searching turns. My board maintains through turns, the wonderful speed it gets out of the wave. That wonderful down the line speed that you get from Nuggets the moment your feet find the wax. But it is not just through the turns. It maintains speed and momentum in the critical area of transition from one rail to another as you exit your turns. I love doing big turns on these boards!

(Geoff, can they actually accelerate in this area? They certainly seem to.) The hollower the surf gets, the better they go. I have been surfing for over 30 years. In that time I have never entered any contests although some of those stand out days we all have, I felt I could have beaten the best in the world. For me, surfing has always been about what I want to do in the water. One thing I have noticed about my boards throughout this time has been that for me, boards with increased area in the tail have been the ones I have liked the most. This has been consistent across single fins, winged fins and now three fins. (I was never really keen on twin fins). I have also never been a big fan of large amounts of rocker. I will compromise rocker for speed any day.

Just these two reasons alone are enough for me to gladly line up another Nugget time and time again. My next McCoy board will not be my last.

Will my new board last as long as my old one? I hope so, although I don’t think I’ll wait seven years for another board. My old board has lasted well, but I have looked after it. Unfortunately for me, my skin has paid the price of too much sun exposure from an early age. I try to limit my surfing to early mornings or late arvos. I also fix any dings quickly. But these two factors are only good if the board is well made in the first place, and there is no reason for complaint about the build of these boards.

Initailly, I was a little apprehensive about my new board. Weighing in at 6’4”, its is the longest board I have had in ages! But after talking with Geoff about what I like in a board, together looking at my old board, how and where I surf and Geoff’s track record as a shaper, I have very little doubt that I will love my new board even more then my old one.