Not in my clutches just yet. Financing this sled by selling off unused boards. Deposit has been made.
It's Paulownia over eps with cork rails and a gloss and polish. Beachbeat have been doing their Pacer egg series of boards for several years now. They started off with 6', 6'6" and 7'ers. Always done with nice colour work, resin tints and solid glass jobs. Either in singles or 2+1s. Bottom is a subtle single to double concave and chine rails. Lately they have started doing 7'4"s and now 8'ers and some 9's. This is the first timber Pacer in the egg (tweaked for the length) template.
Wandered into the shop yesterday to say Hi and saw the board and knew it was my kind of board. I've no interest in nose riding and look at this as a bigger day on the points kind of board.
What a ripper CF.
Chined rails, my sort of board. Love them on my 9'0 Stewart Hydro Hull and 7'8 Walden Mini Magic, as well as my recycled Webber 6'10.
Have fun.
Holy guacamole that's nice.
Looking forward to more pics and of course a ride report. Can I have first right of refusal if you ever decide to sell it
Got my mitts on the board. Finned up, waxed up and ready to roll at Noosa tomorrow.
I'll be joining a cast of thousands. There'll be everyone who owns a board, has ever owned a board and everyone who has thought of owning a board clogging up the lineup. If today was any indication the madness will barely abate tomorrow.
Bring it on.
How did it go CF?
I have to admit I was like Greeney & decided not to tempt it with all the Easter crowd
It looks like it has been glassed over, does that stiffen it up more? My Wegener Corky is natural so I just oil the Paulownia
Either way it looks the ducks nuts & keen for a report
Yes it is a stunner of a board. It's a gloss and polish so weight feels good under arm. Went for the early at Nationals and tide was still quite high so getting in off the slant rock required patience and good timing. Didn't want to dry dock myself with a brand new board. A young lady wasn't quite so fortunate while waiting and got washed across and off the platform then was able to stand up and promptly jumped again but was too far forward on the board and straight back onto the rocks again. Tough to watch that.
Anyway out without a hitch. Board paddles great in the flats. Doesn't plane in as early as I thought it would but still acceptable. Sat wide and waited for the sets so that I could get used to it without being run over or running someone else over. Had a sweet first wave. As it has a very flat rocker dug the nose in a couple of times towards the ends of waves coming off the top and then swooping into a bottom turn in hollow sections.
As it has a single to double concave bottom it has a nice turn of speed unlike the mono speed from a Christenson flat tracker 2 that I owned previously. Ran it with an Alkali 7.5" centre fin (similar to a bonzer centre fin) with large FCS bonzer runners. No slip or slide. Could run a nice high line or run around in front of the lip to connect sections. Some boards rails get washed out easily when trying to beat sections coming from behind the lip but this board was no problem.
It's nowhere as lively as my thinner, more rockered Sunova 8ball. Got more of an old school vibe to it. Should do with the model being called a Pacer (as in Valiant Pacer - Woodsy who designed them loves em').
Had some that went from the top of the car park through to Mackenzies and didn't have any dramas with drop ins as I reckon they saw that long pointed nose and figured they didn't want to be skewered.
If I have to do any duckdiving to get out I'm going to opt for my Sunova so it will be a board that comes out less often and it only fits in the back of my van by angling it up and sitting the tail against the window of the back door.
Sounds awesome CF. I need to get into some point wave on my 9'0 Stewart Hydro Hull.
Did you notice any difference with chined rails?
All 3 of my boards 6'10, 7'8 and 9'0 are chined with a hard upper rail and I recon it makes a huge difference.
Also if you find that it hits a speed limit with the two plus one try the same but in Takayama Halo fins.
Changed from a 7" centre and 3.5" sides to a 7 1/2" and 4 1/8" Halo's. WOW, went from hitting a wall to powering right through it.
Odd looking fins but they work amazingly, awesome drive whilst still giving good pivot.
Hydro
I don't have any Halo fins but I do have the Soar Hornet quad set so can use the rear quad fins as side fins which should achieve a similar effect. Can't seem to post a link for them.
Especially if I use a 6" Spitfire fin as a centre which was custom made for me by Alkali. The Spitfire fin looks just like a Spitfire wing hence the name. Drivey but very pivotal. I'm always up for a weird fin combo try out as thinking outside the box with fins can net excellent results.
Yes I like chines as they give the board a looser feel. Always asked for them on custom Dick Van Straalens I have had int he past.
Looks like a wave catching machine, I had a 10'0 that was really wide as well...Modern Mexican Blanket or something, been a few years. Regretful sale, could have a lot of fun catching waves you would not usually be able to catch.
I've picked up a few new boards lately, but one thats given me heaps of fun is a 5'4 Softech board. Sounds small but almost as floaty as my Tolhurst & also a wave catching machine
Took this wee red beastie for a paddle out at a Noosa point today. Only in-between 7 and in the end only 3 of us out for the whole time my mate and I were out there. I had to pinch myself a few times. Solid sets rolling through and we made the most of it. Some long paddles so it was good to have the paddleability. It's 6'5" x 22&1/2" x 3" and is 56.2 litres. Stringerless epoxy. Light, very light. Second and third wave were smaller ones rather than full set waves and I actually got blown off the back by the stiff offshore as I went to stand up. After that it was the bigger ones to make sure I had enough gravity working for me on the drops and it was off to the races. Straight swap for a McCoy nugget 6'6" I had. Nice when don't have to shell out or go through the rigmarole of selling a board to get another one. When Rob Machado said "Foam is your friend." I thinking he was looking at me and my mate who I surfed with today. He was on a 6'4" CI Biscuit that is 50 odd litres as well. Both boards handled the size just fine.
Ran the board with Modii twins and a pc core M5 sized thruster centre fin. Planes across waves like a Mofo. So much fun. Hopefully the 9'1" can have a run at my local point tomorrow morning.
Note to self. These C-drive fins are most excellent in this board.
Mate that is an amazing looking machine, and those C drive look awesome in her.
Yeah foam works, went back to my 6'10 today because I managed to crease another board, my 7'8 Walden last Sunday.
From 56L down to 44L and shorter took some adjusting.
Crikey wish we had a Noosa in Perth.
Swapped it for a 6'6" McCoy nugget I had lying around. A custom Garrett stringerless eps for a xf nugget.
Meanwhile...new fin for the 9'1".
What fins are McT running in the 9'1 Fireball HP at the moment. Having a board duplicated by my local shaper cause I'm employing a local and I can't afford the original. It's a thirty year old board and am planning on taking the newy from east to west NSW-WA this year on a two month roadtrip.
Mine had the standard 2 side bites and a 8 inch rear a 9.3 ... whilst a well made board good for beachies the rocker made catching waves difficult and (attempted) nose riding even more so , the standard Fire Ball square tail 9.6 with less rocker is a much better all round ride and will cover anything the ocean throws at you .. did a roadie to Margarets spent 3 months Xmas to March surfing the area on a Mctav Original 9.1 ...main problem was waiting for swell to drop, had I known more about long boards (was new to them at the time) would have taken a FB ST standard .
Super nice looking board CF..
Thanks SP. Hopefully next week will be able to give it a run again, though the inevitable swell downgrade from the current forecast is on the cards.
Was thinking this thread had been hi-jacked by the McT zealots and was doomed.
Final wave of my first surf on the 9'1" that I grabbed to go in on at Noosa happened to be caught on video. 2min20secs.
Wave right before it is Stubbsy, one of the Beachbeat staff styling on a light blue 6' Pacer egg and he's on a later wave as well.
My Sanctum flex twins make this board go even better.
The 9'1 is for sale?