THIS IS THE GREATEST SURFBOARD YOU CAN BUY IN 2021 | #3

2021 proves to be a pivotal year for surfing as we see a surge of the largest most economically influential and thus arguably most important demographic in the industry the everyday surfer for years surfing has suffered from its self-anointed coolness separating itself from the light starter the businessman with a board and the humble weekend warrior or pool surfer but now as the surfing industry vise for a final piece of the social and economic pie it must finally accept that we you and me the everyday surfer hold the key to their long-term survivability and that is why ladies and gentlemen i have taken our search for the best surfboard in the world very seriously surfboards are the truest product offering of the sport and indeed it is the straw holding the puzzle together right now for you it is maybe the most important purchase you'll make and that is why i've taken on the task of impartially assessing the greatest off-the-shelf boards from the greatest surfboard companies on earth this is the final episode of that test welcome and enjoy the waves are pumping and this is kind of perfect conditions for working out with board is going to be best [Music] [Applause] [Music] this episode is brought to you by my online surf school the surfers roadmap your go-to for all your surfing progression check it out at the link in the description below in the previous episode i finished up at urban surf in melbourne after whittling 10 great surfboards down to a final four plus a late arriving wildcard my task in this episode is to first test these finalists in the ocean and then decide on two or three to take away in my home on wheels i'm going to surf them for a month and then decide which one is the ultimate winner today we will be crowning our ultimate champion importantly i have no vested interest in any of the boards being tested however in saying that i still ask that should you choose to buy one of them please let the company know that you're buying because of our test this helps solidify our position as a force within the industry and guarantees future productions like this one i'm trying to work out like to either go from up down in terms of like favorites or down up my first instinct is to go down down up i think i wanna although this conditions look really fun for the flat earth and that's pretty high up right now flat earth i want to ride it forehand so tell me [Music] had moments here and there just went and found a pocket that i was looking for it was good in between like flat sections i felt i felt like i was probably having to move too much to get it to go um yeah but as soon as i found a pocket it just came alive it felt like a lot of the surfing was happening a lot of the magic in this board is sort of north of the front foot and i tend to feel a little bit better if the magic's back here i think my magic i mean drive um yeah i mean still incredible board in the long and sometimes sluggish walls of winky pop i find that the flat earth even with the two plus one fin setup struggles in flat sections in the pool it was really easy to find the sweet spot as the wave offered a predictable and whackable pocket whilst in the ocean i'm struggling to transition from pumping down the line into maneuvers it is though something i feel like i could definitely get used to and it would feel electric in the right ways however overall i think it's a touch unforgiving for the everyday surfer sure if you're a high level intermediate or above this board would be a great choice [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] now you'll remember in our last episode that one of our surfboards didn't quite arrive on time whilst down the coast i finally received a phone call that it had made its way to urban surf so i went back to collect it it's white oh sick the wing young a will weber creation 4k five eight by nineteen and three quarters by two and five sixteenths twenty eight liters this automatically i look at this and i'm like that's something i'd normally ride i rode the raptor for ages from jr and that had a similar sort of tail feels really good underarm i think i'm gonna take it straight down the coast and rip in [Music] the uh first impressions on the weber it felt a little bit stiff to start with but as soon as i found the pocket it sort of opened up and you could you could really sort of dig in a little bit more i feel like this is a board that similar to the hayden it's super reliable predictable and just comfy [Music] so [Music] oh [Music] uh i just i love this board it's effortless and it's weird because it doesn't look like it would be so effortless but it's just got this little thing that's i don't know what it is as soon as you go into a bottom turn it's like propellers turn on and it just goes woof and then you've got all the speed you need to do a turn [Music] i didn't love the chatter it's actually a lot lumpier than it looks out there and there's little bumps as you go down the face and i kept feeling a bit nervous like it was going to catch and there were the odd times where it sort of was slapping up on the nose as soon as you found an open face you could really whip it it didn't quite have the squirt that the sharp eye did but i think only because there were those bumps holding it back a little bit um i'd love to say i want to surf all the boards on like a big clean face but i guess that's not everyday surfing regardless it's just it's quite easy it's effortless again it's it's a level of effortless that's um take home worthy it's been a massive few days of testing and i've picked three not two boards to take away in the van for further testing and to surf off at one of australia's premier point breaks i'm saying a sad goodbye to the cohort from hayden shapes although spoiler alert there is a surprise re-emergence of this board when i get to try the future flex technology and i'm also sadly leaving the flat earth behind as well even after trying it as a two plus one setup which to be honest i actually prefer less than the thruster both great boards but not quite in the top three so that means i'm going to be taking away the late entry dark horse the wing young from will weber which i found to be really nice and predictable especially out at winky and i'll be taking the inferno 72 from sharp eye which has an electricity that i can't ignore and i'll also be taking the album twinsman definitely the best twin fin i've ever ridden these boards will make up our final sleds [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] all right so we've whittled all the boards down to these last three boards i've been surfing on them changing them up uh for the past month or so and i have some ideas already about sort of placings and whatnot but today we've been lucky enough to find some really nice testing conditions beautiful point break not too many people for me to really finalise the placings here [Music] so [Laughter] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] oh well that was just the funnest session the 20 went so well i mean this is it's quickly becoming one of my favorite boards that i've ever ridden like it's just it just holds as i've said in previous episodes it doesn't quite surf like a 20. there are 20 elements to it but then in terms of like it's hold in between turns like it's the transition is where this board really comes alive transitioning from a big wrap or coming down low and going even more vertical than normal into like a straight up thinner or a lay back slash or whatever it just holds and it comes alive there's no dull moment on this board i love it and it paddles like a machine i mean luckily the waves are pumping and this is kind of perfect conditions for working out which board is going to be best but that first session on the 20 it's going to be hard to beat [Music] [Music] [Music] to begin [Music] [Applause] [Music] all right well that sort of put things into perspective for me i i had an inkling like i felt a lot of stiffness from this board initially that every now and then i could break through and sort of roll just felt like i could roll through it every now and then it had moments like at winky i had a couple of really nice ones and then took it out there and surfing it straight after surfing the twinny it just felt it too stiff uh i almost would sort of compare it to the bb2 the chili that i said was just a little bit too big for me maybe that's the case here but i think maybe the boxy rails are responsible for that that i mean that maybe they're not so boxy they're just big big rails and i think it's really hard to bite into the wave on the bottom turn i sort of was sinking down to try and get up in the lip and i'd have to sort of do like a double bottom turn to engage the rail and i don't love doing that on every wave so sort of compare this to you know the chili or um maybe the shadow as well which was a really good board i kind of wish i had the shadow here today i'd be super cool to ride it but at this stage this one is out of the race to win [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] is [Music] oh man what a big day my arms are gassed but that was super productive and in my mind i think i have i think i have the places sorted uh but i'd like to go and review the footage and just have a look regardless both of those boards the album and the sharp eye just stood out today so much it was incredible beautiful boards to surf so we're gonna have a look it was fun [Music] i guess now it's time to crown our champion for a board company to release a design with the name on it for instance the inferno 72 the wing young the album twinsman the cohort it's a big deal essentially what they're doing is saying that this is a shape this is a template that works we're going to release it to the public the power of this review is that the boards that we've tested are publicly available that's also potentially the most brutal aspect of our series because me being an everyday surfer a random youtuber to a lot of these surf companies coming in and testing their boards and saying that my opinion is definitive is probably a little bit of a kick in the teeth but i think that therein also lies the biggest asset to this test in that it's impartial it's real and there's no vested interests in the outcome here so on that note even though we don't have any vested interest in any of the boards that we're talking about if you do choose to buy one based off this series please let the company know that you are buying after watching this show because it does help us solidify our position in the industry and guarantee future productions like this one ideally we'd be running this every year the wing young from will weber was a fantastic board and i still think it's a fantastic board the reason that this board is now arriving probably you know last place in amongst these boards here is that it's a touch stiff and i think that stiffness comes from the thickness of the rails they are quite substantial especially if we compare them to something like the sharp eye i think what that does it offers a unique standing for this board this board would probably work quite well as an intermediate or even an early stage intermediate surfboard up to the advanced level particularly for the heavier surfer and particularly for those beginner surfers as well who are looking for some added stability in their surfing i think there's a difference between stability and stiffness stiffness i find is a lack of response in the board no matter how hard you're pushing this particular board responded when you were able to get it in the right spot uh and and really sink into it a little bit more i just found it took a little bit too much for me to get it turning there was that one session at winky where it really shone and i thought that this could actually be um you know a great con contesta to our top boards uh but in the end it just uh felt a touch to um unresponsive uh which was sort of highlighted in that surf out at the point break that we were able to get so for a beginner surfer who's looking to transition to a short board with appropriate volume and length this could be a fantastic choice for them for a heavier surfer who's comfortable with those thicker rails and really looking for something to ride in i guess smallish to moderately sized surf this is also going to be a fantastic choice all three of these boards have stood out and been the board of the session in different conditions it's been quite tricky to really narrow down a victor if you will an absolute standout across the board so i was lucky enough to receive the cohort in the future flex technology that carbon rail wrap out to the side here essentially it gave this board an extra pop an extra zing that didn't really quite exist in the pool with the pu shape so i basically took this board out on a small day and just found that i wasn't super impressed with it it had enough moments in that session though to make me want to ride it again because i could feel there was something special going on and then i took it out the next day and we we were greeted with you know double the size surf and on it it honestly felt electric like it was so so nice it what didn't feel electric in the sense that it just got up and went but when you put it in the right part of the wave when you got a sizeable enough wave to actually get moving it really came alive and it had a beautiful rail line that i've never felt in a board before i was able to sort of hold rail in cutbacks for a lot longer than i normally would which felt really nice and it just felt like it was just quite giving in in those big ways and very controlled without feeling like a big wave rocketed out performance board it was interesting definitely going to stay in my quiver for any time the surf is three over three foot and above i think this board will really stand out as like a reliable go-to shape as soon as the surf gets solid i highly recommend this board if you are an intermediate or above if you plan on surfing waves that are three foot and above really good shape these boards stood out from the get-go across a broad range of conditions because this is the everyday surfer everyday waves board test i think that's really important essentially what we're looking for is our go-to shapes and that's what i think both of these surfboards are it's been very difficult for me to sort of officially name a winner because i value both of these boards being in my van so so much and it would be very difficult for me to choose between them but i think the reason that the album is going to come in second place if you will is because of the high performance next level surfing that the sharp eye allows me to do there's always space i think for a 20 and the surfing that the 20 allows to be honest if i'm looking back at this footage from the point break and the final surf off i almost prefer the surfing on the twin but it's a different sort of surfing it's surfing at 85 percent at least that's the only level at which i'm able to surf a twin right now if we look at guys like josh kerr who are obviously pushing uh twin fin surfing performances to a whole nother level we see that it certainly is possible but being connected to everyday surfers and i guess being sort of one myself i find that the 20 doesn't allow me to go up and do an air reverse or a thinner rotation and it's literally that just that top five percent of surfing capabilities that make me more inclined if the surf allows it to take out the sharp eye importantly i think that the 20 has a broader range of application i think that the 20 the twinsman would be one of the perfect entry points for a light beginner early intermediate surfer who's looking to jump onto a smaller board and start getting into maneuvers it has those beautiful pivots and excellent drive and easy forgiveness uh in terms of rail transition there's it's just a really nice and easy board plus it also carries the benefits of being a little bit thicker and having great paddling potential it's funny because i think that that actually breaks new ground it's not very often that you'd find someone recommending a late beginner early intermediate to jump off their big eight foot foamy and step onto a 20 but this has enough performance elements it has enough forgiveness it has enough reliability to really be such an excellent board for those stages and all the way up until you know extremely advanced surfing this is one of the most incredible boards i've ever ridden for sure especially definitely the best twin fin i've ever set foot on it's an incredible board and i'm really excited to try a few more just like this one highly recommended so that leads us to our ultimate winner which is the sharp eye this board from the get-go felt alive zippy drivy squirty inset all the the weird sort of adjectives that we use as surfers essentially what i found is that this board makes surfing effortless and i think that's not just a desirable attribute for me a sort of you know early advanced surfer perhaps i find that that effortless feeling is something that a lot of my surfers want from you know those late beginner stages uh up to you know late intermediate as well i think that the sharp eye doesn't have quite as broad of an application from an ability level as the twin fin i also think that the sharp eye doesn't perform as well in tiny waves as the twin fin but this is you know talking about waves under under one foot if i had to say that i had an everyday surfboard it would definitely be the sharp eye if i had to choose a board that i had to ride for the rest of my life in all conditions then it would be a very close call but the sharp eye would just come out on top [Music] this one has been a mammoth production it's been a ton of editing time a huge production schedule and budget from us relatively speaking and what's made that all worth it is you guys watching along and commenting your thoughts down below we've really appreciated it and i can't wait to bring this production to you on a regular basis with different themes every single year so if you enjoyed this series make sure you show some support by dropping a thumbs up subscribing to the channel consider joining our sponsor for the series the surfers roadmap which is my online surf school other than that go out there catch a bunch of waves and keep shredding thank you so much for watching i'm kel brock i'll see you guys again soon you

Channel: Kale Brock

Views: 234,366

Keywords: best surfboards, best surfboard for beginners, best surfboard for intermediate, best surfboard brands, best surfboards 2021, best surfboards 2020, best surfboard for small waves, stab in the dark taj burrow, stab in the dark mick fanning, stab in the dark dane reynolds, stab in the dark jordy smith, stab in the dark all stars, disco inferno review, inferno 72 review, haydenshapes review, sharpeye review, album twinsman review, album surfboard review, how to surf, surfing, wsl

Id: m9RSP8LjQ-k

Length: 32min 31sec (1951 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 28 2021