The Lost Rock Up basically invented this category and is the board with the most proven track record. The Rock Up has a great feel in surf chest high and above and loves top end speed and bigger surf. The The Lost Round Up came about by popular demand for a board that was a bit more playful on the open face than the Rock Up, but still held in confidently in powerful surf and tubes. Basically, you give up a bit of upper end for more mid range. They look really similar and often times their basic dimensions are exactly the same. What differs are the width of the tail and the foiling of the rails, where the Round Up has more foam and a curvier tail to carry it through open face turns with more speed.
The Roberts Dream Catcher is a wave catching machine, with ego boosting paddle power and solid hold in tubing waves. Much like the Lost Rock Up, it’s not the loosest of the bunch, but it does catch the biggest waves, and rack up insane wave count in sessions of the year.
The Pyzel Short Cut is based off Pyzel’s Next Step, with 4” cut off the length. This board works really well on East Coast waves like the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, all the way to bombing Teahupoo where many WSL Pyzel riders including Jadson Andre are using it as their weapon of choice.
The Rusty Slayer is also a proven OG in this category with Josh Kerr using his Slayers at Cloudbreak, Restaurants and Teahupoo. The Rusty Slayer is super smooth and has solid paddle power. We’ve used this board for numerous bigger wave sessions here on the Outer Banks and have nothing but the best things to say about it.
The Maurice Cole Protow is a drivey, wicked fast step up that offers incredible hold via its nose to tail sharp rails and concave bottom. Also unique to this board is the concentrated volume distribution under the chest with noticeably thinner rails and tail. This board has gears and acceleration that other boards don’t and is one of Maurice’s most sought after shapes.
New to the Rawson lineup this year, the Rawson Sniper has already proven itself all over Hawaii, the East Coast, Central America and Puerto Rico. The Sniper has a smooth foil to it and Rawson’s timeless rounded pintail shape that instills confidence in chargers around the world.
This is a new category of boards, drawing off the popularity of boards like the Lost RV and LayZboy. These two boards have revolutionized how a growing number of surfers look at shorter boards and the fun factor they can give you in every day surf. It only makes sense to use these designs as a baseline to create a similar feeling board for bigger surf. The Lost Stretch RV and E-Z Up (aka LayZboy Step Up) pull quite a bit of DNA from their relatives to create an easy and FUN board to surf in better/bigger waves.
These “domesticated step ups” look similar to their forefathers at a distance, but both have added rocker, more foiled foam flow, thinner noses and narrower tails when compare to the original domesticated daily drivers. These board work in bigger surf, which should be expected. The surprise is how well they work in completely average surf too. If you are ready to build a shrine around your LayZboy or RV, these are the two step ups you should be looking at when moving into bigger surf.
This section of boards is for surfers willing to charge the outer bars and reefs. Yes… they’re longer than your standard 6’0 shortboard, ..a lot longer. That’s because you’ll be covering a lot more ground on them, paddling a lot further, needing to paddle a lot faster and beating a lot more current. These boards will always feel “big” surfing them on the inside sandbars and reefs, but once you take them outside, and then even outside of that, that’s when they come into their own with incredible paddle power, smooth confident turns at ridiculously high speeds, plus added strength for when the lip lands on them. Introducing the Rusty Blackbird and the Roberts OB Pin.
The Rusty Blackbird is designed for fast moving water, wide-open playing fields and waves that require solid paddle power and a board that can cover a lot of ground on each turn. Originally designed for waves like Cloudbreak in Fiji and Ocean Beach, California, the Blackbird packs maximum paddle power and speed handling capabilities into a board that can still be duck dived, since some of these waves do not have channels to paddle out through. When your Rusty Slayer isn’t enough board, this is when you switch over to the Blackbird. The Slayer, being designed as a compact step up, likes tighter, boxier waves, where the Blackbird lusts after larger, fast moving, large canvas waves. The ability to cover significant distances both when paddling and carving, come easily to the Blackbird.
The Roberts OB Pin is based on several years of collaborating with Robert Weiner building custom boards for our customers surfing Ocean Beach in California, as well as big surf in Mexico, Fiji, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The OB Pins are typically another step up from “most” Rusty Blackbirds, although Blackbirds in the 8’0+ range aren’t unheard of either. The Roberts OB Pin gives the surfer incredible open water paddle power, delivered in a control oriented package with a narrowed down nose template, narrower pintail, subtle bottom shape for less lift and added rocker. All of these characteristics keep the OB Pin glued to the water during LONG high-speed drops.
Both the Roberts OB Pin and the Rusty Blackbird feature beefed up stringers and glass schedules to keep them together when most boards would snap like toothpicks. They can be used for swell of the year, outside breaks and make good big wave travel boards for destinations that have always been on your bucket list.
There are a good number of surfers out there that have 2 boards: A longboard for most days and a “better wave board” for when the surf’s lit up. This better wave board is typically 6’6 up to 8’0 long. For these surfers, it’s not about the hack of the day or landing an air, it’s about wave count and making the most of their precious sessions. While there’s plenty to get excited about with today’s longboards, the “better wave board” that compliments a longboard (and its surfer) has been a category that has needed a good jolt of modernization.
The Ricky Carroll TMM is new for this year and is already one of Ricky’s most popular boards ever. The TMM fits the bill perfectly for this two board quiver and even Ricky himself travels the world with only two boards: his trusty 9’0 PLB and his 7’0 TMM. The TMM can handle anything from crumbly thigh high wind swell to well overhead bombing outer bars. The wide point forward design puts a solid dose of foam under your chest for added paddle power. The TMM can be ridden with a variety of fin set ups to dial into your preferences and local waves. In the past there were just super sized shortboards and the random plastic pop outs. The new Ricky Carroll TMM puts a mega dose of adrenaline into a board category that had all but fallen asleep. Well needed and incredibly well received.
You may not think longboards have their place in a bigger wave write up, but the fact is that the right longboard is a very functional board in larger surf, as long as it’s not sucking out below sea level. Additionally, if you solely ride longboards, the last thing you should do is switch to a “shortboard” when the waves are firing. You’re far better off sticking with the type of board you’re most familiar with and then just tweaking the design for better waves.
The Ricky Carroll PLB is a great all around high performance longboard with a serious yearning for bigger surf when the swell map lights up. Talk to anyone that owns one of these boards and they will tell you how many epic bigger wave sessions they’ve had on theirs when most shortboards couldn’t reach the peak or paddle into the size.
The Takayama DT2 retains the noseriding performance that Donald Takayama is known for, but blends it into a much more foiled out shape with thinner rails, a narrower nose and a more rockered out, rounded pintail. All of these tweaks create a great all around high performance longboard that can noseride, even in solid surf, as well as gouging into high performance longboard turns off the tail at high speeds in bigger surf.
As you can see from reading this article, surfboards have evolved and so have their step up quiver builders. When choosing a step up, honestly think about the waves you will actually be surfing in, as well as where you may be traveling to in the short term where you can use the same board. This will help you pick the right board and size that compliments the rest of your quiver and gets you tons of good waves during that next epic swell.
The choice of surfboard determines whether you will have fun in the water and improve your surfing or whether you will be frustrated! If the surfboard is too small, you will make a good figure on the beach, but in the water you will get too few waves. If the board is too big or the shape of the board does not fit your riding style, your surfing development will not be helped.
Spyder Surfboard reviewsWith the help of the self-assessment of your surfing level, your surfing ability, your weight and our volume calculator you should get a very good selection of suitable surfboards. Just follow the instructions and you will get a good idea which surfboard suits you best!
This short overview of the different surfboard shapes and surfboard categories will help you to choose your board. A detailed description of the individual surfboard shapes follows below.
Essential for the selection of the surfboard shape or surfboard category is your surf level. Here you should be honest with yourself and make a healthy self-assessment:
For beginners we recommend a Mini Malibu or Funshape/Funboard with enough volume or for the first days even a pure Softboard. These boards ensure that you have a good wave yield and sufficient stability on the board!
You already have the first surfing starts behind you and now it's finally time for the first surfboard! We recommend a slightly shorter Mini Malibu or Funshape.
Now it's time for a shorter board! As a step to the shorter board away from the Mini Malibu or Funshape we recommend a Fish Shape, Hybrid Shape oder Egg Shape. The boards combine a lot of volume in a short board! With the shorter board, you can practice duck dives and learn easy turns on the waves without losing too much stability and wave yield!
Do you already have a shortboard and are looking for a second board for your Surf Qiver to choose from a selection in different surfing conditions?
Do you already have a shortboard and are looking for a second board for your Surf Qiver to choose from a selection in different surfing conditions?
Now it's time to fine-tune your next Shortboards! With the help of our volume calculator you should find a shortboard, fish or hybrid to take your surf skills to the next level!
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