New types and designs of surfboards: are they really new? What’s the latest from legendary designer Tom Morey?

Creative innovators introduce new types and designs of surfboards all the time, but rarely seem to notice. Surfers in general don’t like change. Most surfers follow the top pro surfers and try to surf their boards, with little success in most cases. If the new type of surfboard is a little different, it is considered “not great”. Surfers will ask, who is surfing it?

Most of the new types and designs of surfboards are the shapes of the tail, nose and bottom of the surfboards. Some of the shapes of surfboard tails are fish, swallow, thumb, bat, crescent, pumpkin, and pointed. Are these forms really new? There was a time when they were original, but now they really aren’t.

Many of the “new” surfboards being ridden by the pros are designed specifically for them and the waves they will be riding in the contest. They are high performance surfboards designed for the best surfers in the world. Regular surfers are not able to surf them successfully. It would be like a golfer trying to hit a golf ball with a Tiger Woods driver, very difficult and probably impossible.

However, there are some very good new and innovative types and designs of surfboards. One of the leading innovators in the surf industry is Tom Morey, the inventor of the Morey Boogie. Morey has introduced many “new” surfboard types, designs and innovations. It has always been known as a highly respected leader in the design of surf products, from fin boxes to fins, slip resistant products known as Slipcheck and El Gripo, the WaterSkate surfboard, air lubricated surfboards, their Swizzle longboard from soft and hard performance with Afterburner. rear rails, “the ONE!” a combination of skimboard without fins, bodyboard, surfboard and, more recently, their short board called the Heater. There are many more, but in this article I will mention only these few.

Many of Morey’s surfboard designs are his way of improving on existing designs. Says Morey, “I never set out to ‘invent’ anything. Instead, I just keep my eyes and ears open and always motivated to ‘get it right,’ applying whatever material, design or process I find might work best.” His 1972 WaterSkate was a continuation of George Greenough’s concave deck knee pad. Tom applied George’s concept to a toeboard, increasing the thickness of the rails to even out the volume and increase what he calls “wave face bounce response time.” The concave platform made it possible for the rider’s feet to be better positioned. This new WATERSKATE design surfboard was a great success. It worked great!

So what’s new in the 2013 version? They have recently improved their earlier 1972 version of the WaterSkate by modifying the rear rails and adding the well proven speed and spin enhancement of their Heater rails with their magic top to bottom shear angle, a reverse of the rails that put. his Morey Boogie Board. The 2013 board comes in sizes 5’6″ to 7’0″.

Another new surfboard design, innovated in the early 1990s, was Morey’s longboard, which he calls the Swizzle. He still makes these boards, which come in lengths from 7’0″ to 10’0″ and longer. This is a custom fiberglass surfboard featuring a shape with the tip of your Peck Penetrator, body with wider areas at the chest and hips, the center section of the board is just inside parallel. Morey calls the form parabolic. The rear rails feature the Afterburner vacuum rails angled 45 degrees inward from top to bottom, similar to a boogie board rail. Afterburners decrease the suction on the back of the surfboard, increasing the speed of paddling and running down the line of a wave. The rear vacuum rails hook into the water and help pull the surfboard through a turn.

Morey has another exciting new mini-shortboard designed innovative surfboard that he calls “the ONE”. This board is a combination of surfboard, skimboard and boogie board. The small board is 4′ 6″ long with a minimal tip rocker, Afterburner rear rails, a pointed nose and squashed tail, with a flat bottom. This small board is great for inshore fun, but some of the best surfers take advantage of it significantly bigger waves and surf like a surfboard There is one big exception to ONE!, there are no fins on the board so the rider can make turns on the face of the wave. no fins to cause drag, the board is extremely fast Another great feature of the board is that it is made from soft friendly materials a slippery skin on the bottom and deck with rounded soft foam rails The deck is you can wax or add traction pads for Surfers think the board is great!

Morey’s latest surfboard type and design is a line of shortboards he calls Heater. The reason he is called the Heater is because of the rear rails which are the reverse of the rear rail of the Afterburner described in the previous paragraphs. This rail has a hard bottom edge and slopes up from the bottom at 45 degrees. The rail reduces drag and suction from the water flowing over the back 1/3 of the surfboard and gives the board a lot of bite and thrust from the bottom hard edge when making a turn. The board also features more foam in the front 1/3 of the surfboard, giving it more buoyancy and allowing you to paddle earlier in the wave. Another advantage of the extra foam makes it possible for the surfer to do sections that would not be possible to do on a smaller, thinner surfboard. The reduced suction and drag and added foam makes the heater extremely fast, makes it easier to catch waves and gives the surfer a sense of fun and success. Surfers of all levels like the Heater.

In future articles, I will talk about other new types and designs of surfboards along with new surf products. Remember to stay in the water and Surf Life!