The New Board Thread!

New Electra from Webber.

Has a nose that'd please George Greenough - safely rounded, though it's more for performance than safety as it retains fwd volume - but the rest of the design is futuristic. Concaved deck, very aggressive single to double, fins pushed forward and lots of tail lift. Includes Webber's favoured forward flyer, used in so many of his designs but in reality it's a toned down version of his Creature, the differences being a more relaxed forward rocker and thickness retained forward too.

Feels like a board of two halves as all that fwd volume shifts into serious concave horsepower under the back foot and tail lift agility.

Few years back I read Will Webber write something about his older brother: "Greg is a shaper in the real sense, in that he can come up with entirely new shapes." I was reminded of that while rubbing my hands over this design.

Paddles unreal, though I've only surfed it for thirty minutes, just before dark last night, and in horrible 4'-5' southerly slop. More to come. Still in admiration phase.

...and to pay for it I'm hocking a few older Insights. See Vintage Surfboard Collectors for a thirty year old Banana in good nick that's up for sale.

oxrox wrote:

Serious tail lift!! What's the dims Stu? As you said above would need some serious concave to counter the tail lift. Deep single through the middle I would think. Looks like such a fun board to surf. Bit of weight shift for down the line speed and plant the back foot for big turns. Interested how it goes after a few surfs.

6'0" x 19 3/4 x 2 9/16

It's both longer and wider than my normal shorty, and at first glance those numbers would appear to add up to a lot of volume, however the front half is more bulbous - for want of a better word - than the back half, which is lean and refined.

Just had another surf on it, this time in 3'-4' southerly slop, truly new board surf, but I managed a few turns that helped betray the board's nature.

Island Bay wrote:

Looks very interesting, Stu. Does it still have decent drive with all that tail rocker?

So far, yeah. Though the real test will come when the point breaks.

A clumsy explanation is that it's 'a board of two halves'. Low rocker and lots of forward foam for speed, and a slim aggressive tail, plus forward fins, for turning ability.

That metaphor leads you to think...or it leads me to think...of two different designs balanced on a fulcrum point, but so far it doesn't ride so schizophrenically. Seems well balanced. Low rocker but continuous.

tiger wrote:

Nice! Brave balancing it on the 50mm wide top rail of the fence in the rocker shot.

Glad someone noticed that!

lostdoggy wrote:

Nice!
What fins?

Webber quad set. Think he calls them Extractor Beachbreak.

lostdoggy wrote:

Looks like a banana baked bean x

Perceptive!

Had been thinking about how old shapers never let go of once-cherished ideas; they become a part of, not just their understanding of board design, but a part of their identity too. While there's little similarity in the way this board rides compared to, say, his Bananas of the nineties, Greg has kept evolving those initial concave designs.

I think you may be onto something by referencing the Baked Bean. When it comes time, I might hit him up and get his thoughts.

lostdoggy wrote:

Just looked those fins up.
They look huge!

Woah. Yeah, maybe mine aren't the same.

Well, they're the same shape but not as big as the ones on the website.

Island Bay wrote:

Any news on your Electra, Stu?

Plenty. Though none I can commit to paper just yet.