AndyM, 1564727718

Stu, dunno if that's a 7'9" Torren's surfing in his first video for Needs in that link.

simba, 1564728488

So Stu have you put in an order yet?

Ape Anonymous, 1564728764

We know there's channels in the release, necessary to know what the entry and plane sections of the bottom are doing so we can discuss further.

From the still shots of the snapped boards, definitely looks to have down-rails or at least a low-down wide point to the rail. Mid-point of the outline: the tuck is not overly tight -makes sense for a long rail with one fin driving -soften the bumps. Still, the rail rejects the wall at times -fun when expected -especially for young folk who like "getting loose" and taking risks.

Fins -hand-foiled by the rider, no? quite vertical, keels with long base?

There are a mass of Victorian waves that suit such a board -always though though a super thick and wide twin fin would be epic down round those parts -especially where the waves are fat.

stunet, 1564728900

@Simba,

Me, twin fins, you know the rest...

But I will say Torren's surfing in that clip got me wondering, if not for me, then just wondering in a purely theoretical way, and I dug up an old interview we ran with Simon Jones where he said twinnines never reached their potential because the Thruster stopped them dead in their tracks. People converted en masse overnight and the twin fin experiments ended.

Now it feels like the boards Simon is making, plus DVS and Takayama (while he was alive) are filling that void, and their riders, TM, Rasta et al, are doing them justice.

Still, not for me, and don't let Uppy tell you otherwise.

Blowin, 1564729422

Whilst I appreciate the cross pollination with the movie , if you want to get the good oil from a surfer / shapers perspective give Karl Beadham a call.

That fucker knows his way around a planer , a tube and a dance floor better than most. I’m not sure if he refers to the boards he’s getting heavily tubed on as “ mid-length “ , but they’re voluminous late sixes towards seven plus.

No competition, but I’ve seen him share a lineup with TM and TM was just another face in the pack compared to KB.

He thinks outside of the box. Shapes and surfs according to functionality, not fashion.

stunet, 1564729693

Have I fucked that up? Maybe got wrong link.

Sec...

trolleyboy, 1564730531

I saw footage of Torren riding a tiny board at Deserts and he was cracking some Mason Ho jive way up the board, and think about how hard it can be to ride DP backside anyway, then on a tiny board, then weighting the forward rocker and unweighting the fins. It must've been 5'4".

velocityjohnno, 1564731258

Not only twin fins Stu, it also put the single fin on ice, today they are reborn and are 2+1s in places. The single can take the volume tail to increase performance, as Geoff has proved over the years, even at this size of board.

These dimensions of board are a joy in our waves which are often a long way offshore, lots of wind out there - the paddle really helps. On the fatter waves there is space to full rail carve.

Good post Ape, these shapes do work with more of the down rail, and will hold in hollow waves if you have the thinned down rails in the tail.

If you look for surfboard development today, you see the BWWT riding quads with beef forward and 70's down rails. If you want to see variety in different shape in a contest situation, go to the opens of any good Longboard club and you see so many different takes on the 2+1. Unfortunately, there is a 9 foot limit; if there were not, these midsizes would be taking over. For the everyday surfer on a log, having 1 to 2 feet less board to nurse through a turn opens up carving immensely.

Yeah I'm a fan. Torren is at an otherworldly level on the twins.

wildenstein8, 1564734285

I dont ride mid-lengths but how sick does "longer, more drawn out moments" sound?

hamishbro, 1564738914

The fat wide point forward twinnie with properly tapered rails and enough rocker to get into steeper waves is the weekend warrior’s wet dream. Dunno why there isn’t more out there.

freeride76, 1564741002

can't ride 'em on my backhand, is why.

adam12, 1564743194

Well as a Victorian I was a bit offended back where Ape called Victorian waves fat when ... they are not fat! O.K.! They are just...thick boned, alright! And they tend to retain fluid...and anyway, they are a bit bloated at the moment and you are fat. So...

goofyfoot, 1564743668

X 2

Ted from the moon, 1564744783

"All of Simon's boards are handshaped," explained Torren when I asked the name of the model

Is he just being a bit of a tool with this statement........???? If you check out the website of Mr Jones he lists a mere 18 different models.

https://www.morningoftheearthsurfboards.com/

T.Edds, 1564749097

Talking in real terms...

A lot of people seem to have opinions about the functionality of any board aside from a conventional thruster. I would be surprised to know how many of these staunch opinion holders have preserved to understand the capacity of these designs.

Nothing comes easily.

Twin fins work exceptionally well on the backhand.

memlasurf, 1564750963

x3

memlasurf, 1564751019

Just the west coast.

memlasurf, 1564751367

No they don't and I go back to the originals. They were never good on your backhand and even the vids of Asher these days are always on his forehand. You can't bury your back foot at the bottom and snap into the lip with control on a twinny it is way too fast and loose. I love em but they can bite.

T.Edds, 1564751885

You cannot surf them the same as a thruster. The different design demands a different approach. I don’t understand why the thruster is constantly used a a relative point of reference. So many surfers carry on about how a particular board restricts their surfing. I would be native it is their actual ability that is the restriction. The thruster has deluded the everyday surfer.

mezkal, 1564767861

Haha yeh give Beachbum Beadham a call that guys on another level for sure, amazing talent, he may actually be an alien...especially on the dance floor. Enjoying the whole TM thing though, cheers.

Hamishnic, 1564796045

Roger that!

roryshannon, 1564815378

I had been emailing Simon recently about the board Torren rides in the film (the 7'2 twin), as i couldn't see it on Simons website.
Simon stated the model is called the Massive, but once again, cannot find any further details on it.

velocityjohnno, 1564816100

x4

It's like a foreign language and you forgot to listen to the teacher in class

To the crew who surf them well, much admiration

velocityjohnno, 1564816798

T.Edds, I grew up surfing an absolute variety of classic shapes and can recall pitching after pitching on the twinnie down south. Disliked the 90's potato chips a lot, loved the singlefin bottom turns and highline drives. I did do a twinnie with my eldest about 10 years back, basically modern shape, wider nose, concave, modern rails and swallow - that thing surfed backhand very well, he flew on it, I had moments where you just went "whoa..." but I found it sporadic, sometimes it would be fully vert, other times I couldn't access it. Surfing it back to back with a short late 70's single, the single kept up speed in a line with the newer twinny trimming side to side, was more pivotable, and appealed to how my formative surfing was, so I left the twin design at that.

FWIW, the one design that smokes every shortboard I've tried (old classics, and also the modern fuller volume cutting edge brand label models of today) is an orignal Simon 1981 thruster. They are incredible. You can place yourself under lips, take off late, you will still make it, they are so forgiving. Tight arc turns like a Zap, but you can pump trim fluidly for speed backhand (huge improvement), go vert or do single-like high line speed runs. Thick fins and soft down rails, wide tail, single to doubles through vee - there is a lot going on in that design and it works so well, even today. It wasn't just about the 3 fins.

That one is the winner.

Aft3rd4rk, 1565318600

Love a good twinnie,
Started my surfing in WA on a twinnie about 40 years ago and have swapped ever since between thrusters and twinnies.
I mainly surf a thruster in anything over 3ft and the twinnie in anything under. For summer sessions its a wet dream come true, saying that tho ive surfed the twinnie in some serious big waves and it handles well, just need to be a bit more mindful on the bottom turns that it doesn't slide out.

simba, 1565474027

nice

markxxx, 1565474513

Midlength twins are definitely fun and versatile. I approached Gary McNeill about getting a “stretched out twinny” earlier this year. My brief was “paddle, early entry and glide of a mid BUT still be able to jam hard turns and throw it around like a shortboard”. No problem he said and man did he nail it. Had some of my most memorable sessions on this thing. Goes great backhand too!
[URL=http://s580.photobucket.com/user/HSV99/media/5CE1AA3B-B876-4303-9609-E25442477005.jpg.html][IMG]http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/ss248/HSV99/5CE1AA3B-B876-4303-9609-E25442477005.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
6’10 x 21 x 2 5/8.

*I like it better with upright twins than the keels pictured.*

ojackojacko, 1565515223

hey markxxx. beautiful board. if you don’t mind me asking, what weight and height are you?

markxxx, 1565517926

Hey mate,
About 6-6’1 85kg.
Gary originally suggested 2 3/4 at my weight but I wanted to make sure I could duck dive the thing.

ojackojacko, 1565522662

sweet thanks mate. the board looks great

ojackojacko, 1565759432

hey markxxx. ordered me one. loving twinnies in all conditions and really like the look of these boards. very curious about the torus channel. also want to try out some non-fish twins. i had a tomo evo that i was going to try as a twin (just take the thruster fin out - i do that on some of my boards) but i snapped it soon after getting it so didn't get the chance. it was probably the only thruster i've ridden that had the speed of a twin. i know the planing hull thing is important with that design but i suspect the big channel down the middle was relevant too. thanks for the input mate. will post pics when i get it

markxxx, 1565761311

Nice mate!
What dims?
Yeah I have a Tomo Nano that actually goes great with the AMT twin + trailer.
Torus channel is definitely interesting, very fast but I also feel as if I’m turning off the edge of it as well as the rail when I’m forward on the board. Hard to explain but a nice smooth, engaged feeling. I think you’ll be stoked.

ojackojacko, 1565764770

nice. I'm 5'8 and about 56kg (skinny little old bastard) - getting a 5'10 as a mid-step up. I've got a short fishy twin (5'2) that I really like in anything up to 6 foot but when there's any bump it gets hard real quick on something that short, and also if you can't get in early making the drop can be challenging. i'm thinking this board might be a quiver killer for me (not that I'm looking for one) since once it gets over 6 foot it gets beyond my pay grade pretty quickly. "quiver killer" for me probably means no news boards for 12 months or so :)

markxxx, 1565770205

I think it will serve you well as an alternative step up, mine has so far (despite the extra width).

ojackojacko, 1565772618

I also like the look of the entity twin pin as a proper step up.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz2S33EldFP/
not unlike the simon jones 7'2
https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2017/03/13/lifting-lid-big-wave-twins-simon-jones
in that its a larger twin with rear channels, but I personally like the look of the outline of the entity twin better

mugofsunshine, 1567400341

[IMG]https://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q220/youngdecorator/IMG_20190817_144007_777_zpsoqisn9va.jpg[/IMG]

7'1 21 2 1/2

After watching Torren I thought I'd better try one.

I'm 178cm, 80kg, 50yrs old fit and healthy and ride all manner of boards but almost exclusively under 6'5, upper intermediate at best. I get the twins on the backhand thing too, I love my 5'6 Lis style fish but yep it's a whole different ball game on the backside. This thing though... It grips, and it doesn't matter if my foot isn't right over the tail either it'll still hold in and draw a line to the point I had the nose out the top of the wave this morning and still brought it back down.
The early in is a boon. I found I can fade the bottom turn because I've got that much more time. This leads to much better positioning in the pocket (not out-racing) and again, the extra length and weight creates a kind of 'turbo-lag' which means I've found myself in the barrel so much more (and out!). Better surfers will have a better stall/turn for the barrel I'm sure but this board only emphasises to me where I need to improve on my shortys.
In summary, if you feel like you're on a bit of plateau and need an injection of stoke I can't recommend it highly enough. Oh, I can duck dive it too, the aerated water before a broken wave causes a bit of drama but in the clean water it goes under no trouble.

derra83, 1567403675

Sounds great. What's the logo on it?

mugofsunshine, 1567408086

It's mug ring/stains Derra like get left on your table.

derra83, 1567473983

It took me a while to twig to what you were saying! Great board mate. Looks well made.

norberto idiart, 1609126513

Hey MugofSunshine !
Such a beautiful board....
Who did it for you ? Do you have the shaper's contact information ?
Many thanks

Norberto

Solitude, 1609131231

Anyone had experience ordering a board from Simon Jones? Heard through a friend that it can be an extremely long time to get a board?

udo, 1609132017

This is gd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDzGDIvrQ_A

norberto idiart, 1609147412

Today they answered me: if you order now, you will get it around August. So yeah, I'm happy for them but it's a long wait...

Barrel Daithwaite, 1609218048

I ordered a custom a few years ago now and it took 4-5 months. Worth the wait though and was a pleasure to chat with simon on the phone.

mugofsunshine, 1609222216

Hey Noberto,

It's me!

Hand shaped and glassed by my own chubby, calloused hands.

Val van Zyl, 1610702050

I recently listened to a podcast where Dave Parmenter advocated exactly the same thing about the 80’s thrusters. He also mentioned that Occy /Rusty board and just how incredibly versatile these boards are and how good they go. Although I just had a look on Simon’s site and he’s doing a run of those boards and calls them “heritage series”. He does a step up version as well. Would give both my nuts for the whole range! Anyway he runs a V bottom on these as per way back. Was there a batch that was done with concaves like you mentioned?

norberto idiart, 1619614397

Hey mate...dammm I just saw your reply now.
Would you take an order ? A replica just like the one in the pic ?
Please get in touch: norbertoidiart@gmail.com

Thanks !

stunet, 1629257838

needessentials have just emailed to members an excellent interview with Simon Jones about his boards and the surfer/shaper relationship he has with Torren.

A good chat that contains many nuggets of gold, including how they originally came up with the long twin design.

Hasn't appeared on their website yet but worth tracking down if you're interested in that style of board.

udo, 1629258378

Just read that its good
vid above is easier to watch if you up the playback speed a bit

Island Bay, 1629258629

Honest question to those of you riding long twinnies a'la Torren:
Do they not allow you to do a normal bottom turn with your foot on the tail, or is it just Torren that likes to squat low in the middle of the board?
Thanks

lostdoggy, 1629259235

I haven’t ridden one but I’ve watched Glen Casey at solid Lennox ride a Gary McNeil long twin with big, normal bottom turns.
Simon Jones himself as well.