In the barrel: when to go down with the ship

Interesting topic. There's always that dilema - do you save your board, your body, that hell paddle back out ---> or do you go for that chance of glory?? It amazes me when watching footage of pipe / chopes etc how many guys pull into closeouts and come up unscathed. Alot of people say they're much safer in the barrel then trying to pull out of it or through it. I find that if you stay with the barrel and don't try and jump, MOST of the time (if you're too deep) the foam ball will catch you and throw you forwards(keeping you out of the way of the board) and swallows the board behind you.....if you're really lucky you might even pop out the back............its that risk vs reward thing but I reckon the more time you spend going for those barrels that look 'almost' makeable you might be suprised that you start pulling out of a few.

I would have to agree with Staitey. Although by going for the barrel you can often blow the wave but if they're mostly close outs there's not much of a wave to blow anyway. Sacrifice it all!

Got to agree with staitey there. Pull in and hold on. I've been surprised by the ones I think will close out and I have made or almost made. Then the ones I've straightened out on thinking they'll close out and I'll get hammered, only to watch it keep reeling, whilst holding my head in my hands wondering why I straightened out.

Yeah especially if over sand, you just have to go, like Fittzroy said, sometimes you think there going to close out but they don't and you either go for ages real deep or sometimes even pop out, some of the best barrels ive ever had that are burned in my memory i never even made, id actually rather a deep long barrel that i dont make then a quick short in out barrel i do make..

Also a lot of time IMO if you get too deep and dont make it the wipeout/getting worked is not that bad its like the strongest energy of the wave has already happened and its all pushing in on itself.

Also pulling through the wave can become a bad habit, one many of us have had.

BTW. in fast barrels or closeouts IMO quads are the go, so fast, but in more peeling slower kind of barrels or peaky beach stradie type barrels where a stall is the go in setting up barrels i like thrusters.

BTW. in fast barrels or closeouts IMO quads are the go, so fast, but in more peeling slower kind of barrels or peaky beach stradie type barrels where a stall is the go in setting up barrels i like thrusters.

By: "indo-dreaming"

How do your quads go with late take offs - ever slide out? I like the thrusters for these sort of wave as they are sliding that middle fin just catches and boom - line set. Agreed that the quads are going be faster

Some quads with fins closer togethor or toe-in built for turns rather than drive can get a bit of tail drift on steep concave takeoffs, but they rule for turns. I only have one of these quads. The others are all great in concave takeoffs, two are stretchs, whos settings are a little different to some other shapers, I think they are Fletchers own settings. They go pretty good in the pit, definately had my longest tubes on one stretch, some that seemed like closeouts but eventually made.
One problem i found with this board was bigger heavy drops it would bite deep, or stagnate at the bottom a little bit. Normal 3foot sucky takeoffs it would be fly into with great speed but heavier and bigger, it wouldnt tail drift just bog or something, it might have been me trying to stay balanced and not pumping soon as i landed or pushing too hard on my backfoot, after pushing forward with front foot during the drop..something was going on but it is the finest rail board i have and i have bogged a few turns riding that.Could also be as its stringerless.However it would bogg a little then haul ass once you had been sucked up the face a little.
I spoke to gary mcneil about the boggy issue and wanted an alien stepup (carbon railed) for a certain wave in indo, and to stop that boggy feeling and get more drive out of bottom turn landings.
The board seems to have more space between front and rear fins, even more than mkcee i think. rode it in some critical waves and the board flies, no tail drift, no bogging yet, only problem ive had so far was getting used to it on a bad hangover, and more recently handling the insane speed over long foamy sections on wedgey ramps. i really think this quad will be insane on the waves i bought it for.

As for fast closeout barrels, pulling into closeouts can be the best way to get used to getting straight into the tube and driving as far as you can. Unless your board is thin and loved or fragile. If the waves have some punch the things that happen inside a wide flat bottom barrel can really knock a good board into three.

"indo-dreaming" wrote:

BTW. in fast barrels or closeouts IMO quads are the go, so fast, but in more peeling slower kind of barrels or peaky beach stradie type barrels where a stall is the go in setting up barrels i like thrusters.

By: "staitey"

How do your quads go with late take offs - ever slide out? I like the thrusters for these sort of wave as they are sliding that middle fin just catches and boom - line set. Agreed that the quads are going be faster

Sorry missed this...

In theory i agree but to be honest haven't noticed any real difference, normally i like to drop straight down then into a bottom turn anyway, but was in Indo not long ago and surfed a super super fast hollow wave (forehand) was only waist to head high but every wave was late and had too angle take off and get heaps of speed straight away and i had no problems apart from just not being able to get into them fast enough but it wasn't just me it was just that kind of wave.