That was gold. Call me Simple Jack if you will, but I loved the zero aerials till that tastey little pop at the end. You're right , the man rips.
I think my sides would split with laughter whilst riding an air mat with my hands by my sides the way he was. So good.

What a ....... Joking!

Cool vid, mellow track and some fun waves.

Who couldn't go a bit of that today 'eh?

Who needs Skeleton Bay when you have that little gem? That bloke has had more fun in one clip than a whole winter of surfing of Sydney.

I don't understand surfers who ride surf mats. The most useless dysfunctional craft to ride a wave but bloody hipsters get right into it cos Greenough told them it's cool. Get on a friggen booger so you can actually ride the wave on your guts properly you idiots. You won't be sliding out, you'll feel the same riding on your guts, only you'll be able to get good and shacked and actually control your direction properly. Hipster tossers.

Having said that, to each their own and young hipsters should be allowed to ride longboards or surf mats or whatever they like cos it feels different and if they enjoy it, so be it.

But riding a surf mat is still stupid.

Tomo's mat riding skills inherited from his dad.

Beeeeeautiiiiful!!! classic, smooooth and yes!... not an air ( except last 5secs) in sight. And yes again!..Greenough has probably forgotten more about hydrodynamics and watercraft construction and riding than we'll ever know in a lifetime....a humble legend...

Who gives a flying fig what people ride. My experience is the ones that complain about it the most are often pretty ordinary surfers . It's not about hipster or any other label you want to put on it . If Carcus and Dan want to ride a mat it's because it's fun not because it's a cool thing to do . Dan rips and his dad was/is a very competent surfer . Both are good shapers and Dan is obviously doing well with his designing . Riding a mat as well as those guys shows how good they can read the waves energy which you need to ride any type of board even a booger.

He'd surf a lot less jerkily if he rode a proper shortboard.

Can someone just clear up for me, is this the guy who shapes for(?) firewire?????

Dan Thomson ,firewire have a " tomo" model I believe
Dan has his own site....google.

So is it the same individual oodz? I googled Dan Thomson and found a site with planing hulls.... is that the same shaper who designed the "Tomo". And is that the same individual who is surfing in this clip??

Yep that's him google some more for Dan and Stu Kennedy surfing on north coast or all movies on Dan Thomson on vimeo.

okay cheers. Yeah googled around and connected the dots.

Also just wanted to double check with someone about the origin of the vanguard style boards. Some say it's firewire, then I seen em at the ox without the bamboo deck... blah blah blah. Anyway. cheers

Tomo is the originator/shaper of the vanguard, however he's sold the shaping rights to Firewire for the VG, Nano and Vader I believe. Tomo will shape you one in PU/Epoxy I believe but the waiting list is rather long as I understand it.

Tomo's spends lots of time in the U.S. now....long wait for a custom......has even got a seppo twang in his accent.

He hasn't sold the rights to anything Don, he has a licensing agreement with FW to produce his designs.

Ok fair enough Steve. Bad choice of words on my part.

Btw Don , what rating out of ten would you give most of the surf in that clip?

Free ride I can see where you are going with that last comment, were you dropped as the surf reporter for the area, if so why, your winging is correct some of the time but, geez let it go

I don't know where freeride is going with that, but freeride and donweather both seem like good blokes and I enjoy their very knowledgeable contributions.

Rating surf 1 out of 10. There can be no generally acceptable measure as it is subjective. Not only subjective; but unlike easy things
like rating movies, wine, books, art etc, where fights are had and friendships lost;
the surf is changing, it might be all-time at 6:40 am, and a bit crappy at 7:15 am. How can you rate that?

Plus, if you are rating surf on the basis just of weather info, and not standing on that beach as it happens, well you have no chance, except for the most hopeful prediction.
Personally, I would rate that surf in the video, 8 out of 10. If it was a couple of feet bigger, 10 out of 10. Because I wouldn't be seeing it as a competitive, it can't get better, type score. I'd see a 10 as it just being reeeallly, reeeally good! But others might disagree.

If I wasn't sure, and I was worried about people giving up work on the basis of my recommendation, I might dare to give it a 6. I would feel caution is in everybody's best interest. Particularly as you are never certain and, as we know, vagaries in the sand, wind and tide make a huge difference.

I certainly couldn't criticise a chap because you reckon he was a few points out when he was just trying to give a cautious indication from some distance away.

Freeride, what rating do you give those waves, with the advantage of the video and probably being on the beach on the day?

There is something about him surfing on that board that just doesn't look like it's clicking.. I'd love to see him surfing the exact same waves on a "normal" board. No doubt he's a great surfer, I just think that board isn't doing him any favours

I was in the water surfing that spot all or most of those sessions. saw them go down.
agree on the board not quite working.

Not one of those days of excellent to perfect quality surf was given over a five by the Ballina reporter. Maybe because he was standing on the beach at Tallows........

All fun and games, nothing serious fellas.

The board seems to struggle coming off the top in steeper sections.

If I was at the point on those days, I would have been delighted with the 5 score. Gave those there a chance to get some waves.
On the surfmat. Inspired by Greenough, I had a hodgman surf mat back in the day. A lot of fun, particularly on small hollow zippers like those above. Yes, they are not a perfect wave craft, but moving around on the mat to get it to best hold its line is part of the fun.
And for critics, don't underestimate just how nice it is to be floating around the briny on a semi-deflated air mattress. It is a pure sensual pleasure. So soft. And when you wipeout, it cushions you from harm. Sweet! It's like cuddling up in bed with a voluptuous woman. Ummmm, not wanting to weird anybody out or anything.

Worthy of a six, nothing more. Not big enough for a higher score. That ripple on a few waves is also of concern. The angle of the bank is nearly, but not quite. Length of ride is under 1 km, so marks lost there. Wind is reasonable, but not 90 degrees to wave curvature. So, only a moderate score.

lol

Surfing was good, surf looked excellent if you ask me, but why did nobody drop in on the mat? It's un Australian to not drop in on somebody laying on there guts!