Hangman

GENERAL GOAL | THEME OF THE BOARD:

A refined high performance longboard that is a bit more focused on nose riding.

WAVE TYPE | SIZE IT'S WORKING BEST:

All waves. From just under waist high up to head and a half.

MANEUVERS IT DOES BEST:

All round performance. It also goes vert really well yet still nose rides.

SKILL LEVEL IT'S BEST FOR:

Intermediate to Pro.

PADDLE POWER:

Average.

WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF WHEN YOU DESIGNED IT?:

Originally designed as the go to competition Longboard, it had to perform to a high standard as well as nose ride in all conditions. Similar to the Pro, it dates back to the 90’s, this design was my personal choice at the time, growing up mainly on shortboards, I needed a little more help getting to and staying on the nose.

WHAT IT POSSIBLY COMPROMISES ON THEN?:

It really does perform well all round, but if compared to the Pro, it doesn’t quite surf as tight but the trade off is better nose riding.

OUTLINE:

Square nose riding platform, traditional clean longboard outline, flyer rounded pin. At 23 ⅜” wide there is plenty of board to carry into waves as well as walk around on. The center outline is relatively clean so it holds a good line, but the flyer into the pintail allows the board to surf relatively tight off the tail, so it can go vert and snap tight in the pocket. The square nose straightens the outline in the front 12”, so when you're perched it holds a solid clean line as the straight section of rail engages with the face and the area allows it to plane on the nose even as the speed drops off. 

RAILS:

Low profile, shortboard style. The really low rails do a few different jobs; fat rails are harder to bury, especially at speed, so the low rails make the board super sensitive, responsive into turns and help slice through the water nicely. The low rail is more submerged when walking and nose riding, so the board is nice and stable to walk with water flowing over the rails holding them down. Lastly, the bottom edge through the nose actually goes back to a hard edge with a defined bevel, so as the nose comes right down to the waterline, the first 6” of nose resists water wrapping onto the deck and prevents pearling as it skims on top and the water releases and squirts off. You really notice this when you think it's all over because you have hung on the nose too long, it just doesn’t want to go under and you can come out of some impossible nose rides.

ROCKER:

Full high performance rocker. This amount of rocker fits nicely into tighter parts of the wave, yet it is still flat enough to carry without needing to be pumped, but it can be pumped for speed with ease if the wave requires. The curve is an even curve all the way out the tail, so it still carries speed even if you are standing right on the tail. The board has a nice squirt of acceleration if you stomp your back foot, as opposed to a tail flip which is like hitting the brakes.

BOTTOM:

Flat bottom. The idea is to keep the board going fast, it already has plenty of features to keep the board loose and sensitive, no need for added contours as the overall design is not dependent on bottom contours for control. Additionally, the general Sunova construction with the flexible bottom adds another dimension that reduces the need for contours.

DECK:

Standard. The nose and tail are quite refined, so it does take advantage of flex really well off the back foot, but the outstanding feature is how thin the nose is. It's actually designed to flex when on the nose and flatten out, this helps it carry well at lower speeds and has less of a tendency to push water and fall off the back of the wave. 

FINS:

Thruster. For sure the best performance option, I personally like to run a slightly smaller tail fin, as this frees the tail up a little better in tight under the lip style turns and snaps in general. It also comes as 2 + 1 in the 9’6” and 3” thick version. 

FINAL STATEMENT:

A good high performance longboard for most wave types, with comfortable nose riding.