Didn't have much time to put my new 10' surfer through its paces when it showed up, had to go back to work and pay for it It's been blowing onshore for what seems like weeks, but it's my first day off so the rules say i had to give it a crack. Set it up with the standard quad fins and headed down to attack the mushy slop (with the occasional 2 -3 footer sneaking through).I love this board. Surfs like a lively longboard and makes the sections easily. Turns up out of the hole really nicely and suprisingly stable for a lower volume board. Hanging out for better conditions, because as i found out by mistake it doesn't seem to mind being dropped over the lip too much either.
AA started this thread by saying what a fun board this is. Ditto.
WTF? Anyways took my JL 8'9" worldwide out early for a couple of clean ones before the inevitable onshore, returning home for my laird 10'. The more i surf it the more i love it......
Hi,
I have read this entire thread with great interest. It is good to hear that the (relatively) new Laird EPS's SUP's from Laird Stand Up / Nidecker are lighter, faster, and surf better, even if they are a little more fragile than the prior ones. I am about to pick up an older Laird Pearson Arrow SUP from Surftech on clearance (but still new or nearly new). I need help deciding between the 10.6 versus 11.0 model. If you have any experience comparing these (or even the same lengths in the new EPS ones) I'd be curiour for your comments in this new thread:
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/Review/2013-Surftech-Laird-110-vs-106-vs-Lopez-106/
So I can only get the 11.0" or 10.6" in Surftech - and even those - barely. The 10.0" Surftech Laird is completely sold out/gone. The guys at Surftech were saying the 10"0 is very small and only 28"0 wide - might have been a REAL challenge.
Tried the 11'6" Laird Surfer out in very small surf this afternoon.Totally loved it.My usual prone board is a Munoz 11 ft Surftech,so am fairly used to bigger boards.I believe the 11'6" and the 12' have been dropped from the range which is a real shame.I normally use a large single fin in the Munoz ,but left the 3 fin set up on the Laird .I found it loose and fast ,and it begs you to get up to the nose .when up there it is very stable.Cross stepping ,nose riding all seem much more do able,even for me .For a big board it has relatively low volume and nicely shaped rails,the nose area of the board is quite large.This is one fun board.I would love to try the 10'6" ,which I think at my height ,weight and ability would be as small as I would care to go.The 11'6" is a composite model with the bamboo,I think it is a little heavier,but I think for me that is a bonus ,a little more glide etc,and looks great.All in all
Try an 11.0 before a 10.6. I am 100 kg and lately I am liking the 11.0 much better.
Caveat: I am comparing the Surftech versions. Also I compared them in small to medium surf.
I recently bought a 12 footer.
It is very wide in the tail (19 1/2") and to my mind not for surfing.
It is excellent in flat water, with excellent glide and direction.
How wide is the 11' at 12" from the tail?
The 11'6" surfer is around 19" about 1 foot from the tail.The 11ft that marvinhecht is talking about is Surftech Laird which I think are overall narrower boards anyway.Try playing around with different fin set ups,go 10" single and see how that changes things.My experience on this board was in small conditions 2ft ,but with the 3 fin set it turned well ,and certainlly was stable when up the front.I am not used to a 3 fin set up as I run my boards as singles but had no complaints,although not having used a board with this set up in about 10 years it felt very different.Next step for me ,try a single fin and see how that goes.I measured my Simon Anderson 12ft sup at about a foot from the tail it certainly is narrower by a couple of inches,but in my opinion does not surf as well as the Laird.The shorter Lairds are certainly going to be looser,but you can't beat a big board for glide and wave catching ability
My Blane Chamber's shaped 11'x31 high volume board is 17"wide 1' up from the tail. And very thinned out.
This is a very loose board easy up a rail kind of board.
Thanks Waxer.
I use an 11" Farrelly cutaway single fin, but cant comment as yet.
Perhaps I need more time on in the water.
Had I seen it first, I may well have bought the Tom Carroll Long Leaf. The bottom shape has a lot in common with my mals, which go like buggery, and don't seem to catch the nose or rails.
Greetings all.
I'm relatively new to seabreeze & I recently bought (Nov14) a Laird Surfer 10'6x32"x150l (matte finish, which is pretty cool) as my 1st SUP & I absolutely love the board! I only spotted this thread today which fortunately backs up my decision so thanks for all the useful info!
I've been using Laird Thruster fins which seem to work well however I'm now at the stage where I want to mix things up a bit. If I ride quad (I guess this will give me a bit more speed?) do you think a set of S5 (4.52") fins will work as the rear side bites if I continue to use my existing Laird Thruster front side bites (4.78") or should I go for something a bit smaller?
I also bought a Gerry Lopez 8.5" box fin which I planned to use for flat water paddling however, I tend to spend the majority of my time in the surf (even if there's only a small ripple) so I've yet to use this fin. I see a few of you recommended using a large (10") box fin for nose riding days so do you think my Gerry Lopez will cut the mustard or am I better off selling this to invest in a larger box fin, which can double up for flat water paddling days?
Obviously, I will experiment where possible however waiting for the right conditions is a challenge so any useful pointers would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Apologies all - I just realised S5 fins wont fit as the rear side bites. I might just look at buying the official Laird Quad set. Cheers
Just gonna say thank you to all on this thread. I now have one of these boards and the thing is a blast.
I was looking for a tad bigger board and saw some of the videos and reviews on this board it looked like it was too much fun. I decided to PM a few people that had this board regardless of what size they had to try and ask a few more questions. I ended up with the board, a 10’00” hybrid surfer in the surtech type technology construction with the 5 fin options.
I received it the day before I had to go out on a job so I could not ride it for a while. The reason while it has taken me so long to write this. When I finally had a chance to take it out it was like chest high and kinda choppy. Being 3 inches narrower than my 8’6 it was tippy at first especially in the conditions I was using. But man, this takes off when it gets on a wave and turns amazingly well. Not the greatest conditions for a first go but it looked like a keeper.
The second time I took it out was a good swell. I happened upon a spot in the afternoon with this board after surfing all morning on my Foote fish. Found a nice overhead A framing beach break peak type wave with about 2 hours before dark. First wave was a nice left maybe a foot overhead and this thing took off. I stayed high on the wave and when I got far enough out made my turn back to the curl. Board turned like it knew what I was thinking. I was able to get back in the curl and cutback continuing left and off the lip with plenty of speed. Yeah, it is a keeper. Had lots more like that til dark.
I know people have been having fun with different fin configurations on these. So far for me I have just been riding this thing a quad with the stock fins and loving it. I need to try it with a big single and see how it goes. I am also waiting to try this on a smaller day. Hoping to try on a glassy like thigh to waist high day to see how it goes.
weight without fins
Ninjatuna that board looks sweet. Think it is the Hybrid which looks very similar to the surfer but nose pulled in to 19 1/4 unlike surfer that holds width of 23 a foot from the rounded nose[b].
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Thanks Funnsurfn - really appreciate the feedback & agreed - I will hang onto the Gerry Lopez & continue to experiment
i've been using this 10" flex fin recently and it's both stable for getting to the nose and springy coming out of turns. pretty sweet and versatile. it's a harbour hp.
What's the General thoughts on the old Surftech Laird 10'6" I have the chance to pick one up cheap secondhand :-) or is it best to wait and save up $$$$$
phil
Are they a similar shape to the new Laird eps ones, as same classic Arrow shaper from Santa Cruz I see