Takayama DT-1 ride report

Takayama DT-1 ride report I have ridden my new Hawaiian Pro Designs Takayama DT-1 exactly twice since I acquired it. It is still an unfamiliar board, but will take some time to get a feel for. The first ride session was at Blackies on 10-8-2011. The waves were smallish, sorta weak really, and more tuned for the Model T than the DT-1. Since the waves were uneventful, I couldn't really comment on how it rode, SO, today, I went for a slide down in Oceanside. In between the North and South jetties to be exact. There was an extreme high tide, offshore winds, and the NSSA juniors contest going on, hence the session between jetties. The contest had the south jetty all to the competitors. I was able to finally get the DT-1 into some semi decent waves. Actually I got a few that were semi-decent. I took off on a right, it was sorta a late drop, and the board just locked in on the drop in. I did a super smooth bottom turn and the board then straightened out, ready to go where I pointed it, but sadly, the wave was controlling the situation and it just died out. I loved how the board responded though on the drop in. It was like butter. It was one of those days where the wave looks good, but then dies out quickly. The high tide really screwed it up a bit. Another wave I got, a left, enabled me to scream down the line and get some turns in, but it also died out rather quickly. A few more waves, including a super late drop where I was standing but then got hammered by the whitewash was really all there was today, so I can't really formulate a solid opinion on it. One other thing, the center fin that I went with, a Guy Takayama Orca 8-inch fin, I am still not sure if that is the right fin for this board, but that is what is in there right now. I want to get the Takayama DT-1 into some hollower waves to see how it responds. Right now, the jury is still out.