Takayama Scorpion Surftechs

Help me win a Takayama Scorpion Surftech!

Hey all Facebook users, Please vote for me and Frog House to win the West wetsuit contest. If I win, I get to spend $500 at TK's Froghouse, and get a new West suit! and help Frog House in the process.

HOW TO VOTE:Here is how you can vote for me . Copy and paste ActionSportsNow.com into Facebook's search bar and "like" them.

Click on the poll question, Then you can vote for me in the poll

http://apps.facebook.com/opinionpolls/index.php?pid=ABJT0fuv3iw

If I win, I can get a scorpion surftech and give you my unvarnished opinion on how it rides!


Surftech and Hawaiian Pro Designs will ship Takayama Scorpion Surftech models this summer in 5'10, 6'4" and 6'8 sizes in single, twin, 2+1 and quad fin configurations. Yup the board is going to support all those fin setups. Now my Scorpion is a 9'0 and it is really a great board. I am excited to see how these Scorpion Surftechs sell, and am eager to try one out. I hope to try one this summer if I can get my friend Michael to take me to his uncle's shop where I am sure a loaner model will be. If they work good, and I can't imagine that they wouldn't, I'd like to get my hands on a 6'8" model, hopefully in yellow or red. We'll see. I can always get a traditional foam board planed on the computer and finished shaped, but I am really interested in the Surftech model, after all, its the surfer and not the board.



There is a certain stink regarding Surftechs in California, the so-called purists don't like them and call them garbage yada yada yada. There is one particular craigslist surfboard salesman who really doesn't like them. Screw those idiots. Its a surfboard, and I don't care what people think regarding what kind of board I ride. I personally have only ridden two, an In the Pink and an Al Merrick Water Hog. I've ridden the ITP surftech at overhead Blackies as well as super fun Diamond Head. I could care less about the water hog.

Sano in Slomo

Kevin and I surfed Sano today. Drove the turbo benzo for the first time in a month. We were initially going to surf Church, but the Point looked good enough, so we paddled out. I rode the last longboard that I have, the Takayama Scorpion (aka Erki Sommer model). The waves were a bit on the soft side, typically for Sano, but there were waves from the South West that is in the water. We surfed for about two hours and it was pretty fun. The cool thing about Sano, especially when it is slow, is you can take off with four or so other people and not get in anyone's way. Kevin rode the Scorpion for the first time, he got several super long rights, and I think he enjoyed riding it. Water is warming up, around 62 degrees or so. And it was super clear, at least on the reef before the paddle out. A few hotties were in the water, including Tammy, an Indo friend of Mona. Also talked to the Buy my Bikes owner, he's had the shop for 32 years, which is a dang long time. No pics today.

Church

Trace and I surfed Church today. Kevin and I looked at the usual spots and they were not picking up the swells, though the cliffs had good size if a bit walled. Kevin couldn't go down south so I picked up Trace and we headed to Sano. Sano was a bit mushy when we got there so we walked to Church. Church was firing, not perfect, but it had size, with the sets going overhead. Dano was out on a shortboard. Most of the surfers were riding thrusters. Trace, me, and maybe three or four others were the only ones with longboards. I had a blast dropping in, cutting back and then just hitting the turbo benzo button. It was really pretty fun. The rights were pretty long, and if you caught the first of the set, you got pounded going back out. I then saw Dano drop in on another guy, full on snake drop, and the guy was spazzing at Dano for dropping in, and Dano finally pulled out of the wave. My last wave, a guy on a longboard dropped in on me, and while he got stuck on the top of the wave, I just started pumping up and down, up and down. I gained some speed but couldn't catch the guy, and I then headed it in. It was actually a pretty fun day. Got home around 12:30.

Alex Knost on a Model T?

Breakfast at Blackies from RVCA on Vimeo.

Holly Beck Barrells

Holly Beck showcasing some cool goPro video she shot from her board cam.

Swell remnants

There was still some remnants of the swell from Tuesday lingering today, Thursday. The water still hasn't cleaned up from the storms, but its slowly regaining the color back (that's not brown, yuck). Water was pretty chilly today. Rode the 8'8" Takayama noserider with some degree of success, but not a whole lot. I just wish it was a 9'0". Will ride the 9'0" tomorrow. Hope there are still waves.In the mean time, enjoy this video of Takayama team rider Noah Shimabukuro ripping some big surf on Maui

Solid Blackies for a day

After the initial big swell dropped off on Sunday a bit, Monday got small, but then yesterday a new swell came up and Blackies came alive yet again. The waves were solid, head high to slightly overhead peaks. Really good with some juice. Surfed for a few hours before work, traded some peaks with Kevin S. and had a really good time on the Scorpion. Water cleaned up a tad, but was still a bit dirty from last week's rains. Not too many folks out, and I inadvertently dropped in on a guy, who took off later than me. I didn't see him and was about to wrap it around when he let me know he was behind me. I then pulled out immediately, saying sorry as I ended what was a pretty good ride. He still rode the wave in and we talked briefly when he paddled back out. Totally cool guy. Anyway, here's a YouTube clip I found via Board Collector's blog.