Slip slide glide

Just caught Lee’s blog post on the Joker… lovely to have a review by a well respected longboarder, and someone who has never ridden a bonzer before as it brings a totally new perspective to some of the traits I now take for granted. Thanks Lee.

I’m “out”… I love a longboard!

Shovel(flex)nose bonzer EVO6 longboard… I have to say (and please bear in mind I am a shortboarder) that I LOVED this longboard… form the first take-off the board felt incredibly intuitive and had me walking up to the nose so easily. It is really stable up front due to the quite parallel rail line from the shovel nose and seemed to allow me more time up there than was reasonable, especially for a shortboarder! It would turn from the middle very naturally too, which was unexpected, and off the tail i could easily pull it into roundhouses. I have only ridden it as an EVO6 with MR rears so far and it works so well I am wondering if I’ll ever get a single fin in the box! And of course then there’s the resin band… straight off a lovely Havana Corona. If I was to make a tweak it would be to lower the rail apex just a touch through the rear 1/3 of the board for even more sensitivity…

It’s a very special board that has far exceeded my expectations and made me seriously question what board to pull out when the surf’s good! So I’m “out”… I love a longboard!

The Joker, finished…

9’2” x 22 7/8” x 3”. Resin tint with clear nose inlay. Resin “cigar band” with metallic and double pinlines. Wood bonzer EVO5/6 runners in American Ash for positive buoyancy. FCS EVO6 or single fin 10” box for a more traditional ride.

Shovel flex nose with a teardrop concave, through into rolled V in the middle and double concave with bonzer feeders exiting the narrow square tail. Soft rails through to hard.

This board has taken some time – the resin bands alone being a bit of a labour of love…  it’s complex, it’s complicated, it flies in the face of fashion and their is a lot for people to get their head around. My favourite board ever (and its a longboard!) I love it…

     

“Joker” EVO5/6 Longboard bonzer

This is a board I'd been thinking about for some time… a long board with the volume and trimming of a 9’6”+ but the foam and manoeuvrability of something much under 9’0”.

The wide nose is effectively “cut off” and has part of a teardrop concave, with the cut providing an initial straight entry, similar to a Harbour nose channel. This will provide a more stable lift that should trim from the nose through the flatter sections that often pop up on our waves here.

The mid section features a straighter, soft rail line for nose riding and high-line trimming. Don’t expect it to turn from the middle though, this is a board that want to be ridden classically, turn off the tail and walk to the nose.

The tail has a distinct hip to pivot around when you do step back, and then the foiled out narrow tail with bonzer concaves will provide the acceleration, drive and holding power.

The rocker is appropriate for an all rounder of its true length, 5 1/8” in the nose and 3 1/4” in the tail, even and with the apex slightly back to allow for off the lips and floaters when riding off the tail.

Glass job… not sure to go for a classic red tint or clear with some nose bands in khaki + orange pinlines. Views in comments or on facebook welcome.