// Board Models
Classic Malibu produces a wide range of different models and styles to suit every need under the sun. All of our boards are hand made, so we can adjust and customize each board to fit your size, riding style and experience level. Click on a board title to view details about that board. If you would like to purchase a board from Classic Malibu, click here.
The Original Fish
Held closely to the classic Skip Frye template, the classic-style fish with keel fins is a beautiful board for point waves. The fuller volume of board, despite being diminutive in length, is a wave-catching machine, able to get into waves earlier and trim across flatter sections.The keel fins produce superb down-the-line hold and allow turns to be far more drawn out than with a conventional thruster. This can, however, prove a hindrance. Keel fins don’t like being forced through turns. A snapped turn or more critical manoeuvre can often result in a severe loss of speed. So it’s all about treading lightly and an old-school flow.
The Twin Quad
Many’s the time we’ve heard the same quandary: “should I get a twinnie or a quad?” When it comes down to the pros and cons of a pair of fins vs. a foursome, it’s a ’six-of-one’ situation. CM’s expert fisherman, Neil Randall, has delved into the intricacies of the design and is the mind behind our new dual set-up. “On your front hand, you can create plenty of drive with two fins,” says Randall, “giving you that extra speed and allowing for the drawn out turns of a classic keel fin design.”But on your back hand, unless you’re an exceptional surfer, the twinnie will work against you. That’s where the quad set-up helps, with its extra hold, exaggerated drive and heaps of acceleration out of the turns” With the Twin-Quad you get two boards in one: the stylish, old-school feel of a retro fish and the speed and agility of a performance quad.
The Quad
Quads are all about release. With the same amount of face in the fin, the drive is comparable to its keel-finned counterpart, but, when your line opens up and you begin to set your line again, the quads will flex back into position, water will start channeling back between them and you will gain acceleration out of the turn. This all adds up to making a board that holds well through turns but doesn’t kill speed in the same way that the keels can. Though available on all types of boards, we usually pair the quad up with a slightly racier template, more drawn out nose-to-tail than the traditional board and with a single or double flyer to allow the tail to sink slightly and increase drive.
The Egg
So named for its teardrop outline, the egg has its width forward of centre, giving it superb down-the-line trim and superior paddleability, with extra volume under your chest. But a pulled in rounded pin-tail gives excellent manoeuvreability whilst maintaining hold in the pocket. Basically what all that means is that the Egg is a glorious package of fun, versatility and accessibility. Ideally suited to points or fuller point waves, the egg gets you into the wave nice and early but is equally happy taking a later drop. A two-plus-one fin setup increases response in the back sector as well as increasing hold on a steeper face, while still giving you the benefit and feel of that large centre fin. One of the benefits of an egg is that it works in a large variety of conditions, but also of lengths, making it a mellow wave option for shortboarders or a beach-break tool for those more akin to a plus-nine board.
The Stinger
The stinger is a design that attracts a lot of looks, some desirous, some quizzical, some nostalgic. The stinger features a step in the underside of the board, just forward of the front fins. This step disrupts the flow of water across the board, creating cavitation, or dirty water, through the fins. Essentially, this makes the board incredibly loose off the tail, while maintaining volume front of centre, giving the board added paddleability and wave-catching ability. The stinger needs a slightly larger fin, given the turtbulence created by the step, so a twin or two-plus-one set up is recommended, aiding drive while maintaining that looseness. Great for slightly more mellow beach breaks, where early entry but maximum manoeuvrability are both needed, the stinger is still a versatile design, the fullness of template still allowing it to trim through point waves quite happily. The technicalities of the board make it more suited to those a little more advanced in their surfing abilities, but definitely six feet of pure fun.
Single Fin
For that pure, unadulterated, soul feel in a shorter board, you can’t go past a single fin. The flow, hold and track of a board with a solo skeg has a style all of its own. As those surfers of the mid and late ‘70s showed, you can still really throw a single fin around, but a much more fluid style is needed, with turns linked smoothly, rather than the snappy style of thrusters. While this may not be everybody’s cup of tea, the single fin does offer a very distinct ride. Usually a fuller volumed board, it’s a superb wave-catcher and great for open point waves, but can still hold its own in beach and shore breaks. If you’re looking for a shorter vessel to compliment your longboard, a single fin may well be the way to go, having that hold and flow you feel in a plus-nine board.
The Slab
New to Classic Malibu’s quiver is the slab; a board bred of necessity and inspired by the surfer’s quest for pure enjoyment. The Slab is a wider board, full in template and volume, designed to give all the performance of a more conventional thruster but with the float of a fish or mid-length craft. The Slab’s fuller tail template, along with a flatter rocker, gives it exceptional wave-catching ability, whilst hard rails and volume through to the tail allows a more skatey, fish-style manoeuvreability. Ideally suited to three-foot-plus point waves, the Slab is equally at home in beach breaks with a bit of punch. The Slab’s popularity comes from its accessibility. Not only will it paddle into and handle pretty much any condition, but it also works under the feet of an array of surfers. Shortboarders revel on a board with high performance but superior paddling while the longboarders amongst us froth on the feeling of a shorter board that still feels substantial underfoot.
Mini Mals
Mini mals are often shunned for not being ‘proper’ surfboards. Unfortunately, imported and mass-produced equipment have tarnished many people’s opinions of the versatile, enjoyable boards. A true mini mal is not only a great board to learn on but will also take your surfing a lot further than kiddie’s corner. Hard rails through the tail, blending into a 60/40 towards the nose make for an easily turned yet stable board. Add this to a fuller template and more foam through the mid-section and what you have is a highly responsive board that paddles easily and maintains stability. Mini mals are fun for everyone. Ideally suited to beginners, even advanced surfers can still find a lot of enjoyment in mid-length boards.
The Performer
This might not be our most imaginatively named board but, as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. The Performer model is exactly that: a true performer. A full rocker from nose to tail, coupled with a pronounced double concave in the tail, gives this little beauty exceptional pivot and a responsiveness that is second to none. Though not the best noserider, the Performer remains versatile, more at home in faster, holler waves but still adept in mellow point surf. This board is the template for the rest of our performance stable due to its proven success. The 4567 model is flatter through the middle with a fuller nose, the Sunrise is the thoroughbred, all about speed. But the Performer gives you both: a shade more volume but exceptional speed and performance, and it is this all round versatility that makes it the perfect board for competition.
Quad Longboard
Developed in collaboration with local rippers Mitch Surman and Brian Thompson, the Quad is in the highest echelons of performance longboards. With indefatigable down-the-line hold and phenomenal release out of turns, the Quad can be thrown as hard as you can throw it but still won’t be dead in the water. The four-fin set-up allows for heightened turning capabilities, offering greater hold on rail-to-rail transitions and accelerating through and out of the rotation. CM team rider, Grant Thomas, has ridden the Quad extensively and is a huge fan. His one criticism is that the nature of the fins and their extra hold diminishes the board’s capabilities on a vertical trajectory, but then how many of us can go vertical as well, as fast or as hard as GT?!
The Sunrise
This is the Ferrari of our quiver; a lighter weight, hard railed, full rockered, high-performance board, able to turn on a dime, hold a steep face and fit snuggly into the barrel. If all you want is to paddle in early, grab rail and rocket down the line, this is the board for you. Great off the tail but with a subtle concave through the nose and a hard square-tail, tip-time isn’t out of the question either. Glassed lighter and trimmed down throughout the template, The Sunrise can be thrown around with ease but still has the volume to be a good paddler with great wave-catching ability.
The 4567 Model
The 4567, named after our postcode, is by far our best-seller. This board can do it all: trim, noseride, paddle, get slotted or turn on a dime. Versatility is the name of the 4567’s game, balancing old with new to give the best of both worlds. Essentially a performance board, with narrow tail, harder 60/40 rails and either a thruster or 2+1 fin arrangement, the 4567 also features fuller volume throughout, a wider nose and a three-stage rocker. This rocker gives lift in the nose, superb pivot and leverage out of the tail but a flat mid-section, allowing you to just stand and glide. Small waves, big waves, fast or slow, the 4567 can hold its own wherever you paddle out, and with the possibilities of lighter or heavier glass, a range of lengths and a variety of finishes, it can be custom made to suit the rider and the local break to perfection. If there is one board that can do everything it is the 4567.
The Lightweight Model
Classic Malibu’s hometown of Noosa is a longboarder’s Shangri-La. Boasting a multitude of perfect point set-ups and numerous quality beachbreaks, there’s a wave for every occasion. But not everyone is able to turn, trim or manoeuvre a heavy, 9′6″ log. Enter the Lightweight. Trimmed down from a Classic Californian model, the Lightweight offers the glide of a heavier board but without risking shoulder dislocation on that long walk to the points. A traditional board, refined for versatility and the lighter surfer, the Lightweight makes the old-school trim accessible to everyone and no longer purely for the old cats who’ve put away a few too many pies and ales in their time…
The Classic Californian
Borne of an era where trim, style and finesse were the traits of a good surfer, the Classic Californian is exactly that: a classic Californian template with full, parallel rails, wider through the nose and tail and a very flat rocker. Made to surf Californian point waves originally, this model is perfectly suited to the waves of our home breaks here in Noosa Heads.A perfect nose-rider, beautiful in trim and able to glide through flat sections and on the smallest of waves, the Cali is a board that oozes fun and the purest wave-riding pleasure.Developed by Kevin ‘Magic Feet’ Connelly during his three-year sporadic tenure at Classic Malibu, this is the board he won the 2004 Noosa Festival Of Surfing on. Primarily a points board, the Cali can still handle a mellow beach break, as Kevin often has so deftly displayed.
Click here to enquire about purchasing a Classic Californian.
The Vintage
At about the time the Californian model was being refined on the points of Malibu and San Onofre, Australians were making what has now become our Vintage model. We over this side of the Pacific set the hips of our boards further back, in the latter third of the board, trimming the nose down to give increased pivot from the tail, far more suited to the more critical beach breaks of Sydney and the hollow points to the North. A board with little to no rocker, soft rails and a rolled bottom, the Vintage is a board to be surfed with grace and poise. A beautiful down the line board, almost identical to the original template, giving you exceptional glide but the ability to turn on a dime when necessary. If you want an old-school log, it doesn’t get better than the Vintage: all class and a pedigree of well over 40 years.
Shortboards
With a name like ‘Classic Malibu’ many don’t think of us as a shortboard manufacturer. But head shaper, Peter White, is adept at shaping 6’1” x 18 ½” x 2 ½” as he is a traditional 9’6” noserider. We carry a range of shortboards in stock for you to purchase off the shelf, but are just as happy to hand-craft your perfect stick. Concaves, flyers, channels… all are possible, as are a wide range of templates, from a gunny pintail to a wider fish-style shortboard. Fin arrangements also are only held back by your imagination, with anything from one to five fins available. Three fins are still the norm, but we can mix it up by giving you the option of turning your thruster into a quad with extra plugs to suit both arrangements. So before you opt for an off-the-shelf shortboard from the high street surf shop, come and have a chat to us about a board to precisely suit your needs.
The Big Boy’s Shortboard
Surfers never die, at least in their minds! Unfortunately, sometimes the framework can’t keep up with the grommet inside us all. For those of us a little more advanced in years or waist sizes, we have created the big boys shortboards. Available in a range of templates and sizes, the essence of this design is to keep you ripping, tearing and shredding like you did when you were 15. Fuller volumed and wider through the hips, the Big Boy gives you float in a performance board, both when paddling and standing, without forfeiting manoeuvrability. The added foam is maintained into the front and back ends with a flyered tail, making the board nice and loose but not too skatey. Available as either a familiar shortboard template or keeping width into the nose and tail for extra volume and stability, we have what you need to keep the grommy alive!
Click here to enquire about purchasing a Big Boy’s Shortboard.
The Jai Lee Model
Jai Lee is renowned as an exceptional noserider, a reputation he has gained through years of experience on Noosa’s points and with numerous wins at The Noosa Festival of Surfing.
His signature model is a noseriding machine, perfectly honed to lock into the point-curl, giving exceptional hold from the nose, with the ability to tune and adjust your line without stepping back.
The ‘patented’ squid-tail design increases water flow over the tail, adding to hold, but also creates a highly refined rail that answers your motions from front of centre.
Hollowed out through the nose, this is a board that will make even the most tail-bound surfer a pinky-hanging expert.
The Jai Lee Model #2
Even more highly refined that its predecessor, the Jai Lee #2 is narrower in the nose and wider in the tail, designed to be the purest noserider possible. An 8-inch square tail gives supreme hold in the pocket, slotting in and maintaining trim and momentum through the sections without the need for back-peddling. The more slender tip seems to be a contradiction in a noserider, but with a deep concave, the bow still offers exceptional lift without being too much of a slab, which can often reduce efficiency and maneuverability. If all you want to do is hang ten to the beach on every wave, then don’t look past the Jai Lee #2.
The GT Signature Model
Grant Thomas has been a part of Team Class Malibu since birth, or so it seems. His performance style has seen him a force to be reckoned with on the Australian and International longboarding circuits for some years, and his reputation is justified. A power-house surfer, he likes his boards narrower, quick down the line and with the ability to smash the back out of any wave. The GT Signature Model offers exactly that. A slightly flatter rocker makes for awesome trim speed, while a hard tail, 2+1 set-up and severe double concave makes this board feel at least two feet shorter off the back foot. Ideally suited to beach breaks, this board will still handle a point wave admirably, open to faster, more critical noserides and with the glide to make the sections. A lighter weight board, the GT Model is all about performance, but with the versatility to make almost any wave accessible.
Click here to enquire about purchasing a GT Signature Model.
