’09 Is Here! Sorry for our tardiness – the holiday season has just been too much fun The start of a new year marks the launch of a fresh new season at Classic Malibu; new t-shirt ranges, new board designs and a whole new batch of the tried and tested favourite models, with a few inventive tweaks along the way. ___________________ This Issue: Mid Lengths – The perfect choice for when long’s too long and short’s too short. The Gift From The Fishes – Fins can often prove the make or break of a board – so which if the right one for you? GT ‘09– One of Australia’s most explosive surfers, we see what Grant Thomas is planning for the coming year. (Photo: Magyuna)	Newsletter :: January ’09 :: ___________________ The Middle Way It’s a very rare thing to find a board that will perform in a variety of conditions. Thrusters may be exceptional on hollow beach breaks, but take them out on a mellow point and you may as well be surfing a Jatz cracker. Likewise, surfing a log in a sucky six-footer is like, well, riding a log in a sucky six-footer! Mid-length boards are coming to be recognised as no longer the beginner’s board, but as a highly viable option for maximising the benefit in a single purchase. From six-foot through to the mid-eights, mini mals, eggs, slabs and high-volume shortboards can give you all the benefits of a thruster with the extra float of a longboard. And in the varying conditions of the global shoreline, these assets give you the opportunity to paddle out regardless. Here are just a couple of boards that fit the profile…
	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.
Of Rakes & Flex Fins have gone through all manner of transformations, from Tom Blake’s nailed-on rudimentary slabs to the highly refined, computer designed, aluminium fibre foils of today. We often leave the fins out of our thought processes when ordering a new board. Frequently colour takes prevalence over fin. But, whilst your shaper will most likely supply the keel to suit your craft, it is worthwhile having a bit of knowledge of those funny little things sticking out the bottom of your board. CM’s guru, Peter White gives you the rundown on how to get the ride you want from the fin you choose: - A fin’s flex offers release. Quite simply, the more flex, the more release, to some degree. Release gives you a faster exit from your turns, but overflex and you’ll get spongy turns and slide-outs. - The foil of a fin or the curve from front to back along the face prevents cavitation, increasing response. Any flat spots or imperfections in that foil will create drag and lessen hold. - The rake of a fin is the curve from base to tip. Essentially, the greater the rake, the more the flex. A faster performance board requires rake, giving harder bottom turns, increased release and greater manoeuvrability. - A very upright fin, with volume base to tip, requires a pivoting turn but offers exceptional hold from a more noseward position. - Glassed-in fins are always a performance bonus. More solidly connected to the board, they give greater drive and responsiveness. Removable fins are the only choice for overseas sojourns but the marginal movement they can allow deteriorates the fin’s overall performance. - Thrusters on mals are frowned upon in favour of a larger centre fin with minimal side biters. But if you reduce the centre fin and increase the sides you get far greater down-the-line grip with improved hold through power turns. - While plastic composites are coming very close to matching the flex patterns and firmness of a glass fin, there is still nothing to match the glass. If you have the option, pay the extra and enjoy the difference. Next Month: Five-to-One: How many fins and why… Classic Malibu Cnr Gibson & Eumundi Rd Noosaville QLD 4566 Ph: (07) 5474 3122 Email: info@classicmalibu.com		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. So when thinking mid-length, don’t let your mind get stuck on the concept of a mini mal. There’s a lot more out there to choose from, from eggs to slabs, full-volume thrusters and quads - and most of it is under the one roof at Classic Mal.
	GT - Life In The Fast Lane? - With a name like Classic Malibu, you’d be forgiven for thinking we were all about old-school trim and glide. But one look at our quiver shows you that we are every bit as cutting edge and performance as our competitors. Team CM surfer Grant Thomas epitomises this side of our label, his progressive approach the perfect visual display of just how well our performance equipment can go in critical conditions. GT’s 2008 has been huge. Love, loss, success and hard-graft have all been part of his year the joy at the birth of his son, Fredrick, was marred by the sad loss of his mother, but the happiness created by junior has seen both Grant and his wife to a happier ’09. GT has been with Classic Mal, as Peter White puts it, “forever”. A swathe of high-end contest results has made Grant one of the key faces in Australian longboarding, alongside a very select handful of others. A competition hiatus in the latter part of ’08 has made the Sunshine Coaster reflect on his career. With his hands full with the now 7-month-old Fredrick and his surf school in Maroochydore, Grant is going to be taking 2009 as it comes, the odd comp here and there, mostly on home turf unless something exceptional entices him to dust off the passport. Grant’s twelve years of pro surfing experience have given him the savvy to know a good board from a dog and, after several years of production, the GT Model is still pushing his buttons. Mixing it up occasionally, with shorter boards, quad fins, epoxys and so on, Grant still reckons the board he and Peter have refined is still the ultimate tool for the job. Quads, he says, limit his vertical game, though giving great speed and hold down the line. But Grant’s game is all about the lip, so the 2+1 set up of his signature model is the way to go. The Noosa Festival Of Surfing will see a meek return to competition for GT, who is frothing at the opportunity to pull a singlet back on, but he’s not planning a full assault on the world stage at this stage. And will little Freddy be following in Daddy’s sizeable footsteps? “He’ll be into surfing, for sure,” says Grant, “but he definitely won’t be pushed.” Next Month: Randall – man or myth? Neil Randall is Classic Malibu’s highly skilled and excessively knowledgeable retro shaper. In charge of our fishes, single-fins and old –school logs, Neil truly knows his stuff – but he hails from England’s South-West of all places… go figure….