the Olo in Hollow waves

Father Ted
posted 26 February 2008 22:20
For what it's worth I reckon the board will go fine in Hollow waves with the right person riding it, Truth be told you could say that about any board.
My experience with the Olo was that once you get used to it it's pretty easy to ride. It's big and you need to plan your moves a bit in advance but it's not difficult. I think Roy's right when he says it lights up in bigger surf. I thought the same thing, it was a lot like a regular mal in small waves but what would you expect really. No-one has made any claims to the contrary but I've got to agree with Roy that it starts to come in to it's own when the waves get bigger.

I'm a competent enough surfer I guess, I've been doing it for long enough and while I'm no ripper I can hold my own most days in the water. I'm not a particularly experienced barrel rider, I love em like anybody else but don't honestly get in many so on the barrel riding front I have to speculate a bit. I doubt anyone who has spent much time at North Piha when it gets a bit of size would say it was fat or slow. I surfed the Olo in waves that the majority of people on this BB would call 4-5' sets. The walls weren't DOH but not far off it and the drops were pretty solid. I was picking the lefts on the day and they were breaking fast, with the usual closeouts in amongst the rest. The thing that made it pretty easy on the day was the fact it was pretty long period swell so there was plenty of time between bigger sets to gather myself and there was a pretty good rip to use to get out the back but it was still farken grunty.

Most people I see surfing big hollow waves aren't pulling lots of turns, their turns tend to be longer and more drawn out and if they are in the barrel they tend to be focusing on making the most of it with an exit being the end goal, ripping turns in there doesn't seem to matter so much. If its big and lumpy most guys barely turn at all if the truth be told because their trying hard to stay firmly on the board and not get bounced off. There's plenty of footage on youtube that will show you that, the footage that was posted the other day of Waimea would back it up if anyone wants to look.

I didn't follow the original debarcle on the other forums so I'm not 100% certain as to what was claimed about the board and I haven't got an agenda to push but having ridden it in grunty waves I think Roys ideas have some merit, they just need to be tested by the right person. I'm also no board designer but I've got a laymans perspective.
So why do I think the board might go OK with the right guy riding it...
-its long and it paddles fast, you can get in and riding nice and early. I have no doubt that the board could get into this position if someone was game to put it there. (not pipe admitedly)

-its planeshape isn't too dissimilar to a Brewer gun and I think most would say Brewer is one of the best shapers out ther for the purpose. The board below is called a Brewer Pipeliner.

- it's got a bit of weight in it but it's pretty light for a board of its length. I reckon the weight factor will help it in a bit of chop and that it would help the rider from being bounced around.
- the pin tail and that massive muther fin are going to help it hold its line.
- the rocker curve unquestionably allows the board to flow with the shape of the wave. This was illustrated pretty well to me by Merc (who used to post here a bit) I wish I could explain it like he did but I wouldn't do it justice. Having ridden the board, I know it will pull in appropriately on a steep face
-I was pretty unsure about the rails, and cant really comment as I would naturally assume that sharper would be better, however on the waves that I had it in there was never any question as to whether or not they bit in enough

There's no question in my mind that the Olo would handle these waves Classic old Pipe as well as what is being ridden on the day it was filmed.

From what I hear abot pipe you need to adjust your line a lot while you are in the barrel and things happen very quickly when you are in there. I am certain that the board could get someone in the barrel, it would make the drop no question and I'd be absolutely shocked if a competent rider couldn't make the bottom turn. The question for me is whether it would be long and heavy enough to freight-train the warps in the wave once you are in there in a point and shoot kind of way or whether you would still need to be able to make the subtle adjustments that I hear you need on a shorter board. If you did you would need a pretty good surfer to be riding it but I guess thats the same for any person on any board at Pipe.
I'm just glad I got to take it out in something solid. I loved it, wouldn't change to riding one exclusively and you have to remember that it's a completely different style of boardriding than shortboarding but if I had it in my garage I'd ride it more than I would have ever thought before the experience and it would be in larger waves rather than the small stuff that was in the photo's. I wish I'd been able to get that Piha day photographed now, but even that only captures a moment. I'm looking forward to the Dunedin leg - or Spuds, that will let us know for sure but meanwhile the debate will continue won't it?

Would I ride it at Pipe? I don't think I'd paddle out in the sort of waves everyone visualises when they think of Pipe.
Could Darrick, Tony Moniz, Laird, Brock or any of those guys shoot tubes with it? I don't doubt it for a minute.