Have you ever looked at the top half of your surfboard and thought to yourself, "that bit never touches the water, why do I have it?"
No? Well I have. And Mark_Oz took on the challenge of making a genuinely short shortboard, which was probably as nerve-wracking a commitment for him as it was for me.
Because there must be a reason no-one is doing it . but if I ride a 90cm skimboard with no volume, I can go upwind, ride in light conditions and have a good time. If I ride my 110cm twintip, I can rock along. So why are surfboards so long? And why the hell are they so often pointy? You're not duckdiving under a wave, and you don't need the length to paddle in, so. why not go small to go big?
Enter - The Sliver. At around 4 ft 5", the Sliver is Short. Twintip length short. In fact it lives in a twintip boardbag. And fits in the back of the car without putting the seat down (and fits in a large roll-on luggage bag, as if you were travelling anywhere).
I won't bore you with technical details (mainly because I didn't pay attention, but its around 21L and you know how long it is ), but with a solid channel, some width at the back and managing to pack in a bit of volume into its small frame, this little baby ROCKS. Intended for downwinding in Perth mush, it has become my go-to board for anything, from lightwind days to winter frontal sessions on overhead bombs.
Its fast. Its loose. Its like riding a large slab of butter with fins attached. It jumps. It does tricks. Snap out the tail and ride it backwards. Drop it sideways down a face. Grab it and spin. It even goes upwind surprisingly well, and I use it for local sessions. In fact, this board does so much so well I have sold my Duotone fish and this is my all-rounder (holding on to my 4ft 11 Appletree for biiig glassy waves, but everything else is this).
Construction wise, it is pretty much bombproof. I break everything - aforementioned duotone Fish had a heel dent in it within a month, so this board exceeds production-level strength for my riding (which is, for want of a better word, rough). I went with the exposed wood and it looks amazing.
In short (gettit?)- this board is fuuunn. If your local is big glassy faces and 10kt days, then maybe a classical board will serve you, but for everything else, there is literally no downsides to this board. I've ordered up another one and am going to go smaller again, to knock another couple of inches off. I firmly believe the 4ft board is possible. Look at the arc of board sizes over time for kiting, and if you ever had a stonker compare that with the current range of production boards - Duotone has gone down to 4 ft 9 in their whip sizing this year.
This board is it for me - but there may be some people it won't work for (and as a disclaimer my board sizes are foilboard - 94cm, skimboard - 90cm, twintip - 110cm, other surfboard 4f t 11, so this isn't a grand leap but more of an evolution). If you're a fatass, or you are beginning your journey of surf kiting (or both), then this may not be what you are after. But if you are at the point where you notice your board bouncing on chop, or you can't quite smash the tail as much as you like, or your board is peeling off when you jump - maybe its not you, but the extra 2 feet of wasted surface area you are dragging around.
I (/Mark) have done the hard work for you - this works. Go Small.
Riding Style - Int/Advanced Strapless Freestyle/Wave
Weight - 72kg
Conditions - Aaanything. Does well in chop, nice and flexy. Turns any downwind session into fun. As it gets windier, stomp the back foot and enjoy. Take it out on flatwater and get your duotone academy on. Take it out in big surf and it makes the wave size feel 1.5x bigger.
I don't have any affiliations with Mark (or anyone). Support local shapers where ya can!
Still photo credit - Gordon, True Spirit Photos
Video credit - Paul,
@paularity with his Super Cool Drone
(or is it 4'3" now...?)
