“One thing I think that’s important, as you start to think about building out your own quiver, is the value of riding different equipment and what that can give you as a surfer.” – Ace Buchan Photo: Inspire Courses
Editor’s Note: Check out Ace Buchan’s Guide to Precision Surfing and more courses designed by the best in surf and outdoors on Inspire Courses. The Inertia readers can enter code WELCOME10 to save 10 percent.
Surf long enough and you’ll acquire a decent quiver of surfboards, each with its own purpose to match your experiences in the water. From grovelers that get us through summer flat spells to that rhino chaser we dust off once or twice a year and everything in between, there’s a board for every occasion. But more than just an excuse to horde equipment, rounding out one’s quiver is a rite of passage in the progression game.
“Something that’s important, as you start to think about building out your own quiver, is the value of riding different equipment and what that can give you as a surfer,” Buchan says in his new Guide to Precision Surfing with Inspire Courses.
Buchan, of course, has a garage full of boards. And even though he has a go-to, all-purpose, high-performance shape for most days, there are a few common boards he feels bring should always be on standby for progression or just to check in on your fundamentals and mechanics. Ace walked us through his quiver in the new online course, where he got into the design details of his favorite high-performance boards, but also offered some insight about these three particular staples that should be in every quiver.
The Twin Fin
“I think what a twin fin is going to give you is that kind of unmatched speed,” Ace says. “And it’s going to teach you how to engage your rail better without the stability of a back fin.”
Buchan has two particular twinnies that he’s turned to the past couple of summers and says they always bring a lot of fun back into the mix.
“It just freshens up your surfing,” he says, “Being able to pull out a board like this when the waves are small and inject that sense of fun and excitement is something that I really enjoy.”
The Single Fin
Buchan’s single fin is an old second-hand board he picked up. “I think the one thing single fins really teach you is how to harness the speed of the wave really well,” he explains. “You’re not gonna get that sense of thrust and speed you would get from a twin fin or a thruster. So you really have to learn how to read the wave and find the power pockets in the wave.”
Ace says a lot of today’s shapes are like “super-powered boards,” creating a lot of speed naturally. This can rob surfers of learning how to utilize speed as well as learning where and how to find it when needed. The single fin is your chance to learn this.
The Step Up
There’s no one-size-fits-all step up. Buchan’s is a 6′ 4″ that he’ll ride anywhere from medium-sized Pipe to “pretty solid” Teahupo’o.
“It has all the attributes of a smaller gun,” he explains. “It has a pulled-in tail, that more kind of bladey look. I’ve added a little bit of foam but kept the low rail so I can still have that control and cut through the water nicely.”
From there, his main adjustment is letting the wave and his approach dictate the fin setup. If he’s looking to get barreled with stability and drive through hollow waves, he’ll go with the quad setup. If he wants more maneuverability, he goes with a thruster.
“I think there’s something pretty special about riding a step up,” he says, pointing out that most of us only get to pull them out on a handful of occasions. And that’s what makes them special. “There’s something pretty primal about running around to your local reef break or through the bush to one of your favorite waves with your mates, a bigger board slung under your arm, and really scoring those waves that you dream about surfing all year.”
