Soft-top surfboards have exploded in popularity. There are a variety of factors at play, but a general influx of beginner surfers, as well as an increase in the quality and availability of foam surfboards have made the once-shameful watercraft a regular sight at many breaks. YouTubers like Ben Gravy and Jamie O’Brien have been at the forefront of the soft-top revolution, posting videos of themselves using foam boards to both explore a variety of novelty waves and rip up breaks that previously would have been considered too high-performance for a soft-top.
“I obviously rode shortboards my whole life. Cared about surfing a lot, when I was younger. Cared about high performance surfing a lot, when I was younger. As I’ve gotten older and started my vlog, I care more about enjoying myself,” says Gravy in his latest video, by way of explaining his move to riding foam boards. “I ride a lot of soft-tops. Soft-topping has kind of carried over into a lot of different sized waves. I pretty much just pick the board that I think I’m gonna have the most fun on.”
Despite soft-tops being a key ingredient in his rise in popularity, Ben Gravy decided to take a break from the humble foamie for (gasp) an entire week. What follows is a breakdown of what he learned via his return to fiberglass.
However, throughout the experiment, Gravy did often find himself hearing the far-off siren song of foam. “Some of these sessions, not gonna lie, I would have grabbed a soft-top,” he said.
