There was a time there when the foam surfboard got a bad rap. Perhaps judged too harshly prematurely. Jamie O’Brien became an early adopter–albeit ironically–pioneering board transfers at Pipe and Backdoor from his $100 Costco special to his stickered-up Tokoro. And Pipe being Pipe would oft guillotine Jamie’s Wavestorm, which he’d swiftly return to Costco for another at no cost. Other notable surfers caught on with surfer-run brands like Catch Surf popping up and making entire lines of foam craft. It quickly became normal for good surfers to eschew performance-oriented equipment for something softer.
Enter Chippa Wilson – unofficially the most gifted man on a stand-up boog in the world. And (probably) the most talented surfer in webbed gloves. He reminds us that surfing can be so much more fun on a softer craft. But, if you think softer craft will help you surf like Chippa, you may want to reevaluate.
