7'10'' Simmons/Vanguard/Nano style Sup

I have been reading and following the posts regarding wider nose and tailed short sups for sometime and have posted some pics of my 7'10 x 29'' x 4 1/4 Gambler.

This board was designed and developed 16 months ago by local Gold Coast Shaper/Surfer Arron 'Azza' Bitmead and glassed by Deep at Burleigh. I believe these shapes are worth checking out to those who want to drop down to a shorter surfing sup and surf harder.

This board is loose, super fast and stable because of the wider nose and tail. I have added a homemade 'nubster' style centre fin for bigger days just to assist in holding the tail on the bottom turn.

I am amazed after surfing this board in sucky beachies to 6ft point breaks how much speed you generate and how loose it rides. I am 93kgs and it is no probs to stand on and is pretty stable for intermediate to advanced riders. I love the quad setup as there is no anchor feeling that the thruster produces.


This shape of board is definitely worth investigating IMO for those who are looking for something different that will take your Sup surfing to the next level.

I was riding a 8'6 x 30 Magic Carpet by Luke Egan and had a swap in the surf on this board and thought no way am I going to be able to stand on this. Surfing the board is so much more enjoyable for speed and turns. The rounded noes even allows for the odd nose ride on the fat ones. Wider tails also pick up the swell earlier to.

It is doable, and I would recommend you should be be riding more performance shapes prior to jumping on a board like this.

With a bit of perseverance it can be done and the results are well worth it.

Maybe 103 litres but I jumped on it and it floated me fine.

P.S Fits in the car also

Thanks wazza66 .
Are we talking 6ft as in double overhead . If so it would be the best all rounder , perfect for my home break needs .

Good to here your thoughts also Kami , was hoping you or Colas might have some input . You guys seem to be ahead of the game , with the shorter sup of this shape .

I'm currently on a 8'7x29 dtm 110 ltr and am tossing up with maybe minion shape but want that "magic" board that can do it all , up to double overhead . My dtm does just that , but for some reason we always want to go a smaller board .

That is one beautiful looking board.

It looks like it would surf well!

Good one wazza, any chance of seeing the tail/nose rails and you doing a few turns on it?
cheers

This board is about a year & half old and really ahead of it's time. Azza the Gulliver shaper just showed up one day and we all went WTF. It's a fun board to ride but we thought at the time it won't work because prior to this the Vanguard/Nano boards hadn't become really popular and we just didn't understand the concept. Wind the clock forward to now and it's really on the money. It's amazing how negative thoughts just looking something makes you think it can't work. Azza eventually sold it to Wazza (poster of this thread) and he just loves it.

After my board the Double Helix , I have been talking to Azza about a more Nano shaped board just like this one , I just wish I had my blinkers off a year and a half ago. It will be interesting to jump back on this one after riding all the different Vanguards.

Yeah Colas looks good hey .This is where we are at with the new one. I have very little input on this one , I'm just letting Azza do his thing as he has been inspired by all the new boards on the Breeze. This one is a touch of the old school with a mix of the box bottom outline , looks interesting and should be fun.

He's calling this one the "Toe" 7-9 x 27 x 4-1/8 102 litres.

Finally got around to putting some video of the Gambler in the surf.

Please excuse the deep breathing and grunting in the background as the Go pro was in my between my teeth .

Got to work out how to mute the footage.

Select to expand quote

t457118 said..
Dimensions and description appear to be very similar to the V-box? What would determine choice of one over the other? Kinda looks like a Minion vs Paddlepop comparo in Deep land, which might imply the Gambler is smoother. Casso appears to favour the PP more than the Minion..... We are getting some Vboxs in NZ soon apparently.

The V Box from comparing the 2 boards has a large v in the tail to allow it to rollover onto the rail easier.It also has wider tail and nose sections and more parallel rails.

The Gambler has a more traditional single to double concave bottom and a narrower tail width and diamond tail.

The board in the video is the my original Gambler which has since been refined even more and has got the V box vee through the tail section, a better idea in my opinion. I have been riding this board for about 16 months now.

Haven't surfed the V Box as yet so can't comment on how it surfs. Few of my mates surf the V boxes and love them.

I have just returned from 2 weeks in Indo with the original Gambler and it performed well above its weight. Fast down the line and easy to surf.

The new production Gambler is a combo of the V box tail and the Gambler rounded nose.

I buy my boards and am not a sponsored rider , just a someone that wants to help others feel the stoke and enjoy the ride.

Good to have a few new and different shapes to choose from.

I know this board!! I rode this board before Wazza and found that it went exactly where you pointed it.. And fast!! I was going to buy it but Wazza beat me to it!!! It still is a really awesome shape that was a long way ahead of its time. Well done for posting this!!