LAIRD EPS Surfers

From Ken....HI Guys, The lairds always look to me to be too wide in the nose, and that it would catch all the time. Does that happen or not? The reviews are pretty good here. I'd be interested to hear comparisons between the laird and the naish nalu, for those who have surfed both. Thanks, Ken.

Sorry for late reply to this. The one thing you have to look at is the nose rocker , it's really raised up so no nose stick at all. You can let it come down without racing to the tail , it's rides put on it's own. As I said previously very clever design.

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Sandsy1 said..

AA said...
Thanks STC. Its not often we get excited about new boards but these are worthy of some close attention. Keen to try the Hybrid that just came in.

Currently in DEMO at BPSurf-

[b][i]9'6 Hybrid: [/b]EPS-COMPOSITE1
Length 9'6 Width 28 5/8” Height 4” Volume (Lt) 110ltrs Weight 18lbs

10' Surfer EPS-COMPOSITE: [/i]Length 10' Width 29" Height 4?" Volume (Lt) 130 Weight HP 20 lbs Weight Composite 23 lbs

10'6 Surfer EPS-COMPOSITE: Length 10'6'' Width 30" Height 4?" Volume (Lt) 140 Weight HP 20.5 lbs Weight Composite 23.5 lbs

Coming in August:
10'6 x 32" Surfer Length 10'6'' Width 32" Height 4?" Volume (Lt) 150 Weight HP 21 lbs Weight Composite 24 lbs

Shame your all the way over there in the US, STC. I can hear you frothing from here!

Thanks for the info AA. Have you compared the 10'6" to the old 10'6" surftech Laird? I would be interested to know if the nose rocker was a little flatter. The surftech pushes a lot of water when nose riding in slow waves, it requires faster sections for clean nose rides. A flatter nose would be an added bonus.
Sandsy

Sandsy if you want the lowdown, get in touch with Sam the manager at Balmoral Paddlesurf, he rides the Naish 10'6 Nalu and recently spent some time on the new Laird 10'6. He used to own the old Surftech Laird so he knows all three boards well - balmoralpaddlesurf@gmail.com or 02 9905 8826

Enjoyed this post enough to go get one. Fun board. Anyone tried any other fin set ups on ten foot Surfer other than already mentioned? No previous nose riding experience but keen to get the toe on the nose and learn some old school style.
Best fin set up for the balance of tail/ rail turns and nose riding? Love the video in this thread and wondering if Guts is riding 29" wide and what fins he may be using. Looks like thruster.
Cheers.

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AA.... Murphy works in strange ways. I got back in the longboard SUP hunt with this thread, I had been looking for a used 10'6 Laird for a year, but there just don't seem to be many around my area.

I tried a friends 10'6 Alana and loved it... ran right out and bought a new 10'6 Alana (my girlyman board) which I am super happy with.
Enter Murphy.....1 week later.... there, on Craigslist, is a pristine used 10'6 Laird (SurfTec) with the cluster 5 fin setup. So.... of course I bought it

Surfed the Laird for 5 hours yesterday in really fun waist to shoulder waves. I started with the 4 fin cluster, using fairly small fins... 4.5 inch being the biggest. It was very sticky.... after a few hours, I switched to small sides and a 6" center... moved up in the box... better, but still not as loose as I was hoping for. I had some success with that setup.... but next time I will try a larger single fin.

I was wondering what setup you found to make it loose.

I loved noseriding it... you can do all kinds of cool nose turns and found the slips controllable with the side bites..... but I want it to loosen up.

Any fin suggestions for the laird? and do you think this is the same board as the new ones? the nose and tail are potato chip thin... looks the same as your pics.

Pretty stoked to have two good longboards in the quiver.. thanks re-stoking the fire.

Hey Creek!

Congrats on finding the Laird.
I've had 10'6" Pearson Laird Surftech, with 3 boxes, for about 4 years.

I've run it with lots and lots of fins - mostly larger singles,
trying to hang 10.

However, I do run it as a twin sometimes.
I got a pair 5 1/8" DEPTH, 7" wide fins - its pretty lose.

I've also used those twins with a small 2.1/4" DEPTH 6" BASE keel nubster.
- did some sliding around the top of the waves.

Both of those setups made it pretty lose & fun,
but if you go too far on the nose, the tail can pull out and you can
side slip (actually pretty fun) but if you go even further forward,
kerplunk, the tail will let loose and you'll get dunked -
I'm talking a foot or so from the nose - so might not be an issue.

The smallest single I've run it with is 7.5" Fins Unlimited Swept Fin.
-- also similarly loose to the twin setup and you can go further out on the nose (pretty far)
without the tail letting go - had quite a bit of fun with this setup on small waves.

It is interesting that if you aren't going to go way up on the nose,
you can run some pretty small fins. Also, with the small fins,
I've noticed less drag - so easier to catch small mushy waves - although the waves
you've posted (on the zone) look pretty powerful.

I run a big 11" sparky (actually measures 10.75)to get the best noserides but it takes a lot more paddle power
because of the increased drag. I've also run the two big side bites with a 10" HP Swept Fin (looks like a sickle) for similar noserides and drag. Yeah - I can easily steer it from the nose with the big side bites in and the HP Fin in (which is pretty flexible).
Similary with the orginal smaller side 4" bites and the original 9.5" fin in.
Its a fun board to mess around with.

--
I've been looking at the new Lairds - I'm remembering,
the new 10'6 is a bit wider - I think 30" versus 29.75"
and less volume 140 liters versus 154 - something like that.
The new one also weighs less 20.5 to 23.5 pounds, depending upon construction -
- I've not weighed my old one, but it feels like 30 pounds.

But the "old" shape is pretty darn good!

yes indeed
had the old 10 .6 laird for two and a half years, great fun and such a good board.
but wait until you try the new models they are insane
i am now riding the new 9.6 surfer EPS, fantastic pure and simple !!!!
lighter, faster, turns so much easier, and yes you can still run the nose.
have ridden in ****ty little beach breaks to overhead perfect point waves.
my favourite board to date !!!!
cheers

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supthecreek said..


AA.... Murphy works in strange ways. I got back in the longboard SUP hunt with this thread, I had been looking for a used 10'6 Laird for a year, but there just don't seem to be many around my area.

I tried a friends 10'6 Alana and loved it... ran right out and bought a new 10'6 Alana (my girlyman board) which I am super happy with.
Enter Murphy.....1 week later.... there, on Craigslist, is a pristine used 10'6 Laird (SurfTec) with the cluster 5 fin setup. So.... of course I bought it

Surfed the Laird for 5 hours yesterday in really fun waist to shoulder waves. I started with the 4 fin cluster, using fairly small fins... 4.5 inch being the biggest. It was very sticky.... after a few hours, I switched to small sides and a 6" center... moved up in the box... better, but still not as loose as I was hoping for. I had some success with that setup.... but next time I will try a larger single fin.

I was wondering what setup you found to make it loose.

I loved noseriding it... you can do all kinds of cool nose turns and found the slips controllable with the side bites..... but I want it to loosen up.

Any fin suggestions for the laird? and do you think this is the same board as the new ones? the nose and tail are potato chip thin... looks the same as your pics.

Pretty stoked to have two good longboards in the quiver.. thanks re-stoking the fire.

I think a 7'' Shapers cutaway fin or something similar would be the go along with your side fins. It holds the board in the wave and keeps it loose. Worth a try.

Near flat days not a problem on these boards. Ten foot Surfer pure joy.
Reminds me of what I first got into Sup for before the short, low volume high performance bug hit.Fun fun fun

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Funnsurfn said..
Near flat days not a problem on these boards. Ten foot Surfer pure joy.
Reminds me of what I first got into Sup for before the short, low volume high performance bug hit.Fun fun fun

Yeah Marty - what these boards are all about!

Maxeaus, I picked up the board on a partial trade (a well used 10'6" C4 Classic and some cash) from a friend.
He bought the board at the Orlando Surf Expo from Laird. Bob Pearson and Laird had a booth there.
My friend is bigger than I am and thought the board was too low volume for him. I guessing it's about 140L.
Anyway the pad is an Xtrak, which I put on myself.
Been playing with some fins a bit myself...

Forgot to mention 4 coats of Monster Paint non-skid on the front deck for nose riding....

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Piros said..
Had a few waves on the 10-0 this morning such a fun board and so easy to put it on its rail . You can't help but surf it like a Mal with sole arch bottom turns and drop knee cutbacks. Really easy to surf .

I agree with Piros. I rode the 10' this morning in 2-3ft clean rights and every time I kicked out i thought "this is a very 'fun' board" The thin tail means it turns on a dime. The first 3 waves I got were all pretty much identical. Semi late take off with a quick bottom turn and a couple of little pumps to get to the section. Then let the board run away from the face, turn in and hit the lip. And surprisingly, the tail slid out a few feet on every top turn. Not uncontrollably, just enough to make me kinda go wow!! Wasn't expecting it to do that. Getting out to the nose was very easy and it was incredibly stable. I'm a very poor nose rider but on the Laird I thought I was Joel Tudor! The 10' length is not how I prefer a longboard/mal style of SUP. I prefer 11' plus lengths. But I had an absolute ball this morning. I'd love to try the 11' version.
Shire Sup, do you have an 11'?

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waxer said..
How is the durability of these boards?.There was some concern in early posts that the decks were soft .Was this on the composite ,or eps?and how are they holding up.

Waxer, I was told by a retailer that the issue was with an early batch of demo's and has been rectified.
I've had an EPS for 6 weeks now with no issues

The bamboo composite is way more expensive,but if the board is going to be a keeper is there any justification in spending the dollars ,also is there a weight difference?I really like the look of the bamboo but would have a hard time justifying the extra bucks on that alone.

Thanks for that surfershane,I also grew up with mals ,and am fairly familiar with using the weight and length.Never really got into shortboards at all.A long Laird surfer would seem to me to be the perfect board for me.Mal surfing with a paddle