Not since the El Patron, back in 2018, have we released a large scale, high volume, Pro-formance Series Shortboard. The BIG RIG is focused on Larger and/or aging shortboard enthusiasts who don’t want to give way to Hybrids, Mids or Fish. We know we can still ride a HPSB, but can we navigate crowded
line-ups or catch waves in pressure situations? With that question in mind, we went to work on the BIG RIG. A direct derivative of the DRIVER 3.0 and DRIVER 2.0, scaled up, but not dummied down, for bigger and (of course) older surfers, who still wanna rip. Fight fight fight to that dying last light! Motivated by the growing amount of custom orders we’ve been receiving for larger scale Pro-formance Series Shortboards, like the DRIVER series, and seeing a demand to offer them to a bigger audience.
Inspired by the incredible surfing of Cole Houshmand and his 6’4”/220lb frame, we started by dissecting the boards we’ve been building him over the last 3-4 years. Cole is a young, fit athlete and world class surfer, so we figured similar boards could be great for smaller, but older, moderately skilled surfers, in the 175-190lb range, then scale up and down, from there. The sky is the limit.
The BIG RIG…Driver retains most all of the design elements of Cole’s (and our other elite team riders) boards:
- Thicker centerline, with rolled deck and smooth sloping “not too boxy” rails.
- Continuous rocker, that accelerates though the tail, under the rear foot, but relaxes in the entry rocker.
- Single concave throughout, but deepest between the feet and mellowing in the front 2’ and rear 1’ of the board.
- Noticeable double concave through the fins and under the rear foot, to cut through the thoroughly modern, high performance tail rocker.
- A curvy, catch free outline, with a modest squash tail, for average surf.
One thing we did do, is relax the entry rocker a bit, and fill in the forward 12” of the nose outline, making for an easier paddle through the line-up and wave catching, with more built in glide into and while surfing waves. No one wants to see us older guys flapping around, trying to create speed!
Built with the same blanks and glass jobs as the smaller “Pro-formance” Series boards, to keep them light, nimble and responsive under foot. If the stock/standard dims don’t seem generous enough, or a touch too big, we can easily adjust up and down, as well as substitute round, or round pin tails, to make the perfect fit for you and your needs.
