Boards That Caught My Eye, 2011

No particular order, no Mackies as I see enough of his boards to do an entirely seperate post (which I undoubtedly will do). Every one of these boards made me want to go and surf, and I am hoping that this coming year brings a little cash flow so I can invest in the culture and buy one of these- I'm jonesing for a new board, it's been a while.

From The Top:
Jeff Beck ModdTwin- wood skin over an EPS core. Slight cheat, I've been riding a loaner one of these a lot, and it's a fantastic board- light, responsive and has a lovely stiff twangy flex to it- epic board for the local crap beachbreaks.

Daniel Thomson Weighted Dart- Felt absolutely lethal under the arm, all kinds of double tail action with the V and channels- Tomo Jnr. is innovation at it's best.

Andrew Kidman's classic thruster interpretation- probably the board I'm most obsessed by- this is the thruster from when they were fun- Simon Anderson influenced template, no bells and whistles but it looks like it would be madly fun to ride.

Original Surf Company Bellyboard- I did get new rides this year, a brace of these things. 4' of ply and it's the most perfect allrounder ever. I break it out for a few belly slides at the end of every session and always exit the water grinning like a Cornish yokel who's been at the cider.

Alan Byrne channel bottom madness- enough said.

Jeff Ho L.A. shape. Again, nothing too flashy but a board that instantly felt right- a bit wider and thicker for us older gents, tri or quad set up and away you go. 6'2" or so tri and I think it'd be a daily driver.

Reverb's round tail quad- I'm a recent convert to the quads and this looks like the business- bit of area in the tail and very clean racy lines. Some South American is really happy with this I bet.