New Versus Old School Longboarding

Longboarding is the oldest form of surfing, however since the sport was first invented, longboarding has evolved immensely.  Old School longboarding was all about style, fluidity, and movement around the board.  Old School longboarders used the face of waves to glide across the water, never taking more than they needed to.  Old School longboarders showed off with hang 10s and cross steps.

Today, longboarding has taken a turn and another school of the sport has evolved: new school longboarding.  New school longboarding is a hybrid of shortboarding and longboarding; movements are more frantic and fidgety, and surfers slash through the whole wave.  New school longboarders boast about sharp snaps and deep cut backs.  They want to get as deep as possible in barrels, and try to launch of the lip of rampy section.  To me, it seems to betray what longboarding once stood for.  As a shortboarder, I say simply: get a smaller board, dudes.  Here are some photos of both styles of longboarding, old, new and hybrids of both.  See the video at the bottom of the post to watch the beginnings of the fusion between old school and new school longboarding.

Old School:

New School:

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Offshore Winds' Most Amazing Surf Photos

Everyone loves amazing surf photos– it doesn't matter if you surf or if you're scared of sand.  Okay, I guess I don't know that for a fact, but I want to feature some of the most amazing surf photos regularly on Offshore Winds for your viewing pleasure.  Here are a few for the first take on Offshore Winds' Most Amazing Surf Photos.
Please note I do not own the rights to any of these photos.

Ray Collins Surfing at West Australia's "The Right"

Dane Reynolds in the midst of an air at a tournament

Rhys Bombaci from Surfing Magazine

Mark Healy Surfing Pipeline from Transworld Surf

CJ Hobgood Surfing Teahupo from Transworld Surf

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Greg Webber Wave Pool

Greg Webber Wave Pool

Every surfer dreams of waking up, downing some raisin bran, and leisurely stepping out into their backyard to see empty, piping barrels.  At one point, before surfing became a mainstream sport, that dream was a reality in many places in the world.  With countless numbers of surfers vying for waves around the world, one of the only places that you'll find empty barrels today is in your mind.

Greg Webber

Greg Webber, an Australian surfer, wants to change that with his Wave Machines.  There are unsophisticated (and incredibly expensive) artificial wave pools that exist, but Greg Webber has come up with a formula that looks to blow these machines out of the water.  Apart from being a 'wave scientist,' Greg is an internationally recognized board shaper, and makes a huge number of different board styles.  I'm sure most people have seen the Webber logo floating around their local breaks.

Greg Webber Logo

Greg Webber's unique idea for a wave pool goes something like this: there is an island surrounded by a ring of water which is surrounded by land.  The wave pool looks a bit like a target.  Moving hulls on the outside of the water ring spin in a circle, as a boat would, and create swell.  Greg Webber has had a lot of experience creating perfect wakes with boats for films (see video at the bottom of this post), and he has translated that knowledge into making the perfect bottom conditions to create beautiful, steep, surfable waves.  These waves can last indefinitely, as long as the hulls keep moving, because they break in a circle.  Part of Greg's ideas for his wave machines is a nightlife experience surround the pools, so people can watch amazing surfing while sipping on a pina colada (or two).

So... the obvious question is how much it would cost for one of these wave pools.  The short answer is, most people won't be buying one of these.  To build one, Greg estimates the cost of the wave pools will be between $750,000-$1,000,000.  If I had the cash, it would certainly be tempting.  However, in an interview with Surfing Life Magazine, Greg said: "We hope to charge about $1.25 to $1.50 for a ten second, 1.25m wave, $2.50 for a fifteen second 1.6m wave, and about $5 for an eighteen second 1.9m barrel."

Have I had this idea? Yes.  Is Greg Webber going to actually pull it off? I hope so. This looks sick.  Enjoy the artistic renderings of his ideas below...

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