Most surfers and even shapers have a special surfboard that can cut through a wide variety of tides in the best possible way. In whatever conditions Gary McNeill’s equipment turns out to be, it will still be at its best.
The advantages of Gary McNeill’s entity surfboard:
- due to the shape of the fish, Gary’s surfboard behaves smoothly and slowly only when it is needed, and the rest of the time it remains nimble and loving maneuvers;
- the Gary’s surfboard works great on both steep and fast or even hollow tides;
- the structure is aimed at quick adaptation of the surfboard to the terrain.
Negative traits of the Gary’s entity:
- I don’t see it in Gary’s board yet.
There is no better sea type for the Gary’s board. The board is good both on fast and on flat, and on higher tides, and slower. Sea or beach small rushes of water – all this does not matter.
The first thing to pay attention to is its design.
Look at what a wonderful job Gary has done in terms of design and color choices. Gary McNeill acted here not only as a shaper, but also as an excellent artist.
Moreover, with the same meticulousness and tons of creativity, Gary McNeill approaches all his non-work, not only to give the appearance of the surfboard.
Gary has his own approach to each client, where Gary McNeill shows maximum attention and understanding.
McNeill always asks specific questions and tries to find out your tastes and wishes to the smallest detail in your future assistant on the tides. And look what a wonderful thing the surfboard turned out to be.
From the front McNeill’s surfboard looks a lot like a fish, but the tail is more tapered at the back, but the McNeill’s surfboard is sure to please surfers.
However, the surfboard also does not ride the way a fish should behave. If you surf on small tides in the soft conditions of the beach, then it will behave as slowly and measuredly as the rest of the environment around you.
When needed, Gary McNeill’s surfboard starts to be fast enough, for example, at a time when you need to do a lot of maneuvers.
When I managed to take Entity surfboard to another beach, where the tides were already steeper and faster, it seemed to change its face instantly. Quickly adjusting, she helped me deliver one of the best sessions. Such type of contour is truly impressive in its adaptability.
Be sure if Gary says it’s a versatile item.
Gary McNeill’s surfboard performs well in a wide variety of conditions, even the most powerful. For example, in Indonesia, it is great to ride on teahupu tides.
Living in Bali and hanging out with surfers, you constantly hear conversations about the tides: where are cool, where are not very good, who passed the pipes, who got into which batch.
But you know what, when even the most experienced surfers I know watch videos of Tiahupu, I see their hearts begin to beat faster with a mixture of fear and admiration.
When I watch the video from there, especially on the big screen, goosebumps run down my spine: one gets the impression like this is not even a sea, but the ocean itself heaves its mighty chest and rushes forward with all its might.
Just imagine a sea as high as a three-story house, which falls in a heavy thick arch onto a reef, the depth of which does not even reach a couple of meters. The mutant is feared and at the same time admired by the best and bravest surfers on the planet. His name is Tiahupu.
Tiahupu is one of the most powerful waves on our planet, but surfers have been riding it relatively recently, less than 15 years!
For a long time it was believed that this wave is too fast and harsh for surfing, if you try to start from it, a giant linden will immediately throw you right onto a sharp reef.
The first to conquer her was Laird Hamilton, a sensei of big waves, who examined and studied Tiahupa for several years before plucking up the courage to swim to the line-up in 2000.
With his courage, he opened the doors of Tiahupu to other surfers, and now the spot is considered one of the best for hosting huge wave surfing competitions, including the annual BillabongPro tournament.
So, the Tiahupu sea is unique. But why?
Let’s see, thanks to what coincidence of circumstances the most coveted tide on the planet is being formed? What’s so special about the tiny island in Tahiti?
First of all, let’s remember how waves are formed in general? Far, far away in the open ocean winds blow, which, due to the force of friction, transfer their energy to the water.
This energy moves, gradually approaching the shore, and, bumping into an obstacle in the form of a shallow, is converted into a sea suitable for surfing, that is, a tide that breaks.
It happens when the bottom becomes so shallow that the water displaced by it turns out to be too heavy and the tide falls forward, on itself.
Tiahupu is a very powerful wave.
If you compare it with other giant waves, you will realize – the most striking thing about it is not so much its height as its thickness. (Throughout history, surfers took waves of more than 25 meters, while in the largest swell Tiahupu gives no more than 10).
The entire ocean seems to be rising to form the super-thick wave. In general, it is so.
The fact is that Tahiti, like Hawaii, is an archipelago of volcanic origin. But in this case, the bottom at the very coast of the island is extremely steep.
The reef literally forms a vertical wall here, extending several meters deep. Therefore, the entire huge mass of water, driven by the energy which came from the bowels of the ocean, has no other way to move, but up and forward.
Reaching such a sharp shallow, the ocean “spits” forward all the “excess” water, and this is how such a thick linden is obtained, which is closed by a pipe with a diameter larger than human growth.
The second factor needed to form a clean, regular wave is a channel through which water that reaches the shore can go back into the ocean.
It is clear that for a wave like Tiahupu, this channel must have a decent bandwidth. And here again nature gave us a Royal Flush!
The fact is – a reef needs a strictly defined environment for life and growth, including the salinity of the water.
The geology of the island is such that all precipitation in the mountains is collected in several large rivers flowing into the ocean.
At the estuaries of these rivers, ocean water is diluted with fresh water so much that the growth of a coral reef here becomes impossible.
The satellite image shows how clear these channels are. Their depth is much deeper, and the reverse flow turns out to be so fast that it is not difficult to get to the lineup.
Moreover, thanks to these channels, boats with surfers and spectators can swim almost close to the tide, but at the same time remain safe. In addition, the water returning through the channel is also sucked in by the next tide, adding thickness to it.
So, the unique combination of several different natural aspects has given the world a unique wave – is the dream of many, many surfers.
By the way, this dream is not so unrealizable, because in a small swell there are “small pipes” of only 1.5 – 2 meters.
As for the instructors of our surf school, not a single one was indifferent among them, everyone wants to test themselves in Tahiti, of course, not to the brink, but still.
Of course, not everyone can conquer Tiahupa. Moreover, being an insufficiently experienced surfer, it is simply impossible to swim there!
In almost 15 years, this spot has recorded 5 deaths, including one local surfer who has been boarding since childhood.
Nevertheless, a visit to Tiahupu should be on the “MustDo” list of everyone who loves surfing, because even a look from the outside at this Queen of Tides will make your heart freeze and will forever remain in your memory as one of the most powerful experiences!
