The Depth Test The 80's Blast by Lee Stacey

In: The Depth Test by Stu Nettle 8 Comments Tue 19th Jul '11

Tags: 80s blast , rabbit bartholemew , bob hurley , surfboard design , aloha manly style , Lee Stacey

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

Since the Fish revolution the majority of shaping breakthroughs can be summed up in one short phrase – the Value of Volume. No longer do punters have to rely on the crude dimension of length when the waves are small and weak. Short and wide, it has been found, can float the same boat.

Borrowing from the Fish many surfers have now taken to riding small-wave boards with a wide point set forward of centre. As it happens, forward-foiled planshapes go great with twin fin or quad set ups - the back end free to skate and whip. Which makes the new design by Lee Stacey, the 80's Blast, so interesting; the experiment with volume continues, though the wide point is now set well behind halfway and three fins is once again king.

The fundamental difference between this and the standard Fish is belied by the decades of their invention: the Fish a product of 1970's flow, while the 1980's desire to rip, tear and lacerate is stamped all over the 80's Blast. Make no mistake, this is a board that wants to be driven. It's not impartial to a bit of freewheeling between turns - with more foam than a standard shorty and a reduced rocker it can run - but it's at its best when being driven with intent off the back foot, clutch-sunk from rail to rail.

If the hallmark of the Fish is unweighted high-lining, then the 80's Blast is 'energy in-energy out'. The rider needs to exert themselves but in doing so they are duly rewarded: it's more vertically inclined than its forward-weighted forebears, and with a large sweet spot it's more forgiving than modern hi-per shortboards and nowhere near as twitchy.

When I asked shaper Lee Stacey about its bloodlines he denied any deliberate copying of the McCoy Lazor Zap. I'll take his word for it but the backend of the 80's Blast owes a lot to early-80's McCoy. From a wide point two-thirds of the way down the outline rushes into the tail, two flyers drawing into a wide swallow-tail with rounded points. It's nearly identical to the Zap, although Stacey attributes this design to Rabbit and Bob Hurley, and the trio's quest for a dynamic small wave board

Up front is a gathering of angles likely to have legislators casting a keen eye. It's the most lethal looking beak I've seen in years and is the reason nose protectors were first invented. To cover it in plastic would be the sane thing to do though it'd be a shame as Stacey has bevelled the deck in a classic style (see image 2).

From a simple planshape things take a complex turn under the hood. A single concave running into a deep double gives the 80's Blast lift even while working through the lower gears, meanwhile five Future Fin bases allow for a thruster, twin, quad, or even a five-fin arrangement. Me, I'm not much for experimenting so only rode it with a thruster and quad set-up. Most of these notes apply to the thruster configuration however, the quad set-up wouldn't allow for heavy back-foot piloting and this, I believe, is where its strength lies.

I had ten surfs on the 80's Blast in waves that varied from two foot beachbreaks to an eight foot reefbreak. It excelled in surf under five foot, while over five foot all bets were off. It comes in sizes ranging from 5'6" to 6'2".

Thanks to Tim at Aloha Manly Style for use of the board.

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