New board alert!
Thanks for reading this week and sorry for the delay. I was out of town on a long weekend and should’ve had this queued up beforehand.
For many years the TPatterson brand was off-limits as Surf Station didnt carry them. Recently this finally changed as Chris Ropero, local all-star and Surf Stationeer(and one of my oldest friends) started to help the guys at TPat rebuild the brand in Florida. I was excited to have the opportunity to try these world class boards again as I hadn’t ridden one in over ten years, maybe longer. So recently I received a new IF-15 and I am featuring it today! Enjoy.
height: 5’9.5″
weight: 157 lbs(probably more after this past weekend)
IF-15 from TPatterson surfboards: 5’9″ x 18 1/2″ x 2 1/4″ 25.55L, FCS2 tri using medium Reactor set
Back in the mid-2000s Chris had a flurry of custom Pattersons. I would try them here and there and be absolutely floored at how good they ALL rode(’05 Dredge life!). It was crazy… At the time, Eric “ET” Taylor lived with me briefly over on 10th st and he had stolen a 5’9″x 18 1/4″x 2 1/16″ (HA!) PatO model from Pat O’Connell himself(he rode for Hurley for a long time and Pat was the team manager) and I got my hands on it. I rode that thing in so many conditions and it went so good..
Well fast forward to 2018 and I ordered my first IF-15 from Chris and the gang. I really liked it but found it to be a bit beefy, having slightly more volume than I was used to. I still have it and ride it when I’m in a full suit and usually on the outside with alot of water moving. I have tried a few Pool Party models and while they went good I kept thinking about how versatile the IF-15 was for being touted as a “high performance board for good waves”. My newest seems to be perfect, ordering it with .75 less volume was the ticket. I also added a rounded pin vs the usual squash to reduced surface area and help the board ride a bit shorter(round tails reduce template outline as well).
While the IF-15 is definitely a high performance board it is oh so forgiving as I can ride it around here and enjoy it in fun conditions. One thing I did that seemed to help this board be more well rounded is change my fin set up. I have been riding it here and there for about 6 weeks and have found it to go best with the Reactor set from FCS(as seen below). The Reactors are basically the updated version of Kelly’s old 2.1 template so they lend themselves to quick pivot turns and liven up a board that may be sticky in average waves(roundtails..).
This set of fins changed this board for me.. thanks Kelly 😉
Every board Timmy makes seems to have nothing extreme going on with it.. fuller outline yet refined, relaxed but aggressive rocker and perfect edges are Timmy’s most notable features on his designs. I cannot stress how flawless all of the finish work is on his boards. They truly are works of art. If you are a fan of craftsmanship then check out the full range of TPattersons we have in stock(2020 models on the way!).
Little chip shot riding my first IF-15 from April, 2019.
