Happy Tuesday folks!
We are back with our local profile called “What they Ride”.. this week we have St Aug OG Ryan Leonardy with his magical, bought off the rack Rocket Wide in Spine-tek EPS. The Rocket Wide model in Spine Tek seems to be a winning combination for a wide variety of conditions. Today Ryan shows how they work in St Augustine and also how good they go at a certain “invite only” wave pool.. enjoy!
words from Ryan:
“I kind of fell into this model by chance when I traded boards with my friend Dustin for a few waves. After bogging on every wave, I came to the conclusion my board just didn’t have enough volume for me. We were discussing some alternatives and he mentioned how much he liked the Rocket Wide, even in smaller punchy waves. I rode two waves on his Rocket Wide and got barreled on both waves. I went that afternoon to Surf Station and picked up the board you see in the pics.
photo: Peyton Willard, @StAugSurf on instagram
It’s a pretty rad setup. The volume in the nose allows for easy entry into the waves and accommodates some recovery options if you take off too late. I was kind of shocked at how much speed you get right away and the even thought there is all of the volume in the nose it’s kind of thinner on the rails so that it rides the barrel pretty good. Not sure I would take this board into anything over a solid 5′ swell but it rides great for the majority of surf we have in St Augustine.
Looks like it works great at a certain spot that shall remain unnamed.. photo: Santosha Hayes..
I won a contest by Hydroflask and had the chance to surf the KS Wave Co Surf Ranch at the end of last year, I took the Rocket Wide on the trip and had a blast on it. Just a great all around board that lets you navigate slow spots on the wave but still holds when you get into the tube. I would suggest the Spine Tek EPS version over the Poly resin as I’ve tried both and found the EPS was more responsive off the bottom and through turns. I consider myself lucky to have a local shop like the Surf Station that carries enough quality surfboards that you can walk in and grab a board right off the rack that works so well. “
Check out Ryan at the Surf Ranch here:
