" I can't ride the LOG "

[waikikikichan]

Blair Conklin ain't no kook. He has his own softboard models from Catch Surf and has access to any of their boards. He is a pro skim boarder, so all the boards he rides are small.

Check what he says adamantly at 10:43.

" I can't ride the LOG ".
" I want the 5'2" ".
" Oh god ( sigh ) " Seeing the 7'0" that Jamie wants him to ride.

Then check out what he says after Jamie persuades him to ride the 7'0" out at Pipeline at 15:30.

[oldmansurfer]

Looks like they are poaching the inside waves. They're able to catch them because of the bigger boards.

[alex_k]

These boards must be nearly impossible to duck dive and difficult to impossible to turtle roll in such heavy waves.

How does one safely surf in a crowd under these conditions on this type of board?

I am nowhere near this level, but I avoid surfing a bigger board in a crowd if waves are heavy enough that a turtle roll is difficult.

[oldmansurfer]

Yeah Jamie O grew up there so understands the lineup really well. That is likely a big part of it

[waikikikichan]

How does one safely surf in a crowd under these conditions on this type of board?

[Geezer]

These boards must be nearly impossible to duck dive and difficult to impossible to turtle roll in such heavy waves.

How does one safely surf in a crowd under these conditions on this type of board?

I am nowhere near this level, but I avoid surfing a bigger board in a crowd if waves are heavy enough that a turtle roll is difficult.

I imagine if you tried to paddle straight out thru breaking waves at pipe you’d be lit up for other reasons besides ocean conditions. Those guys would send you in with a quickness. Two points here; you dont paddle out thru the line on any break while waves are breaking, and getting out back in overhead waves takes more guile than brute strength.

My dad had a rule when I was a kid. He refused to ever help me climb trees. Told me that if I couldn’t get up on my own then I wasn’t supposed to climb that tree. Add some da hui to the mix and you’ll better be sure about climbing that tree or not before entering the yard.

[oldmansurfer]

You will need to follow the rules at Pipeline. This is not impossible to do, however following the rules on a day like that at pipeline will likely result in you not catching a single wave as the lowest rung on the ladder. However if you could catch the waves that no one else is catching like Jamie O'brien then you might beat the system. Did you hear him say it was the best day at Pipeline. This is because he caught lots of waves and it was an extremely crowded day. The way he did that is to use a bigger better paddling board to catch the waves breaking too far inside for others to catch. So he is lining up as far inside as he can without getting clobbered by the sets and catching the waves that are passing everyone by because they are too small to be breaking in the regular lineup.

[Geezer]

You will need to follow the rules at Pipeline. This is not impossible to do, however following the rules on a day like that at pipeline will likely result in you not catching a single wave as the lowest rung on the ladder. However if you could catch the waves that no one else is catching like Jamie O'brien then you might beat the system. Did you hear him say it was the best day at Pipeline. This is because he caught lots of waves and it was an extremely crowded day. The way he did that is to use a bigger better paddling board to catch the waves breaking too far inside for others to catch. So he is lining up as far inside as he can without getting clobbered by the sets and catching the waves that are passing everyone by because they are too small to be breaking in the regular lineup.

Plus like you said, his house is right there and literally grew up there. On top if that hes a pro with a crew doing some different s*** ; he gets a different privilege than most.

[oldmansurfer]

Yeah possibly some of the people he is dropping in on are capable of making the waves from where they are but lower on the ladder than him. He was not competing with most of the surfers out there. They are all inside wave poachers he is competing with. So he is not waiting his turn as it would take a very long time and most of the surfers are not catching these inside waves anyway but he may wait his turn among the inside wave poachers possibly if any are as high up the ladder as him