McCoy Nuggets - anyone had or surfed on one?

Bump - I'm sure there's a few opinions around here of interest.

Ha ha, I can think of one for sure, big bloke, usually has a bit to say on McCoy's boards.

I'm in twin minds.

Well, I surfed a nugget for a long while. As well as a lot of Geoff McCoy's boards. I had some of the best waves of my life on that nugget. I had one of the first ones, a surprise from Geoff, and remember looking at it for ages, before surfing it. It was 6'8", 3 and 1/4" thick, close to 22'' wide, near the tail too. Glass on, 3 biggish fins, double 6 oz deck, with patch, 6 oz bottom. 3/8", 3 ply stringer (I like opposing grains). I surfed it to death. Way past its use by date. I hated watching it end... literally weighted down and sunk... at the hands of...

Anyway, in my case, I was long used to the McCoy rails and thickness and philosophy, but the nugget even really surprised me, just the look. This was a full custom too. To the nth degree. And I remember my first surf, a good, pretty solid day on a right/left reef peak, fun, stock standard by my standards, but all time epic by east coast standards. There was a pack of good surfers, local lej's. The fucking thing flew. Classic huge sweet spot. I had a ball out there, stirring the fuck out of everyone, and couldn't wait to get back to blax.

I soon learned that the suckier, drainier, squarer it was, the better it went. It fitted in from every angle. Paddled in really well, but I love to be as late as possible, and it would go over the edge well, drive into the face, no catching, and hold and fit into concave drops. Super solid off the bottom, harder the better. Straight up and down, no worries. The harder you pushed it the better. Anyone that was really there know's that. Guys like 'the kid'.

I surfed it sometimes with some of the country's legendary shapers too. And saw some of them, and their designs really, truly struggle.Juniors, and seniors. I saw lots of guys struggle on days the nugget suited perfectly. And I had some of the best waves of my life on it.

So, personally I would recommend it, if you are thinking about them. It will feel different to a typical potato chip though. Finish, quality, longevity is a no brainer too.

The only times I felt it wasn't ideal, was big, grunty but fullish, slopey, bumpy waves. The type of waves without much draw. There it didn't feel like it had the same fail proof hold.

But, I'm in twin minds... in a nut shell. Let's look at it as a twin fin scenario... in a nutshell. Swillnuts and twinnies for instance. So, if you wanted to know about twinnies, why would you listen to say, a world champ, who used them to win 3 world titles. No, you would swillnut in a nutshell, and find gronks, swillnuts, who had no idea about them, and who couldn't surf them to save their lives. And highlight that the lucky, but stupid, world champ only won 3, not 4 world titles. In that era of guns. Why would you consult and listen to a lej that won a barrel riding comp against thrusters, who said it was the best ever board in the barrel, that gave him the winning edge, when you could just consult and highlight and praise all the swillnutting gronks that lost that comp!?!?!? Why listen to a lej that surfed and won a barrel riding comp at the biggest, gruntiest meanest all time pipe, on his 5'2" twinny!!! NOOOO!!!! Find the gronks that lost and got flogged!!! Interview and praise them! Learn from them!!! Even on the day another twinny hating lej sat on the beach takin'photers, and just happend to look away... and away... and away... and away... and away (did I say away) and miss the whole fucking thing... heat after heat after heat, pit after pit after pit... somehow... in a nutshell!!!!? Quote that fucker!!! In a nutshell. Why listen to Dane at backdoor, when he's miles out of range and peaceful and old!!! When you can swillnut him!!! In a nutshell!!!

So, in a nutshell, if you want to know about nuggets, find the losers that got hurled out of the lip, flung through the sky, smashed into the limestone, belted down the line and flushed into nowhere. On their other designs. Find the the losers that fled the whole thing, losers that shat their pants, losers that got lost, sat on the cliff, dodging, weaving losers. Crippled, battered, belted, trampled, flogged, inj'ad gronks and losers! Find the geeks that haven't got a clue about 'em and can't surf 'em!! And praise and interview them losers!!! Learn from em even... but!!! In a nutshell!!!

And cycdo, if its nuggets ya want mate, I got me a list of them swillnuttin' gronks and losers a mile long mate!!! The sky's the limit!!!!

But, as I vowed, I'll protect that list, to the end, always have... in a nutshell.

gee whiz crypto, you got to let that go brutha. i love your stories, your knowledge, your undisputed wisdom on surfing and training, but when you start ranting about all the ego's we know live in the surfing world as if they are all vermin that need to be exterminated, man you lose me. we all have ego's and yes we all talk bullshit sometimes, but we all just had a crack at the wonder of surfing from our own angles and that should be respected and honoured from especially our surfing elders. yes, we may have made mistakes, but you don't punish a child, you encourage them, you give them positive re -enforcement and gently guide them. that's my little nugget and like yours, i reckon it's a beauty.

Relax davo, its not so serious.

They might be squibs, but they're not kids anymore davey. And it wasn't me that was floggin' the shit out of em, and still is, ya gotta take that up with blax. And the fish. And the desert.

And I sat next to lej's getting some of the best waves of their lives on all sorts of boards. And I, and plenty of others, saw a guy, a lej down that way, get the best waves of his life on a twinny, full bore barrels.

And thats ok dave, just like it was ok for nungas to just be nungas. And have the time of their lives. And love it. They were doing great, better than most. You can learn a lot from that. Best ever actually. Yes, we have made mistakes. Monumental ones, the wild colonials. Adults learn from them.

yeah mate, i was taking the piss abit, just saying g'day in our own way if you know what i mean. I actually had a quad fin years before they caught on. I remember surfing at Burleigh when the Stubbies was on a nd I got a beauty and when I flicked out Glen Winton was near me and gave me a knowing smile. It was a Town and Country by the way. Can anyone suggest the shaper back then around the Stubbies era, it was a Lennox T&C I believe. It went unreal.

G'day cycd,

I've got a single fin nugget - 6'2 x wide x thick. 80kg+ and surfing ~20 years (weekend warrior with a couple of overseas trips). I left the dimensions up to Geoff. I surfed it as my main ride for a year in a variety of conditions. In my opinion it went best in sucky, clean beachies and wally, steep, down the line waves. Great in hollow tubes and goes surprisingly well in small waves if they are punchy. In my experience, it definitely doesn't like fat/slow waves but that might be the rider! I've ridden a few single fins in my time as well as MR twins and a couple of quads, but my regular ride was a thruster 6'0 x 19 1/2 x 2 1/2 if that helps. Would recommend having a go - they take a while to get used to but feel amazing in the right conditions. Something I wasn't expecting and that I find hard to describe is the feeling of how stable/neutral and responsive the board is in the barrel (forehand) for such a thick and wide beast. It feels like you can control your speed and stall or accelerate as needed. With some bigger concaves on thrusters I've had I've felt like the board "sticks" and draws you back in the tube. When I gave this feedback to Geoff, he said I wasn't the only one who said that.

Enjoy

Have surfed a nugget, but it was one of the really lightweight epoxy ones made under licence and Geoff told me that the proper PU glass ones made in Oz are better to understand the design.

We run modern Lazor Zaps in our quiver and I grew up on singles, which the Zap is. Rails and loaded dome bottom, and tail area will be similar experience to the Nugget. Some observations: in hollow beachies the board is amazing, it will seek out the hollowest part. Happy to go vertical backhand. It flies down the line at the local reefs with that wonderful single fin feeling. Place the rear foot back and then it will turn on a dime. The soft rails hold and hold and hold you and - then - you are released into the most critical part of takeoff. With multi fin boards, concaves and turbulated edges, you can traverse across the wave face on takeoff (most riders just traverse and pump the fins tbh...) - with the Zap you surf it best top to bottom with real bottom turns, point the nose down on takeoff, turn hard. Watch Cheyne in many of his clips. Given a fat wall at the end of a section, the Zap will bog out if ridden too far out on the wall, so the natural tendency is to quickly cut back. In terms of manoeuverability, it pivots on a dime as a single fin. Foam and float will mean learning to duckdive earlier. It is best to surf it back to back constantly and develop the feeling for the board. It is possible to snap it out of the lip forehand and have the entire board out of the wave.

The Nugget will be a little more forgiving, with the wider nose. The Astron Zot I imagine will be more neutral again.

Dave it was probably Tony Cerf or Nigel Perrow who both lived in Lennox then.

More than likely a Tony Cerff.

thanks fella's, i think it was a Tony Cerff. Thanks Tony , a great experience riding that board, loved a steep wall. I always wanted a laser zap though and regret not buying one up at brothers neilson one day. just looked right i reckoned. i can't always get capitals to work on my old mac so apologies for that literary deficiency.

Yeah I’ve had maybe 30 McCoys or more. Swear by them for someone my level who is an average Joe 77 kg more or less. I’ve surf them mainly in metro conditions but also seen most regions of Sumatera and they handled some serious juice without any issues. Don’t let those fat arse tails fool you, they handle some big waves. Give one a go. You’ll love it.

Yeah I’ve had maybe 30 McCoys or more. Swear by them for someone my level who is an average Joe 77 kg more or less. I’ve surf them mainly in metro conditions but also seen most regions of Sumatera and they handled some serious juice without any issues. Don’t let those fat arse tails fool you, they handle some big waves. Give one a go. You’ll love it.

Buy secondhand theres heaps out there For Sale

Or go new, talk to Geoff, get him to customise it to your surfing, and have your name on the board forever. You pay more for this of course.

Yeh, get a new custom cycdy. Geoff is the gun at customs. Second hand are usually expensive, they really hold their value if in good nick, so its worth a new one. Nothing beats full customs from a gun shaper, if you are serious about your surfing. Here's some more reading for you cycdo.

http://oldguysrip.blogspot.com/2009/01/68-mccoy-nugget.html

Bummer you never got to try a zap davo. I had some sick ones. Also, you may have the wrong idea davey, don't think I was too harsh on the catapulted, pile driven, flattened, hapless gronks and failed lej's at blax. Often I would even offer to lend them my nugget, as they floundered to their doom, on sub standard, dismal crafts. I would also offer to take 'em for a spin, as the next bomb approached. Along the lines of, 'lookout here comes another slob, looks like I'm up again! Jump on me shoulders lads, there's not much of yas', I won't even notice, and I'll take ya for a quick spin,!!! You just close your eyes and hang on, I'll do the rest. It will be the wave of your life!!!!! Chuck that lemon you're gettin' belted and flogged on though, we won't need the extra useless ballast! YYYYEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW!!!!!

thanks mate. I had a woman in my life then and they couldn't see where I was coming from. I love women. Absolutely adore them, but I was insecure so I attracted same. My Vibrational issue, women are great, but get your vibration in sync first if u want a compatable companion. My responsibility, so I take the effects of the causality. But in saying that, Gee I would have loved to surf one, I reckon it would have suited my ability and surfing desire fully. But such is life, I am thankful that I got to experience it as I did, Thanks to Sheepdog and his surfmag collection, you changed my life, and for the better- even for a St Kilda fan, You rock brutha

Cycd, for more feedback on nuggets, can't go past this group on FB. Lots of reports and photos.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/127491403944016/

If you do decide to order from Geoff, my advice is to honestly describe your ability (video is helpful) and the waves you want to ride with it. Let him do the rest. My best boards from him have resulted from trusting his knowledge.

Got any surfing vid links for Mcoys other than Horan or Ian Brown ?

There must be footage of Herring or Matt Toghill but I have yet to find any.
A surf I had at tiny Noosa a few years back, shot by my wife on her phone, is as much as I can point you to. It's on the McCoy website.
I have also found this which, if nothing else, shows that the forgiveness of the boards allows even average surfers to get some fun rides, they basically ride themselves.

I've got some footage of Larry Blair winning Pipe in '78 and '79, but it's on DVD (Pipe Masters doco) and it seems no-one's copied it to YouTube.

Indo surf life got interview with Larry and Board bazaar 2015 a pic of his 1980 Mcoy

And Blair, who credited superior equipment among other things, to his pipe victories, would have won 3 Pipe Masters, if not for being blocked from getting any waves. Two was too much for the lej's, and what else could they do? They weren't going to out surf him.

Geoff made me a board based on Blair's pipe board, specifically for blax, a 7'4" single, that I had one of his boomerang wing fins in. It was super light, and went insane. I have some really old sequence stills an east coast guy sent me of it, in some good, maxing, triple up bombs on a day that no one wanted to know about. I ended up snapping it in shit waves so was spewing. If photobucket hadn't lost the plot, I would put them up.

There might be some footage of mid coast, and middleton legend, jezza wedd on a nugget floating around.

Just get one udesless.

Found this.
Adam Robertson on a single fin zap...

Lots of photos of guys on McCoys, just no videos.

To answer your original questions cycd, YES, GREAT, YES

6'1" Nugget tri-fin

5'4" PotBelly single fin

yeah bruz.....hows things S?

Life's good S. On the wrong side of 55 but still as keen as ever. Really enjoyed reading your survival fishing stories, sounds like you're still just as keen as ever too.
I know you're a serious observer of waves, is it just that I've been spoiled around here over the last 20 years or have the last 2 years been significantly inferior to previous years? Trying to find excellent waves has been a real mission. Real lack of good banks around here.

Smaller wave McCoy action.

He's a living legend. Always one to think outside of the box.

'Got any surfing vid links for Mcoys other than Horan or Ian Brown ?'

Nice shots DB. Not a video, but here's a sequence of old stills, of the custom Blair style, s rail, drawn out single fin zap that Geoff made me, on a nice thick, square drainer. I had the peak all to myself that day.

Nice photos Cryp.
Ya get in the tube on any?

If you spotted one of the likes of them come any where near ya footy, and you know you made sure that you didn't, and live with that daily, and nightly, you would have been squealing, well, shreddin' and swimming for padang, wondering if youd survive, all over again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... Fuck knows why, but each to their own!!!??? In a nutshell!!!??

Was wondering that too GF . Was that a nice thick ,square , drainer? I spouse, single fin though...

All jokes aside, in a nutshell, nice wave. Heavy one..

Yeh, I know footy, I had a good view of the gallery, and nice look at the the reef. Its never too late goofy. You gotta go and round up Yazzie, and jump in with him. Yazzie rips, no doubt about that, and goes hard, harder than most, the prince of the newies. Not the king but, not there. Magnificent quiver of MR's he had. Deluxe guy too. But, he's got unfinished business... down there. Blax doesn't care. It had a good taste of yazzie, a good hearty chomp on him. And there's still a bit of yazzie, some skin down there, waiting to be claimed, stuck between its teeth, on show, when it grins at em.

Nuggets ahoy!!! I like it!!! I like it when little o oooh gets flushed out from between skip's legs. He was just a fuck'n mistake, just one of skip's protein farts... but he got flushed, and popped out, just a fuck'n mistake that wasn't supposed to happen!!! Just a sprayed, sloppy, dripping little dropping, skip's little nugget, sprayed out in the stench!!!! Ya can smell him a mile away!!! Skip's little, sloppy, steamin', shitty, protein fart nugget!!! Flushed out in a dud deady, between skips legs!!! A swillnut!!! In a nutshell!!! A mistake waitin' to happen!!!??? In a nutshell!!!

I like it!!!

Naaah, that's not a slab.

Skip's Nuggets ahoy!!!! Skips lil' mistake!!! Skips lil supplement!!! On sale!!! A mistake... skips lil' farted nugget!!! O-oohh, a swillnut in a nutshell!!!

Still not a very heavy wave you're talking up though . Talking yourself up a bit there. Again.

Mmmmm. ‘Nuggets’, ya reckon. Yeh, anyway. You don’t have to worry about McCoys when it’s real. Depends what’s on top of ‘em though. They do much better than most when as some (although never saw or heard him... not even once... never... ever... maybe he was down the end somewhere), say...

‘hold his ground as sets cap on Phantoms and then claw his way down the vertical face is to see a surfer that is completely at home in waves of consequence.’

‘one of the heaviest waves in Australia’

https://www.swellnet.com/photos/swellnet-sessions/pete-tomlinson-trial

Although... again... and again... and again... a common theme, that you hear from the wash always, and MIA crippled but killing it swillnut squad, who some how find themselves huddled at ‘all time days... is, ‘it was the best ever’, on that death right up aways,.. or believe it or not... even as far away, in monster bombs up at ‘eastern seaboard’ noosless beaches... again... in a nutshell!!!!

Twinnies ruled out there on that bombfield too. Some, even the same guy, say this about the twinnie ledge...

‘from excellent surfing lineage. ‘His old man, Mick, was in the first group to discover’

‘establishing himself as a fearless charger and quality board shaper.‘

Others... hey... hang on WTF, it was the same guy... reckon he was a kook on shit equipment! ‘ ‘Fuckin twinnie’!!! Saying this!!!!

‘Speaking of, they just plain suck in the barrel.’

Fuckin’ lucky kook at best,, on shitbox twinnies, that are scientificly proven to be shit in the barrel!!!?? In a nutshell!!!

https://www.swellnet.com/comment/477469

https://www.swellnet.com/comment/518283

Anyway that same guy’s ‘story’ isn’t exactly true. Again. The old boy didn’t shape till later, well after his prime. Les Norrish, the bonzer luvin’ sea dog gone NW played a big part in that, showed him heaps. For free too. You had to be there, or wanna be. Anyway the twinnie ledge’s back was completely stuffed, well and truly fucked, and he had to stop surfing. But I got him over to see the guy that swillnut udesless hates and called out with a swillnuttin’ vegeance, the same guy that saved Carrol. Nah... not the iceman, or the shroom farmer for that matter... he was doing his work then too but... and lo and behold, old boy’s off the heaviest prescription pain killers, and still surfs to this day. Then there were the knees of course, but I fixed them in my gym in the shed, with those stinking lousy cunts of weights!!!! Another one!!!??? Again!!!

Trampled shrooms on ice... now there’s a good read!!! You’ll never get the original manuscript but!!! Again... in a nutshell!!!

Lol. Once a shoulder hopper. Always a shoulder hopper.

Ha,ha iced chicken shit with shroom sauce!!! Have another snort groges!!! And why not, its all you've ever had... 'oye... aye... wot daye iz ert... agin!!!' In a nutshell!!!!??

Looks like you sure dominated the shoulder that day! Lucky you had a 7'4 pipe board! You're usually wider than that on those 4-5ft days

Snortin' and well and truly sneakin' around and hiding' down the end... again... and agin'... go you lil' bad boy groges!!! Again!!! There's a good lad, do as you're told... you just stay well and truly hidden son, again!!!

I've recently started surfing a McCoy..as a sort of logical next step from a high volume thruster. My latest thruster was one of those volumed-up performance shortys. but felt felt too unbalanced, sort of too thick in the middle and it tipped over in either the front or back of the board. I even went into mid length territory for a bit but missed the critical performance and sharp turns. So looked into McCoy boards, eventually decided an Astron Zot single fin with one of those gullwing fins. They drive sooo well. Has been a great choice. Best of both worlds, a performance board and single fin glide in one. Really fast and loose. Got a fair bit of volume so catches waves super easy but no compromise on performance, just smoothed out the jagged turns and holds heaps more glide. Eats sections and draws off the bottom like no other single fin I've ever ridden before. The wide tail works. These boards do it all as long as you adjust your surfing a bit and don't treat it like an ordinary short board. I'm a fan big time. Really impressed. Ordering more boards off Geoff now too. Yew!

Astron Zot is an excellent choice Sam, would love to try one. We've got 2 Zaps.

Commenting again a few years on the McCoys - I also have a All Round Nugget. So fast and loose. Its heavy but doesnt feel that way on the wave. Feels responsive and carries momentum. Its a totally different ball game than a regular shortboard. Still surfing the Zot, this board is for keeps. Going to be ordering another Astron Zot in a different length as well as a Pot Belly thruster for the variety - Another board in the Nugget range. As said above by some one else - the heavier glassed ones work better than the pop out epoxys as you need the weight to stop it from being corky plus the longevity is a big factor. Don't be put off by the weight Geoff recommends for the glass layups. The momentum is part of it. No three stage bottom turns - the satisfaction levels are different.