Jughead: 5'9" And Rising

In 1982, visionary shaper Geoff McCoy and his star student, Cheyne Horan, set themselves a personal mission: Shape a sub-6'0" board and ride it at maxing Waimea Bay.

"'Small can't be ridden in big waves.' That was the consensus of the general surfing fraternity," said Cheyne. "At the time I wanted to change surfing's approach and attack on a wave."

The footage appeared in Scott Dietrich's film 'Follow The Sun' and it shows Cheyne winding the windows up on admittedly big yet lumpy Waimea.

So could small boards be ridden in big waves? The jury was out, at least until tow surfing came along offering vindication of a sort. When the paddling aspect is removed, performance boards can be ridden in XXL surf.

But what about riding small boards in big waves, and paddling into them

NSW Central Coast surfer and shaper duo Jughead Allport and Garry 'Wiz' Loveridge, have been pursuing that line of thought for years. First with the WizFish, which Garry is adamant can be ridden in large waves, with Jug quietly and continually pushing his own barriers.

The following conversation was via a shaky phone line as Jug, photographer Tony Harrington, and Mick Freeman sat in a Fijian cafe, debriefing after a solid run of south swell.

Swellnet: Hey Jug, I'm staring at a photo of you on a wave at Cloudbreak. It's a big one and the word is the board is only 5'9". Is that true?
Jughead: It's true.

No tow?
No tow.

Step off?
Not that either. I had offers but I didn't take them - just paddled. I did ride an 8'2" for a couple of waves in the morning, and don't get me wrong, I love riding a big board, but I just can't turn them. Cloudbreak is such a good wave, I feel like I'm wasting it if I can't turn.

I thought you might've snapped your quiver or something like that. What's the volume in it?
Oh, probably 27 litres, I reckon. I'm not 100% on that. It might be 28. I don't know.

And not much rocker, I imagine?
No, not heaps. It's a little bit thick in the nose compared to what I like. I rode a very similar board at Nias in 2018 on that swell when the boat went over the falls.

The opening bottom turn preceded a long and hollow run down the reef. Harro captured the 'hollow' part with an eighty-shot sequence - yes, eighty - of Jug negotiating the barrel on his 5'9". These are a select few of that wave. (Photo Harro)

So If other people are riding 7'' boards and 8'' boards on the outer ledges at Cloudbreak, how are you getting away with a 5'9?
Sit under it.

Sit under the ledge?
Well, just sit in from the other surfers, and just try and engage when they're paddling their arse off. Just sit in a bit. Then you've just got to take off with your eyes closed.

I know it sounds a bit cocky, but if the board's that good, if I get into it, I feel really confident. Taking the drop, I don't care if I'm on a short one or on a big one, but once I'm coming off the bottom, I'm just frothing. I reckon I make as many [drops] on the short one anyway.

Oh, it's not cocky, Jug. It's a strategy. I assume it's shaped by Old Mate Garry?
Yeah. Actually, he made the outline for smaller waves, and I just picked it up about six or eight years ago, and went, "I reckon this could go good [in bigger waves] if it's thinned out." And then I slowly got them a touch thicker as I got older.

They're are a bit wider than I'd normally ride in bigger waves, they're 19 wide, and the wide point is probably a touch forward, there's a little hip in the back just near the fins, which are small tow quads.

Tail shape?
Swallowtail. The outline is like for a small wave board.

It's sounding a lot like a WizStix Jughead model. I've got one that I ride occasionally.
Ha ha...It's not that, but I tell you, I rode my version of that, a 5'4, in some pretty big waves and I don't mind it. I don't have one in a quad...the quads I reckon just go better in the bigger stuff.

Anyway, the model is called an Alby Mongrel, that's the model, and I just tweaked it a bit. That was about six years ago. It was too thin at first, but I just kept riding it.

How's this? I was in the cave at Ulus one day and the Bommie was huge, and this guy had an 8''5" or something, full vest on. It was Rodriguez, this Brazilian guy who has a business at Ulus. He look at me and goes, "How big is your board?"

I said, "5'8.""

He laughed and said to me, "If you get out I'll buy you a beer." Later on, I picked up a wave from the Bommie, I was getting towards the Outside Corner, and I flicked off and saw him. He looked at me and laughed and said, "Fuck me, I owe you a beer."

I said, "Mate, that's my second wave." He didn't even think I was going to get out. He laughs 'cos he always sees me riding little boards.

Don't get me wrong, I love riding big boards but I just hate being on a wave where I can't turn my board - especially if it's a big long wall. I don't ride them enough to turn them.