Tai

This felt designed for a slightly smaller guy, but I could feel a bit more stiffness in the board thanks to the carbon, so I was able to push it nice and hard. On 3-4-foot waves it felt more at home actually. I had to work it in smaller stuff, but maybe the carbon was giving it more size range. Strength always helps in even slightly larger waves.

Adam

Pretty much a standard shortboard feel in a compressed version. I had to get my feet in the right spot, a bit further back than I might normally be, and once I did that it was really quite whippy, especially in the pocket. It felt best suited to bowly, steep, pockety waves and it’d go good there for sure.

Nick

Second board I surfed in the Test. I thought it was very true to its appearance, a quick, slashy, little small-wave board that liked steep bits and curves in the wave and responded to the application of power. I like carbon’s feel and the way it holds a board to its shape. It felt just fine as a thruster and there was no temptation to try it as a quad. It was doing the job already.

Gunther Rohn Shapes & Designs, Gunther Rohn

PH: (02) 6686 9879

WEB: www.grsurfboards.com

EMAIL: guntherrohn@hotmail.com

Gunther Rohn
Ballina, NSW

Gunther's call: “The Compressor’s a board made to go well in less than average waves. The five-fin set-up shows people they can be sure of making it work no matter what. When you’re going shorter and wider like this, it’s not a matter of just shrinking a normal board; you’ve got to redesign it a bit. The rocker is reduced, but the tail will be wider so you’ve got to add vee or something inside the concaves to help edge it over from rail-to-rail. It shifts turning from the rocker to the outline, which a lot of people are getting a kick out of. The mid-’80s was probably the last time we were making things like this, but back then they had no concaves; now we can take something old and add something new and do it better than ever. The carbon strip is just to help prevent breakage due to airs.”