About
the Big Wave Board
known generally as guns and sometimes as elephant guns and rhino chasers
-- are highly specialized designs with a single purpose: provide the
rider the greatest chance to survive immense walls of water traveling
upward of 40 mph. The boards must allow the surfer a solid surface
for paddling, ability to hold vertical drop-ins, slingshot bottom
turns and standup barrels.
And what's considered a big wave? Fifteen feet Hawaii scale, measured
by the back of the wave, vs. a 30-foot face any other place.
The paddle-in boards -- as opposed to boards where surfers are
towed by a Jet-ski into the swell -- currently range in size from
8 to 12 feet in length, and in Hawaii are designed primarily for
Sunset Beach, Waimea Bay, Makaha and Outside Pipeline.
Hawaii is synonymous in the world of surfing with big-wave riding.
Nowhere has the art and technology of big-wave surfboard design
been tested and tried in more extreme, deadly conditions.
But these specialized machines are more than functional. They are
also part of Hawaii's culture, with every "gun" connected
to at least one epic moment in the surfer's life.
people are realizing you can get away with a lot less board in
big waves, and perform much better. The average set of standard
Hawaii boards has changed a lot because guys aren’t riding
boards way up in the high 7-foot range unless they absolutely have
to just for paddling purposes.
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