The White Tiger is the latest offering in our Funformance category – a fun, stubby little board designed for average/below average waves.
It gets up and goes easily, flies through the weakest sections, but still lets you smash the lip and boost airs along the way.
The very first one was a side project board for John John Florence, who rarely rides “fun” boards, just sticks to pure performance. It sat in his garage for maybe a year, and in the meantime I made a few for his little brother Ivan. It was the perfect design to fit Ivan’s surf/skate style and soon he was telling us how much he loved it and sending us clips of him doing big carves and boosting airs on it. Finally JJF pulled his 5’6″ out and was immediately having a blast on it too. Now its one of John’s favorite boards to ride whenever he has some time off from the tour and just wants to play around with something different.
Here’s the basic info on what makes the White Tiger go-
It has a clean but stubby outline, with a very full nose and wide squash tail. There is no hip and the wide point is 1 ½” forward of the center. The tail measurement is just slightly wider than the nose.
The thickness is also concentrated forward, with a beak-nose design that helps keep the volume up under the chest area for better paddle power.
The bottom rocker is even and flowing, flat throughout the board and designed to get up on top of the water quickly, which lets you build and carry speed with ease.
The bottom has a single/double concave running through the front 2/3s of the board which transitions into a pronounced vee/double concave in the last 1/3 through the fins and off the end of the tail. The single/double concave give the board lots of lift (think speed) while helping to let the wider design transition from rail to rail with ease. The vee running off the tail also helps the board tip over onto the rail at speed and lets you turn it up into the lip with ease.
It has a relatively flat deck that blends out into tapered rails. This keeps a lot of volume in the board while still keeping it sensitive through turns and easy to pump down the line without feeling too boaty for its volume.
We recommend you ride the White Tiger anywhere from 2-5″ shorter than your regular shortboard depending on your surfing ability, and ½ to 1″ wider and add a bit more volume than you normally ride. (JJF and Ivan both ride 5’6″ White Tigers and their normal boards are 6’0″).
Jon Pyzel grew up in Santa Barbara, California, started surfing in junior high and quickly found himself deep into it. Matt Moore started shaping his boards and put him on his team. Matt always helped explain the ideas and principles of surfboard design and let Jon watch him shape all his boards. After traveling for surf, Jon realized he wanted better waves, warmer water, making a permanent move to Oahu’s North Shore in 1992. There he found work fixing dings at Country Surfboards, and Jon quickly learned the ins and outs of the craft, working as a hot coater and laminator. He soon connected with master shaper Jeff Bushman, who gave him guidance, input, and encouragement. Eventually, Jeff gave Jon a job as his back-shaper and that was the beginning of his shaping career.
A defining moment came a few years later, in 1998. Alex Florence approached Jon about making a board for her oldest son John John, who was 5 at the time. From there forward, Jon and John John worked together to redefine what was possible for Grom surfng. Fast forward almost 20 years and John John Florence is the 2016 World Champ, widely considered the best surfer alive, all while riding Pyzel surfboards.
Today Pyzel Surfboards has grown to be an international business, but is still run by the family. Jon and his wife Dali live on the beach in Hawaii with their 2 daughters, and help run the Pyzel Surfboards factories on the North Shore and in Oceanside, CA. We take great pride in every board we build, and have do our very best to make sure that our customers are getting exactly the right board for what they want to do. We have licensees in 7 countries around the globe, and Jon shapes in Australia, Europe, Brazil, Japan, Indonesia, South America and California.
John John Florence, Kelly Slater, Mark Healey, Jack Freestone, Michel Bourez, Jadson Andre, Nathan Florence, Koa Rothman, Koa Smith, Fredrico Morais, Matt Archbold, Billy Kemper and many more. Stu Kennedy, Alex and Koa Smith, Ryan Calinan, Rizal Tanjung, Frederico Morais, Mason Ho, Ross Williams, Fred Pattachia, Sally Fitzgibons, Jay "Bottle" Thompson, Nathan Hedge, Sebastian Williams, Raoni MonteIro, Willain Cardoso, Ryan Hipwood, Billy Kemper, Shane Beschen, Punker Pat Towersy, Timmy Reyes, Matt Archbold, Chris Ward and many other pro surfers and stand-outs from around the globe.
THERE ARE MANY ASPECTS TO SURFBOARD SELECTION THESE ARE THE POINTS TO CONSIDER
LENGTH
Typically surfboards are measured in inches. The length is measured from the nose to the tail. Choosing the length of the surfboard is dependant on your size (weight, height), board type and waves conditions you wish to use the board for.
WIDTH
The widest point of the surfboard is measured from rail to rail. Generally the wider the surfboard the more stable the board, while a board with smaller width maintains better speed and performance.
BOARD THICKNESS
Surfboard thickness is measured from the top deck to the bottom. The thickness again has a bearing on the board’s performance. Professional surfers will tend to go for the thinner boards as they are lighter and offer better performance.The thicker boards are stronger and because there is more foam under the surfer the boards are more stable.
ROCKER
The bottom curve of a surfboard. Generally the more rocker the surfboard has the more loose (manoeuvrable) the surfboard will be. Where the flatter rocker surfboards will be faster, although they will lack the looseness. The nose is the tip of the surfboard, the nose can vary in shapes and size. Basically the thinner the nose the more response the board will perform, while wider noses are better for stabilization.
STRINGER
Used to increase the strength of a surfboard, a stringer (normally made from wood) runs down the length of a surfboards (typically in the centre of the board from the tip of the nose to the tail).
Boards built with Epoxy, Carbon Fibre and soft boards generally don’t have stringers.
FINS
Generally heavier surfers require larger fins to hold the waves better. Although if you prefer to ride a looser (less hold in the waves), smaller fins would be a better option.
FIN CONSIDERATIONS
Fin configurations have an effect on the ways your surfboards perform.
The following are some of the more common fin configurations.
SINGLE FIN
The single fin was the original fin configuration for surfboards. Based on the idea of the sailboat keel. Single fins are added stabilization and control on the powerful, larger waves, although lack manoeuvrability
TWIN FIN
Are great for small waves, being fast and manoeuvrable, but when put into tight spots on larger waves, they become hard to control. Popular with Fish surfboards.
THRUSTER 3 FIN
Widely recognized as the standard fin configuration, the thruster answers the shortcomings of the single fin and the twin fins configurations.
The thrusters give you stabilization, control and manoeuvrability in all types of surfing conditions.
This concept was the brainchild of Australia’s Simon Anderson
QUADS 4 FINS
With four fins in the water, Quads boasts an extraordinary amount of holding power in larger surf.
You may think that having four fins would sacrifice speed by creating more drag, but this is not the case.
The both sets of fins are working together on the rail, which makers believe they creates less drag than a board with a centre fin.
The manoeuvrability isn’t sacrificed either, with fins directly under your back foot, the quads are very responsive.
KEEL
Similar setup to the Twin Fin, although smaller (low profile) fins are generally placed wider (closer to the rails) on the surfboard.
Popular with Fish and Egg / Retro surfboards.
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