In the tradition of the Rocket, the Short Round bridges the gap between easy riding "cheater" boards and high-performance shortboards. A low entry rocker and wide-ish nose provide speed and paddle power, while the moderate tail rocker and double concave through the fins provides performance and control.
"It doesn't look like anything fancy and there are no gimmicks, but sometimes less is more, and there is a lot packed into this little board."
Matt Biolos from …Lost
In the tradition of the Rocket, the Short Round bridges the gap between easy riding "cheater" boards and high-performance shortboards. A low entry rocker and wide-ish nose provide speed and paddle power, while the moderate tail rocker and double concave through the fins provides performance and control.
"It doesn't look like anything fancy and there are no gimmicks, but sometimes less is more, and there is a lot packed into this little board."
Matt Biolos from …Lost
The Short Round developed from ...Lost Team Rider Shaw Kobayashi's personal board, which quickly gained a strong following in the California/Baja Mexico region where Shaw was doing most of his surfing, as well as in Japan where the board was received with rave reviews. This is Shaw's go-to board that he rides 99% of the time.
The Short Round originated as a "Rocket" style board, marrying the front half of a V2 Stub outline to a bump squash tail. The idea was to take something as fast and fun as the V2 Stub, then marry it to the back-end of a competition surfboard. This gives you the ability to paddle, catch waves, and glide across flat spots with ease, and still crank turns off the tail and surf the board aggressively.
You can find videos of Shaw Kobayashi shredding the Short Round in a wide range of conditions, from waves shin-high to overhead. The Short Round works perfectly as the middle of a 3-board quiver, picking up where your groveler leaves off and carrying you all the way through to bigger surf where a proper step-up might be needed. It perfectly covers the huge range of everyday conditions, making it an ideal one-board-wonder for traveling.
Sharing a lot of the easy-paddling characteristics of a Rocket, the Short Round has great speed and glide through mushy spots, but adds more pivotal turning thanks to the bump-squash tail. The bump in the rail line near the tail gives the surfer a point to pivot off of, allowing for more control and more precise turning.
The Short Round fits really nicely into most quivers, bridging the gap between grovel-focused models like the Puddle Jumper and a proper step-up board like the Rock Up. Although the Short Round has generous floatation under the chest, it's narrower outline and slightly more aggressive rocker compared to other dedicated grovelers gives it the ability to tackle larger and rounder waves than flatter, wider boards.
You want the speed of a Rocket style board with the performance of a typical shortboard. You want paddle power combined with pivotal turning. You want a board with a clean, good-looking outline that covers a huge range of surf conditions.
Write a review, post a photo or join the discussion.
Join the REAL Newsletter for exclusive offers and updates.
© 2024 REAL Watersports. Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
REAL Review