Pyzel Bastard
The Bastard is JJF's go-to shortboard and what he used at every contest to win the 2016 WSL World Championship. This board works great for big carves in powerful waves, and still feels great in weaker surf. A great board for everyday sessions in all kinds of waves. The single concave throughout gives this board speed, while still keeping drive and speed through the flat, weaker sections. The drawn in tail gives you responsiveness and a lively feel through turns, especially in bigger surf.
Dimensions
From the Shaper
Our most popular shorty and the board that JJF rode in every single event on the 2016 WCT to win his 1st World Title. This is obviously a very versatile board.
Jon Pyzel
The REAL Deal
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REAL Review The Bastard is Pyzel’s most popular true shortboard (the Pyzalien is technically a “stubby" shortboard) and John John Florence’s go-to board for many contests and free surfs. In 2014 John John smoked three dramatically different events on his Bastard quiver including a 2nd at Trestles, a 1st in France and a 1st at the Volcom Pipe Pro, all on Pyzel Bastards. Pyzel claims this board has range from 2–12ft surf, and judging by John John’s results on this model, he’s not exaggerating. The Bastard has just enough rocker and foil to work in the juicy stuff but not so much that it kills its average wave performance.
Pyzel Bastard Tech Specs:
• Moderate outline with hip near the tail
• Single concave throughout
• Pulled in tail
• Foiled railed (compared to Pyzalien)
What We Like
JJF rode the Bastard in heats during every single event on the WCT in 2016. Here John John banks off the lip at Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa. The Pyzel Bastard embraces being a shortboard instead of trying to be as stubby and boxy as possible. This means you ride it a little longer than the stubbies, but it also means the range will be huge since you won’t be tripping up over a boxy foam flow. There is definitely more rocker in this board than the Pyzalien and the JJF Slab 2.0, but not so much so that it kills the board’s smaller wave performance. Yes, the Pyzalien or JJF Slab 2.0 will work better in 1-3 ft surf, but when you find yourself in 2-4 foot surf, you'll be happy you chose the Bastard instead of a poorly paddling, highly rockered/foiled out potato chip. Pretty crazy that John John can podium at three completely different waves on the same Bastard model. This shows the extreme range that this board can cover when you come up with the magic design
John opening up his season with the Bastard model from Pyzel during the 2016 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, Australia.
We got to surf our Pyzel Bastard in Cape Hatteras in a range of surf waist high up to head high on the biggest day. The added rocker and foil felt really good on punchier waves, but the board had plenty of drive and glide available for higher tide/softer sections. The board SCREAMED confidence on the top half of what we rode it in, so no doubt it would keep on screaming to well overhead conditions.
JJF used his go-to Bastard during the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro, putting it on rail in the open face reef break conditions.
The outline of this board shows a defined hip at the front fins. This keeps the board loose in the smaller stuff and gives you a nice tight snap off the top for all the waves you’ll surf it in. The pulled in tail loves to be driven as hard as you want and craves big carves (never once bouncing out.) The single concave bottom shape creates a fast, drivey board that still has enough glide to make it across flatter sections, even though that’s the last thing you would expect from the board JJF won last year’s France event on.
John riding the Bastard model into the semi-finals in the 2016 Quik Pro France in punchy, shifty beach break conditions.
Insider Info
The top end of the Bastard holds up in over-head, hollow surf. Above, John navigates a back hand tube ride at Cloudbreak during the 2016 Fiji Pro. This is a great shortboard if you’re living in an area with consistent surf. The Bastard will even tackle sub par surf waist high and smaller if it has a bit of punch (like our Cape Hatteras waves that tube at 1ft.) It’s nice to know that a single shortboard will cover such a wide range. No, it will not grovel like a Rat Skull, but under the right surfer, it will surf waist high waves and never feel underpowered. For our travels, this would be the perfect go-to shortboard to surf the above grovel days here in Cape Hatteras, as well as all the reefs in Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, etc. The Bastard's flowing rocker and moderate foil on the rail give it nice hold, response and confidence in waves with more power.
John John flairing it out on his road to victory during the 2016 MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal. Our Bastard came equipped as a dedicated thruster. We used the Roberts Generation Series thrusters on the bottom half of the wave range then switched to Jordy’s and also AM2 Techflexs when the surf got juicier. Obviously, the Futures John Johnfins are also going to work well in this board.
Why You Want This Board
You’re looking for a single shortboard to cover the widest range of use, excluding full grovel conditions. The Pyzel Bastard takes the best of two proven boards to produce a sled that is fully capable no matter what you throw at it.
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