A high-volume, high-performance shortboard for the Great Lakes.

As someone who has been on a shortboard since I was able to stand up on one, developing a viable high-performance shortboard design for the lake has been a goal of mine since I moved back from California.

The challenge has been finding a combination of design elements that generate speed in the softer surf we get most days on the lake without hindering maneuverability. Which, in surfboard design terms, is a bit like trying to bottle lightning.

It’s taken quite a bit of trial and error, but at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, I feel like I’ve achieved just that with the Trash Panda.

The secret that makes this board work is that it is essentially 2 boards in 1. There is a thick, flat board along the stringer for paddle power/speed and a refined, high-performance board along the rail.

There is no single concave in this board — the back half is all spiral vee (vee with double concave cut into it). The setup is almost identical to the very first thruster that Simon Anderson won Bells on back in the early 80s.

However, instead of the flat deck and boxy rails you’d typically find on boards of that period, I’d tapered the deck into a true modern high-performance rail in all directions.

The result is a board that paddles into and drives through mush like an ultra-flat groveler, but fits into the pocket and accelerates through turns on rail like a HPSB.

This one is for the rippers. Enjoy!