Thoughts on Lib Technologies entry into the river surfing and rapid wave pool “space” w/ their “Whirlpool” model surfboard.
This summer Lib-tech, one of river surfing’s favorite “pop-out” surfboard manufacturers, has jumped into the river surfing scene an Alternative Surf High Performance surfboard oddly or aptly named the “Whirlpool“.
Lib says that their Whirlpool surfboard is inspired by the river wave, and City Wave, and high performance surf cultures in Munich (Eisbach Wave) that “has spread around the world and now includes Lib’s regional Bend, Boise, and Chelan alternative surf playgrounds and probably one, two or three coming to your zone too!“…
DESIGN IS INTERESTING FOR SUCH A SMALL BOARD:
Dims are slim coming in at:
- 5’2″ x 18.5″ x 2.0″ at 21.5 liters. Compare this to a Lib/Lost Puddle Jumper 5’1″ x 20″ x 19.5″ at 25.5 liters.
- 5’4″ x 18.8″ x 2.1″ at 23.0 liters. Compare this to a Lib/Lost Puddle Jumper 5’3″ x 20″ x 2.32″ at 28 liters.
- 5’6″ x 19″ x 2.21″ at 25.0 liters. Compare this to a Lib/Lost Puddle Jumper 5’5″ x 20.5″ x 2.38″ at 30.5 liters.
Construction is the same as all of Lib’s surfboards that are practically indestructible boards as compared to a regular ocean glassed surfboard. But you pay for it dearly (without fins) for $765 to $850 depending on size or if a clean board or a blem. Lib calls a blem a “B-grade” that usually has somer sort of minor cosmetic defect such as graphics or other imperfections that don’t cause any performance issues. Lib blems are almost a $100 cheaper.
The Whirlpool board has a slim nose, squash tail thruster, “smooth curved rail line, matching rocker” (take that to mean low rocker), and a single concave that we assume means throughout the bottom board starting who knows where on the front ending at an odd spooned out section in front and in between the fins.
Lib claims the Whirlpool the spooned out bottom section is a “particle acceleration dish” concave placed in the front fin area that “increases water flow rate on the board surface where you need it most and creates magical speed and a loose feel.” This is an interesting design claim since conversely, a longboard with a spooned out nose on the bottom of the board actually creates lift and stability for noseriding. Lib instead puts the spooned out section in the back of the bottom of the board right ahead and in between the three fins. This is something relatively new in surfboard design and just might help with the mid to back float of the board on a standing wave in the river or rapid wave pool, and helpful for such a small low volume speedster shaped board that the Whirlpool is….
One proven aspect of the Whirlpool board designed for river waves is the chined rail that Lib has included on only this of their line of boards. Chined rails utilize an additional ridge or edge that theoretically improves ability to control the bite and release points of a rail. In the river wave, this allows for less pearling of the board into the wave and maintains better board control when slip sliding sideways on the wave.
Lib has also brought back something they did in their earliest days of making surfboards over ten years ago, when they foolishly called their surfboards “Waterboards” that had a top deck concave section. But instead of like their first boards that the concave was for the torso when paddling, the concave has been made much smaller, less pronounced, and is under the front foot on top of the board for, as Lib claims, “positive skate like control in and above the water“. A claim that is a wee bit overstated.. (Who remembers Libs similar overstated claim of turning ice into powder then they first came out with the wiggle edge aka “Magne-Traction“?)
Finally, Lib has reinforced the fin box and rails. Rapid wave pools are known to destroy fin boxes, so this is a smart move by Lib. And in river surfing, the one place extra glass is always appreciated, is on the rails for the inevitable smacking of the board on the rock and concrete sides of the wave.
One thing that Lib probably missed and should consider is, shaping in the grab rails on top of the board (small channels on the rails) like their original “Waterboards“. Grab rails like that would help with holding on to the board for suitcase drops that are done at Eisbach, RRP-Denver, Bend, Boise, Scout Wave, and of course all the rapid wave pools.
Again at $850 for a clean Whirlpool ($765 for a blem Whirlpool) and another $50 to $100 for fins along with shipping costs; going to need to rob a bank to afford a Whirlpool. But, if you can afford surfing a rapid wave pool or are serious about a river wave board quiver, the Whirlpool is possibly for you, except for one possible design flaw we found in trying the board out in person.
TEST RIDE: We were able to surf a 5’4” Whirlpool recently on the Scout Wave at 900cfs. The board is snappy fast and seemed to have extra float for it’s 23 liters. Maybe that “particle acceleration dish” concave on the bottom between the fins was giving it a bit of lift. The chimed rails felt like they had good grip on the wave when making hard carving turns.
Only concern was the dished out spot for the front foot had delaminated and bubbled up. The only cause seemed to be the regular usage of jumping on the board. The board has never been left in the heat or sun. Lib Tech needs to warranty/replace that individual board and figure out if the delam issue is an inherent design flaw to the Whirlpool.
Besides the delam on the Whirlpool we tested, the Whirlpool is an awesome board for its svelte size on a fast moving green faced wave.
LBK
The Denver Surf Report 