Hey Lauren, so what’s in your quiver?
I keep my quiver pretty minimal, but I love to trade boards with friends. I’ve been borrowing a 40 year old 7’0 Dick Van Straalen and loving how loose and buoyant it is. Here’s what’s in my quiver;
9’2 Bing Silver Spoon
7’2 Bing Raven
5’6 Bing Swee’ Pea
Surf Matt
Merfin mono flipper
What shape best suits your style of surfing?
I love heavy single fin logs. I’ve always really enjoyed trimming and moving at a slower pace than many, so the heavy glide of a traditional longboard suits me best.
What do you like about retro boards?
Generally speaking, I like playing with retro boards because they tend to have more foam and so they’re often easier to ride because they’re easier to paddle and catch waves with. One of the boards that really taught me about glide was an original Hansen 50/50. It was yellowed, dinged and weighed about 35 pounds, maybe more. I loved that board because it taught me about subtly in my surfing, how greatly small shifts in weight can impact your speed and trim.
What’s your favourite fin setup?
Any fin set up can be fun an functional depending on the conditions.
What advice would you give to a novice surfer about board selection?
Make it easy on yourself and start with the widest, longest board that you can still carry manageably. Once you have the fundamentals down, then start experimenting with many different crafts so you can hone your skills on each and find what feels the most fun to you. Each board presents a new lens through which to read and adapt to the wave— the learning is endless with surfing.
What board do you prefer for long summer days?
Single fin longboard. You can catch a million waves even on the tiniest days.
If you could go back in time, which era of surfing would you like to have surfed in?
Now. We’re so lucky to be able to draw from all eras past and have access to all the surfing technologies of today. I wouldn’t rather be a water woman in any other era.
Lauren Hill is Sanuk’s newest ambassador. PHOTOS BY Adam Walker/Sanuk
