'Surf Bored' - Ep2 Gary McNeill Concepts RTT (Twin Fin Surfboard Review)
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- Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
- Welcome to Ep2. of Surf Bored - An independent Twin Fin review.
In this episode we review the Gary McNeill Concepts RTT (Rasta Torus Twin) by Gary McNeill & Dave Rastovich.
Board dims: 5'10" x 19 3/4 x 2 7/16
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Credits:
Gary McNeill Concepts (garymcneillcon...)
Castles in the Sky ( • Castles In the Sky )
I have a theory of the Torus part of the name. Based on the long channel through the bottom of the board, I think torus is referring to the torus vortex or A vortex ring. It allows basically the endless flow of energy going from to top to the bottom then back around. Give it a quick google search and the photo's and concept might give the word more meaning for those who are interested.
Anyway, enjoyed the review!
Hey Mateo! Thanks for your input. Makes sense,... I should've asked Gary but it slipped my mind at the time.
I'm stoked you're enjoying the reviews... Keeps me stoked to keep going! 🙏
Good Surfer. Intelligent reviews. Great package and I would enjoy more. Cheers
everything about this from surfing to music to editing is perfect
Thanks Sam! - That really means a lot to me. It's a pleasure to make these edits, stoked you're into it man! 🙌
I've a 5'7 RTT - by far the best board I've ever surfed. I save it for the better days here in the UK, but if the wave has a bit of push it goes amazing. Great review.
Hey Dougie, so epic! I agree, when the waves are directional and have a bit of push these boards shine! I also keep mine for specific days... Glad to hear you are on the same program! ✌️
I got my 5'7 RTT in 2016 and stil going strong and fast. Surfed in literally all over the world. It has become somewhat sentimental value for me. I might sell my thruster but not this one. With Rasta sea sheperd keel fins it gives you so much drive especially on backside cutback. I've noticed that the torus channel has gotten deeper and more pronounced on the latest RTT. Awesome review. Loved it.
Hey Duke. That's interesting, you're the second person to say that about the keels. I might have to get a set and try them out!
I think that's the scene with Gazza's shapes, very sentimental, I broke a quad he made me a while back that was extremely sentimental to me... Never easy to accept the loss haha.
Thought keel fins are for crusing around but work so well in solid surf! I'm so looking forward for your next video btw
@@dukeflyingcow thanks! We will definitely review some keel options in upcoming reviews, just hope this thing takes off so we can keep doing them! So many good boards and shapers out there we would love to feature here! Let us know if you have any suggestions or requests also happy to answer any questions about the specific boards we feature. ✌️
You had me at McNeil twin fin review, but sealed the deal with MULATU ASTATKE. 🙌🏼
Thanks Nick!!! Yeah I agree, so much great music out there!...I figured better to put great music to the videos than try to monetise the channel. I'm doing this for the love of it, and if the songs are appreciated then that's great too.... ✌️
Beautiful turn at 12:19! ✨
Mahalo! I'm glad you were able to see the point at where the board was able to shine. That's what it felt like to me, as soon as a decent pocket arose it was ready to fire!! 🔥
never ridden a taurus but in general i've found short twinnes are best surfed as short as possible to the point where it you you can really sink the rail when you turn.
Two great reviews on the RTT and the twinpin and I really enjoyed the the soundtrack. Just wondering a year down the track what your thoughts were on both boards and whether you were still riding them? I find many boards have a special feeling to them which is interesting when you first ride them but few will keep that magic on tap over many months and in conditions which may not be perfectly suited. I have an RTT and Deathless twin pin and still love the vibe of both them. Your turn at 19.06 is lethal but I agree that you would have suited a shorter board. Respect bro!
Another epic review. Really enjoyed the format: honest thoughts, footage & interview with the master shaper himself. Gary McNeill’s boards have had my interest for a while,. They look so well crafted & real works of art, in addition to being high performance equipment. The RTT certainly looks to be very highly tuned. Do you think it might be beyond the ability of the ‘average’ surfer to unlock it’s magic? In any case, looking forward to your next episode. Cheers.
Hi Roger, thanks for your feedback, I hope you keep coming back for more! I think it's more dependent on the quality of the waves you are surfing, if you live somewhere with quality waves on tap I think you would love one of Gary's shapes. Just as long as we are honest with our own ability levels and expectations.
I’m a Northern Beches surfer too, so inconsistent waves are my bread and butter. I’ve been ‘reared’ on short boards/thrusters. I still enjoy them, but more recently have entered a sojourn into twin fins and am really enjoying the ‘toe dip’ in to this arena of surfing. Love the content. Thanks for you efforts and really look forward to more. I hope to try a one of Gary’s shapes in the near future.
Great video and review! I’ve got an RTT mid length and a cv2 fish. Both of them have the very long and large bottom channel. I find that neither of them work great in bumpy surf. I think it’s the wide channel catching chop which then throws me off. It could be the rail is digging but it feels like the channels are getting stuck on the wave. But on nice clean waves both the boards fly without any effort. They really light up on points and turning them feels amazing!
Thanks bro! Feedback is so appreciated.
Yes these boards deserve proper waves... I feel this review highlights this point. Once placed on a clean piece of water the RTT comes alive everytime. ✌️
Agree with your point about bumpy surf and the RTT. Mine is a 5'7 which is bang on for my size and weight, and absolutely loves clean 4ft surf. I ordered a 5'5 mini pip for the bumpier more grovel days and it handles the bump much better- still with a torus channel. I Feel it's more due to deep swallow on the RTT that makes it feel stuck when the surf is bumpy, where the mini pip has a wide rounded diamond tail that releases super easy. Could be wrong but that's what I feel. Both have similar width and rocker. Great vid (although I reckon you could tighten it to 10 mins, no need to see the same wave thrice..) and good to hear Gary's thoughts. Happy surfing ✌
Great review, informative and pleasing to watch. Keep em coming!
Cheers Matt! Glad you're feeling it! ✌️
Fantastic review!!
Wow high quality production 🤙🏽
Thanks Ahiena, trying our best to give something unique and true. Shakas 🤙🏼
Great video. Try his Taurus drive next. Probably the ugliest board you’ll ever lay eyes on but seriously it’s going to blow your mind. It’s a Taurus design, but the outline is different. Moon tail rounded nose. Holds in bigger surf. I love it. Also his mini pip. All fast and drivey boards that go well here in the mentawais.
Thanks for the positive words. Yes I agree the Torus Drive is a great model, I also have this board and ride it when the waves are bigger.... Must be a great to test them in world quality waves !
Just stumbled upon this. Oddly, I have both the CI twin n the McNeill torus twin. Both customs, 5’7” n 5’6”. Torus is an exceptional board. CI is new n I may have ordered it a bit thin, not because of paddling, but it’s a vee bottom and likes to sit lower in the water, so a little more buoyancy would help. Where as a modern concave bottom adds lift. I ordered my thruster thickness, which isn’t my recommendation to go. I wondered why Mikey February at 165 lbs. rides 2 5/8” thick, now I know why. A vee bottom doesn’t work well at 2 3/8” thickness for a 155 lb. bloke IMO. Like your channel
Excellent feedback man! I agree with your assessment, the CI Twin Pin I have is stock thickness and I love it, but wish the rail was pulled down a bit lower personally. I would be keen to know how often you ride your RTT and in what type of waves? I can't wait to get in pumping clean waves!!! 🙏
This board and torus channel has always been intriguing to me. What are the bottom contours, if any? Just flat within the Torus channel? Or is there also some single, double or Vee as well? Awesome review!
Hahaha Converter Bottom Been there done that "Cat-Fished" 😂
Another good one, congrats!
I tried to get a RTT three or four years ago but I didn't quite connect with Gary. He wanted me to send all the dimensions instead of talking about them. Not my way of getting a custom board... Still, they look so amazing.
But, watching the vid, it looks like you have too much foam under your feet. Perhaps a 5'8" or 5'9", a touch narrower, would suit you better. The shaper I work with got me down to a 5'4" Superfish Twin. The board is magic!!!
And keels, have you thought about them on the RTT? I love the keels on the Superfish.
Hope this S swell is bringing you guys some fun, down there!!
Looking forward to the next vid!!
Hey Alberto. Interesting you say so, I think you're right about the dimensions, perhaps a 5'8" would be perfect! I did specifically request a board around the 5'10" mark when first talking to Gary, I think that was due to my reservation around shorter outlines, but I think you're right! Gary also does a keel set that I'd be keen to try in this board, I think that would be good on a running pointbreak, this particular board felt like it was just waiting for a chance to light up, I am convinced it is ideal for really quality days and can't wait to get an opportunity in pumping surf to give it another go!
Love to hear more about your experiences on keels and your superfish... 🙏
@@surfbored Hi mate, The Superfish is designed/shaped by Stuart D'Arcy, a true master of his craft and a really nice bloke. He's shaping my boards (7 in the last 3 1/2 years), helping me come back to surfing after a 10 year break. All boards are shaped after three or more feedback conversations. And I must say, they are all magic boards. Back to the Superfish, it has that old fashion outline on the nose but it does narrow down a bit towards the tail. He put a "vent", or a deep single concave in between the fins one this one, a 5'4"-20 3/4"-2 3/4" with a mid-soft rail at the front and a hard rail on the back. Well, the thing just flies, specially in clean conditions at a point break, on mid to high tide. It was made for keels and I have experimented with a couple, settling with a Morning of the Earth/Torren Martin model. They give the board lots of drive but still allows for tighter turns and tail releases when I want to (mostly accidentally, to be honest). For me, the highlight is putting the board on the rail during a bottom turn or round cutback and feeling the board gaining speed instead of slowing down. You can hear the fins cutting through the water sometimes. I can surf and have fun on knee high to shoulder high waves. I just avoid peaky beach breaks (South Straddie) and low tide barreling point breaks (Kirra, Snapper). It is also a great paddler, important feature for an old bloke like me. Cheers.
@@AMRcycling wow!!! Sounds so sick! Love going down the rabbit hole on this stuff... I hear you regards wave type and tides, I always have at least three boards in the van when I'm surfing, because every board has different optimal conditions, I advise anyone to do the same, check the waves first then decide which board to ride and imagine it (mind surf a few) before paddling out... Also love that feeling of acceleration through turns... A big reason why twin fins are so addictive to ride. Thanks again for your thoughts 🙏 ...I'll look into D'Arcy 👌
I got a couple boards from Gary a few years ago and had a similar experience. We talked once on the phone but he wasn’t very helpful. The whole business end of the transaction was a mess and he even got the colors wrong on one board. Haha. But the boards go great and I love them in the right conditions.
Hi mate
I just bought a Joel Fitz 6’8 cosmic twin. It would be awesome to see a review of this board.
Cheers!
Hey man, awesome! I would love to review one of Joel's boards, how does the board you got off him go??? Are you up on the north coast points? He has great shaping pedigree and he and his brother Kye are both such great surfers. Thanks I will hit him up and see if he is into it!
I can’t find any info regarding the Rasta Nemo…this seems like the closest to it.
Great content! Keep it up 🔥🔥
Thanks Neta. Means a lot. As long as you guys are enjoying it we will keep making these reviews.
Always open to suggestions or questions from the twin fin community too. 🙏
@@surfbored I’ve been surfing the RTT for a couple of years now and it’s just magic! And your review truly do it justice.
Maybe try one out of morning off the earth next
@@netasher4489 oh so good! Glad you also like the boards Gary makes!! I'll have to start selling the review boards to keep paying for new ones, there are so many great shapers out there I want to review!!
Awesome job mate.. a Ferrari of a review 🏎
Thanks James. How classic is that comment by Gary! That's honestly what it felt like riding this board... Who wouldn't wanna drive a Ferrari? The best way I can describe the days we filmed would be that you wouldn't generally wanna take a Ferrari out on a potholed ridden road, ideally you'd save it for the racetrack... Sydney waves are pothole ridden cul-de-sac's. Haha However every single time I found a clean steep pocket the board came alive... I can't wait to find some North Coast racetracks on my next trip up the coast! 💯
@@surfbored haha that’s the perfect description! You made it work really well though mate 💪🏽
Great review thanks, you mentioned around getting the 5'10, how tall are you out of interest?
Hi Miles, Thanks for the feedback.
I'm 5ft 11in, 45yrs old and weigh just under 80kgs.
Great second vid mate. Love seeing a review where the surfer is not a pro and the waves are not peeling JBay because it shows what the pitfalls of the board can be for regular surfers. I have similar fins in my board and as soon as I changed to them from my Captain Fin Twin Specials, the board came alive. The CF's are great but just didn't work on my boards. How are you finding the nose rail dig? Do you fid its the board or the wave. It feels like theres a point of no return you go past with a twin. Or do you think it's a skill level thing?
Hey Brett, Cheers mate I appreciate the feedback.
As soon as Gary told me he was making his own fins I decided I needed them. I wanted to honour the concept as best I could, so let's let the shaper dictate these choices for us where possible.
I really feel it was the waves, all you have to do is watch the lip line on the wave, so tricky and unpredictable for the most part. Every time I got it a clean section it went so well and never caught the rail edge. It means that I will be more selective and only pull this one out when the waves are more predictable in the future. There are moments in the video where I sneak a good one and you can see the board reacting super positively in those instances. 🤙🏽
@@surfbored yeah thanks for the reply. Had epic hollow waves in Cape Town this weekend and today was bog city. Twins definitely have a wave preference. Can't wait for the next vid man. Keen to see if you review the Album Twinsman. Out of my price range as boards in SA are about AUD5-600 for a custom but I've heard amazing things about them.
@@brettwilliams657 Hey man, glad you're getting waves at home, sounds like a rad place to visit!
The Twinsman seems to go great for the Album team guys.... Always ridden in perfect grinding Snapper Rocks though, so yeah it would be interesting to test on a beach break. There are so many alt. Twin fin shapers out there... I wish I could test them all haha, will do my best to keep the content coming ! 🙏
Like a tunnel hull race boat
hey man dope review ! what were the dims on the board gary shaped for you?
Hi JH,
The board I am riding in this clip is:
5'10 X 19 3/4" X 2 7/6
✌️
How they go on the backhand? I have struggled to get drive off twins on backhand. Interested as I want to buy one but never see any footage of guys on backhand
Hi Michael, it's true that twins can be difficult when surfing backhand, it's because most guys like to pivot into the lip when surfing backside. For me I feel they go great as long I don't try to force the board into positions that it's not supposed to go. Obviously with a thruster you can put the board in vertical pivoting positions, where as with a twin you are much more laterally carving and letting the board find it's line on the wave .. this applies to front side surfing on twins too!
The biggest mistake I see is guys trying to surf these shapes as if they were riding a thruster.... Which is confusing to me, those guys should just stick to thrusters if they aren't willing to surf the board with an open mind and approach.
I hope this makes sense. 🙏
I love this board backhand. I surf a point break on a 5.9 and I’ve never had a board hold this well through the turn. It inspires ALOT of confidence. Epic review mate 🙌
Fantastic review . What vid camera are you using ?
Hey Warren,
Thanks for the compliment, glad you liked it!
I work with a super talented (yet slightly accident prone) filmer. We are using Black Magic 6k pro body paired with Canon Cine lenses. 😎
fire
Amazing content
reminds me of theregularguy
Thanks for saying so bro, appreciate you!
It's just the beginning for 'Surf Bored', always open to suggestions on ways to improve the reviews or any questions you guys might have. 🙏
My opinion, your board is too long for you and you're surfing like you're riding a retro style twin. It looks like you're trying to style on a regular performance board.
Hey Pinealism,
I appreciate your feedback. Yes I agree, I may have ordered this board too long, this is my own fault as I specifically asked Gary to shape me something 5'10 in length.
I also struggled to find decent waves for it, take a close look at the lip line of the waves and you'll see how unpredictable the conditions were to surf... I was simply attempting to figure the board out, rather than 'trying to style on it' as you say... But fair comment, I'll take it as constructive criticism.
I stand by my review of the board, it really had its moments for me and I would be doing it a disservice to not persist and find some pumping waves for it to really shine in 🤙🏼 cheers.
@@surfbored it's a great review and I'm considering a board now from concepts 😉
The thing that stands out to me with Rasta is how narrow they are compared to the size of his feet, I see this all the time with riders when going by height and weight, the leverage of the foot compared to the width of the board is crucial.
Further more, twins/fish are so wide in the tail, that's why people aren't feeling as confident backside.
@@pinealism I agree 100%!!! ...Dave has huge flippers for feet, and you're right his boards seem alot narrower.
@@surfbored somewhat of an embarrassing topic with your shaper talking about little feet compared to weight and height 🤣 but once figured out boards go way better 😉