RAYO VERDE by Ben McTavish
You might have seen a couple of these bursting out of head high tubes on social media but it's a fun small-wave summer board too. The McTavish crew in Australia fizz on its effortless speed and glide courtesy of its low rocker, twin fin setup and considered bottom contours.
On small summer days, the extra foam gets you into weak waves, whilst the flyer offers a nice pivot point to surf tight in the pocket when required. When the wave have size, the long rail line, pulled in pintail and channel bottom allows incredible control and response drawing out long, swooping arcs on open faces whilst hlding true in sections of consequence. The El Rayo Verde is a proven mid-length for those who would like to Summer Harder, helping you make the most of whatever conditions are on offer.
El Rayo Verde usually comes in lengths 6'7"-7'6". The shorter end of the spectrum suits surfers stepping up from shorter boards, whilst the longer end is a great option for those stepping down from something longer.
The why and the how
We have had huge success with our short swallow-tail variety of twins and have made a bunch of short curvy out-lined pulled-in pintail twins, however they never quite had the spark and drive of the wider tail swallows, especially in small to head high waves.
After a few years of fine-tuning, we added about a foot of length in the middle to straighten the rail line. It came in at 6’11” and had glimmers of brilliance but still lacked an all round consistent feeling.
The next time around we added a single front-foot concave, tucked edge chine bottom rail, moved the fins forward a couple of inches and the El Reyo Verde was born. It surfs as flashy as the name it bears, combining the best attributes of a mid-length and a twinny.
The foam right under your chest gives it amazing paddle power and a spark and speed typically only found in short, swallow tail twins, all delivered in an elegant outline that flows and swoops like no other.
This board is built on PU foam, wrapped in 4x6x4 oz fiber glass, has a FCS2 twin fin set up and features the triple tapered-calliper pinlines.