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4 Fresh Surfboard Models To Keep You Styling Through Summer

Originally posted on SURFER | By Jake Howard | Last updated Aug 8, 2024 2:17 PM ET

It's August, and whether you call the East Coast, West Coast or Hawaii home, this really is when summer kicks into high gear. Swell-churning tropical storms and hurricanes in both the Atlantic and Pacific start ramping up, and the potential to score drastically increases. Plus, depending on where you live, as an added benefit the water's also considerably warmer.

All this makes it the optimum time to pick up a new board. Roll into your favorite, locally-owned shop and upgrade, not just for the rest of summer, but also for that glorious time of year that every surfer lives for known as fall, when the crowds evaporate and combo swells reign supreme. Here are four fresh designs that look like a heck of a lot of fun:

Album Surfboards: Plasmic

From the mind of Matt Parker, Album Surfboard's Plasmic offers the "planing of a fish without sacrificing performance." Wide point forward with a diamond tail and a channel bottom, it looks like it would fly down the line and feel really good in the pocket with your back foot over the twin fins, but then you'd be able to step back on the tail, engage the rail and lay down some clean carves. In two feet to six, the Plasmic sings.

...Lost Surfboards: Party Platter

Another sled that falls into the short and wide category, the Party Platter is a Matt Biolos creation with the intention of keeping the fun in your surfing. "No need for a log. Soft tops bog. And mids don’t fit, If you really wanna rip," reads the prose of Biolos. Poetry and world-class shaping skills? What can't the man do? And who better to exemplify that good-time ethos than test pilot Ian Crane? Ride it as a quad, thruster or whatever setup you can conceive. With its rounded nose and full outline, small days don't stand a chance against the Party Platter.

Pyzel Surfboards: Power Tiger

For those looking to rip quality surf, there's Pyzel's Power Tiger model. Developed and designed with collaboration between Jon Pyzel and John John Florence, this board is an amalgamation of a variety of previously released models. With a more pulled in outline, most noticeably in the nose and tail, the curves of the board are meant for pushing hard and performance in the pocket.

"The Red Tiger is still John's go-to for slower waves in the head-high and below range, but the Power Tiger fits in perfectly once the surf gets a little bigger, especially when it gets more powerful (thus the name)," explains Pyzel.

So, when the hurricane surf is pumping and the time to barrels is at hand, the Power Tiger might be a viable option.

Firewire: Machadocado

Of course Rob Machado has a model that pays homage to the nutritional bliss that is an avocado. What's surprising is to see with the Machadocado is young buck Jackson Dorian blowing tail and putting the board through its paces. Not just a cruiser like some of Machado's other designs, this bowl of spicy guacamole was build to surf.

"The Machadocado is slightly wider and thicker than your standard shortboard, providing excellent stability and grovel-ability, while it's thinned out tail provides plenty of control and hold in rounder, more powerful waves. It's volume distribution favors fast wraps and quick speed generation in waves knee-high to overhead," reads Firewire's description.