8'7" Mini Mal

There is the odd occasion when you don't want to ride a longboard and you don't want to ride a shortboard either. It's that salami in the sandwich situation. Your options are limited. So I opted for a 8'7" mini mal. It was also doubling up as a present for my wife. She tried to ride a 9'1" longboard but found it a tad to much to handle with her light frame. Out in the 2ft stuff this board is easy to punch through waves and provides enough stability to have a crack and enjoy yourself.

I won't bore you with build details and 1000 photos of 'How to' there are already plenty of those out there like Grant Newby & Woodbuddha - check them out they provide pretty much everything you need to know. I will leave you with a sample of pics thou - hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoyed making this board:

My actual vac pump gauge doesn't work so I just crank it on and bleed a release valve ever so slightly so I can hear a hissss...

 Hmmm ... sandwich ... yum!

Nose is fine and petite - not much nose riding on this one so no need for a big wide nose like a longboard. Also the dynamics of this board all turned out to be shaped for speed! 

 Bottom predominantly Paulownia

 Love the look of Western Red Cedar for the deck.

 Glassing always stresses me out - I love applying epoxy resin but hate it just as much - sounds odd ... it is!

 After some hefty sanding and polishing the end results always come out stunning!

Glassed on fins - the rear fin I ended up foiling a little to thin this however seemed to just add to the speed this board carries down the line - Like a G6!

What this board is like to rides is similar to the board you see 1:26 into http://youtu.be/PSarg_QSvaY - just flies along with speed. With the low rocker it seems to scoot along at a million miles and hour! This shot was taken just South of Coolumn on the Sunshine Coast. Had a fantastic surf for about 2hrs catching 95% of waves I paddled for - super stocked!