Here’s what Dane Reynolds will be riding at J-Bay in 2015:

Dane Reynolds, as you’re no doubt blissfuly aware, has been gifted a wildcard into the 2015 J-Bay Open. The last time he competed there, it was 2010, and it was still the Billabong Pro, and Dane was still a full-time Tour competitor. The land that gifts us obligatory footage of pro surfers at wildlife parks does one thing particularly well: It produces long, windswept walls that require thick rubber and the ability to ignore shark fins. We saw Dane on the similarly long, feathery walls of Morocco earlier this year and it was magnificent. And, who can get enough footage of Dane at the righthand pointbreak known as Rincon? J-Bay will be just as enjoyable. And because we like the little things, here’s what will be under Dane’s feet in his heats, as told by the charming Britt Merrick of Channel Islands…

Knife collection breakdown by Channel Islands’ Britt Merrick

(2) 5’11” x 18 7/8 x 2 3/8 (The Peregrine)
“The Peregrine is a new model we just released with Dane, which is based off the boards I’ve been riding the last couple of winters at Rincon. We’ve been working on this design with Dane since last year and I made him these two specifically for J-Bay. The Peregrine has four deep, straight channels, and on these particular ones we experimented with different start and finish points. The week before he left, Dane and I went out to the Channel Islands off Santa Barbara to test different boards for J-Bay, and the four-channel Peregrine was working well. It’s meant to have lots of down-the-line speed and quick transitions, yet it’s able to be pushed really hard through big rail carves.”

This is an air from one of those lay day sessions on the Gold Coast that Britt mentions below… during which, Dane went bonkers. Photo: Bosko

5’11 1/2” x 18 7/8 x 2 7/16 (Fred Rubble)
“While he was on the Gold Coast this year, Dane got a Fred Rubble from Channel Islands Australia that he liked and surfed really well on during the lay day sessions at D’bah. He brought it home and I copied it for him, and he loves it. He rode it often during the freesurfs in Fiji and said it went insane there. It has more tail flip and a bit wider tail than a Rubble he’d usually ride.”

And, here’s Dane in Morocco. He was explosive on the long right points, and we can certainly expect the same in South Africa.

6’0” x 19 x 2 5/8 (Moroccan)
“This is a handshape I made for Dane in December for a trip he was doing to Morocco. He got the cover of Surfing on this board from that trip. It’s just a basic high-performance board for down-the-line waves, like J-Bay. It has lower-entry rocker than the Fred Rubble, but more rocker in the back half, except for right off the very end of the tail where it has a flatter, more neutral exit than the Fred.”

Drive? Crucial! Make good choices! WSL/Kirstin

6’0” x 19 1/8 x 2 3/8 (FJB) x 2
“These are copies of a handshape I made Dane for the Tavarua contest. He said the original one felt good in the lip but wanted a little more drive, so we made some modifications and tested these and they went well from the first wave. They have a lot of rocker throughout the whole board with generous curve through the center and a long exit rocker. Dane has liked these a lot in Californian waves since returning from Fiji. I made him one that had the curve through the centre straightened a bit, to be able to get more down-the-line drive at J-Bay.”

6’0” x 18 7/8 X 2 3/8 (Black & White) x 2
“This is a design we’ve been working on since last winter. If you watched Dane’s Sampler, then you saw him surfing this board. The original was a handshape that was magic in pointbreaks around Ventura and Santa Barbara, but he broke it and we’ve been working hard to recapture its feel. I think we finally got it just the week before Dane left for J-Bay. This board is fast down the line and positively neutral feeling in turns. Dane expects these will be his go-to boards at J-Bay.”

Performance step-ups are a real thing when you’re a world tour competitor. Photo: WSL

6’1” x 18 7/8 x 2 7/16 (Taco Grinder)
“This is our high performance step-up board. It surfs like a shortboard but handles bigger, more powerful waves. Dane surfed this board in his heats at the Tavarua contest and looked great on it. If J-Bay is like eight feet during his heats, Dane will most likely be on this board. It’s a round-pin.”

Dane’s a man in-tune with what’s under his feet. Photo: WSL

6’1 1/2” x 19 x 2 7/16 (The Peregrine)
“This is a four-channel step-up that went well in Fiji and will be going to J-Bay. It’s a round-pin.”

****

And now, for nothing more than the interesting act of comparison, here’s what Dane rode at J-Bay the last time he competed there, back when it was still the Billabong Pro in 2010…

6’0″ x 18 5/8″ x 2 5/16″ Squash Tail
6’1″ x 18 5/8″ x 2 5/16″ Proton squash tail nicknamed Hit and Run.
6’1″ x 18 5/8″ x 2 3/8″ MBB3 squash tail nicknamed Red Dawn. This is an updated reworked version of a board Shane Beschen used to love. It was also a favorite of power surfer Luke Egan back in the day. Dane says the board carries a lot of speed, especially out of bottom turns.
5’8″ x 18 1/2″ x 2 5/16″ Square tail nicknamed Chopped VBB3 Souey. For some reason, the blank came in with a 1/4″ stringer so Dane thought sawing the tail off the blank into a 5’8″ (originally 6’1″) might be the way to go. He got busy with the saw and this is the result.
6’0″ 18 5/8″ x 2 5/16″ Rookie squash tail. Nicknamed Square Back Attack.
6’3″ Rookie step up. Just in case it it gets big.
5’11” x 18 7/8″ x 2 5/16″ Whip swallow tail. If it’s small to medium size and a bit fat on the higher tide
6’1″ x 18 5/8″ x 2 5/16″ Rookie. Dane rode this board at snapper in that super heat against Parko. He has kept this board tucked away for possibly this occasion.