For the past fifty years plus, surfing legend Tom Morey has been designing custom surfboards and is known as one of the world’s foremost designers of surfboards and surfboard types. Some of his more famous designs are known as the Blue Machine, the Camel, the Peck Penetrator, the WaterSkate, the Morey Boogie, the Morey Doyle soft surfboard, and his latest design types the Swizzle, the SUP Blazer and the Heater.
I am sure that most all of you have heard of the Morey Boogie Board, which to date has sold over 100 million of these little bodyboards and made it possible for millions of kids and adults to say that they have “surfed” a wave.
Not only has Morey designed and made the above mentioned surfboard types, but he has modified many surfboards of other designers and has never given them a name. He invented the first wakeboard, which was designed for surfing behind a boat while under tow. He co-designed the first soft surfboard with Mike Doyle another legend of surfing. He has created many more surfing product designs, equipment, and accessories, e.g. the removable and interchangeable fin system, a traction product called Slip Check later named El Gripo, a rolling fin system, air-lubricated surfboards, Afterburners, Heaters, and many, many, more.
The point is that Tom Morey is a legend in the surfboard design field along with being an internationally renowned inventor of surfing products and one of the early surfers at Malibu. Over the past 50 years, it seems that just about everything that he has created has been a leading edge product, way ahead of the times. Most of them never got to market. This is because the regular guy or gal can’t see into the future like Tom can and are not willing to experiment with his new and innovative custom surfboard or product designs. It’s time for the surfers to wake up and realize that innovation is a wonderful thing, especially Tom Morey Surfboard design types.
Tom’s latest surfboard design types are a longboard called the Swizzle, a shortboard called the Heater and a SUP called the Blazer. Tom has incorporated the best parts of his past designs into these three surfboards.
The longboard he calls the parabolic shaped Swizzle is quite different from what most surfers classify a conventional surfboard design. The Swizzle has incorporated the down turned nose of the Peck Penetrator, which exemplifies the leading edge of an airplane wing. The reason for this shape is that the down turned leading edge of an airplane creates lift and caused the nose of the airplane to elevate. The same is true for the nose of the Swizzle. When the nose goes under water, the flow of water over the nose causes the nose to rise and thus eliminates “pearling” where the nose bites into the water and causes the tail to rise and the rider to be thrown off the surfboard. Very ingenious wouldn’t you say?
The Swizzle also has some other very beneficial features. It has a parabolic shape where the center third of the surfboard is just inside of parallel making the board more narrow in the center, wider in the hip and shoulder area of the surfboard, kind of like a coke bottle. The advantage of this parabolic shape is that it makes the board easier to carry, easier to paddle since the surfer is paddling in this narrower center section of the surfboard, cutting down the drag of the surfboard going through the water when being paddled and tracking down line. The result of this narrow center section makes the Swizzle faster.
The wider hip area and shoulder area give the Swizzle four points of greater control and also make the surfboard more stable. When a surfer stands back on the board to turn it, the wide part in the hip area gives the surfer an edge, which bites into the water and makes the turn easier to make. The wide area in the shoulder section forward of center makes it easier for the surfer to turn the surfboard when he is up forward on the board. Most boards cannot be turned from the nose area, but the Swizzle with its unique shape can be controlled and turned from the nose.
There is another very unique part of the Swizzle design. It is the rear rails called Afterburners that Tom has incorporated into the surfboard design. These rails are vacuum rails and a carryover from the Boogie Board rails. These rails act to cause the water to flow much faster over the rear section of the surfboard by reducing the suction and drag when the board is being paddled and when it is tracking in a straight direction down the line of a wave. However, when the surfer makes a turn, the Afterburner vacuum rail engages the water and acts to pull the board in the direction of the turn, thus making it easier to turn. The rails were named Afterburners because they give the board a boost and make the board faster.
Combine all of these innovations into the Swizzle and you have one very nice custom designed surfboard made into the size that fits your physical stature and condition.
Another of Tom Morey’s new custom surfboards is called the Heater. The Heater is a shortboard ranging in size from 5′ 0″ up to 7′ 0″. There are several very innovative designs in this little surfboard. Once again Tom incorporated the Peck Penetrator turned down nose to prevent pearling.
Most shortboards these days have a sharp pointed nose, are very thin and also quite narrow. There is not much foam in these surfboards, which results in a surfboard with little float that is difficult to paddle. The Heater stresses Tom’s theory that “foam is your friend”. The Heater is wider at the longitudinal center and this width is carried up to the nose area which gives the surfboard more float and makes it easier to paddle and also makes it easier to catch waves much earlier than the thin “chips”. You don’t have to rely on making late takeoffs to catch the wave. This is a difficult maneuver, which the Heater eliminates.
The extra foam in the Heater also allows the surfer to make sections and not stall out in the lulls when the wave diminishes before it reforms again. This ability and advantage gives the rider the chance to have a longer ride, not having to cut it short when he or she reaches the lull. The extra float also makes it possible to ride the Heater through the white water until the wave reforms again.
Probably the most distinguishing design feature of the Heater is the “heater” rear rail. This design feature is where the name of the surfboard originated. The heater rear rail is the opposite of the Afterburner rear rail of the Swizzle. It is a rail that is cut away on the top surface on an angle of approximately 50 degrees to the bottom outside edge of the surfboard. This rail gives the board a hard bottom outside edge increasing performance and allowing the board to bite into the water for abrupt turns and maneuvers. The angled rail allows the water to break away from the rounded center section and greatly reduces the suction while increasing the speed of the board. The Heater is one fast surfboard!
The Tom Morey SUP Blazer is a custom designed standup paddleboard. The design of this board was inspired by the Swizzle parabolic shape, the air lubricated surfboards designed by Tom in the past, and his most recent design the Heater. By combining these elements from prior designs, Tom has come up with a custom designed SUP that is unique and very functional.
The Swizzle parabolic shape with the narrow center section allows the SUP Blazer rider to paddle the board much more easily without hitting the paddle on what is normally the wide part of the SUP. This makes paddling much more efficient and adds smoothness and speed as the board moves through the water.
The wider chest and hip area are moved much further toward the nose and tail because the SUP boards are generally much longer than a regular longboard. These wider points give the SUP four point stability. The Blazer is more stable because of these four wide points rather than two wide pendulum points on a standard SUP design.
Another advantage of the Blazer design is the deep double concave bottom in the nose underside which allows air to get under the board and break the suction between the water and the bottom surface of the SUP. By breaking the suction, the board can move through the water easier and faster making it easier for the rider to paddle. The air lubrication also helps when the SUP rider surfs a wave. He gains a lot more speed, making surfing much more efficient and fun.
The double concave nose area results in the board having a center prow allowing the paddler to track on a straighter line as he or she paddles. If you can picture a trimaran, the prow is like the center hull of the board.
The rear rails on the Blazer SUP are a carry forward of the Heater shortboard’s heater rear rails. These breakaway rails break the suction of the water flowing over the tail section of the board and make the board faster as it moves through the water. The hard down edge gives the surfer bite and better turning ability when on a wave or on smooth water when making a fast reversal of course.
In summary, the Blazer SUP design makes the Tom Morey SUP faster, more stable, and a very efficient fun board.
So my friends, find yourself a custom surfboard designed by surfing legend Tom Morey and go Surf Life! Have a blast!