Surf Glossary - A: From Billabong to Barrel

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Billabong is an Australian surf brand founded in 1973 by surfer Gordon Merchant on the Gold Coast in Australia. Gordon Merchant initially produced home board shorts that were held together by three parallel seams, which made his board shorts particularly tear resistant and sturdy.

Today, Billabong is one of the largest sports companies in the world and one of the market leaders in surfing. From the quality philosophy of the garage workshop of Gordon Merchant, a product range has emerged, ranging from simple board shorts and surf clothing of all kinds to wetsuits and snowboard clothing.
Billabong organizes many well-known surfing contests, such as the Mundaka Pro or Bells Beach Pro, and sponsors some of the most famous surfers in the world, for example Taj Burrow or Joel Parkinson.

The boardshort is usually worn in summer - when the water temperature is higher - while surfing or swimming. They come in many different designs and designs - for boys and girls. You can find boardshorts in every well-stocked surf shop.

There are different types of surfaces where waves break. When beachbreaking the incoming wave breaks on sandy ground.
Since sand is a malleable element in contrast to stone, the beachbreak has the disadvantage that the ground is constantly shifting. Comes e.g. a big swell, it may be that the sandbanks are different afterwards and the wave breaks at another point.
Finding the right spot at the peak is not easy at all. However, the beach break is advantageous for beginners, because they can practice their first standing attempts well in the outgoing white water.

The Back Breaker is another penetration technique in which you break the wave with your back. It is actually more of a pause technique, between the practice of penetration techniques.
When you run out of energy and the next set is approaching you, instead of trying a dive technique, you can sit with your back to the wave, pull the board towards you, and fend off the wave with your back.
Again, less is more. In this case less attack surface. Make yourself as small as possible.

The bottom turn is the maneuver after the take-off. If you have not started with an angle take-off diagonally into the waves, then you have to position the board after the take-off in such a way that a sideways movement of the shaft is still possible.
The bottom turn has to be started before you have driven the wave to the end, otherwise you lose too much speed.
The bottom-turn is also the introductory maneuver for an aerial or a cut-back on the lip.

With a boardbag you protect your board during transport. If you're planning a plane trip, do not skimp on boarding out this boardbag, as airline employees are not always gentle with your gear. As good padding and protection in case your suitcase does not arrive at the resort at the same time, clothes, towels, wetsuits and sleeping bags are suitable. But you will also get slides in specialist shops where you can pad out the delicate boards.
Tip: You are still looking for a suitable boardbag for your next surf trip? Visit our online surf shop. We carry a large selection of different boardbags for different surfboards.

For the Hawaiians surfing was a sacred sport.
A surfboard could only be made by a select group of people. It was a truly sacred act. Only three different tree species could be used for the construction of a surfboard. The tree in question had to be consecrated by a medicine man. The actual carving of the surfboard was also the responsibility of only a very specific group of people.
Today there are countless materials and construction methods of boards. There is the right surfboard for every wave and every surfer. You can roughly differentiate between:
Longboard, Malibu & Minimalibu, Funboard, Fish, Shortboard and Gun.
All these types of planks are available in different lengths and finishes, whereby the different types always have an approximate maximum. Orient the minimum size.

Longboard: from 9'0 "feet
Malibu: 7'6 "to 8'11" feet
Minimalibu: 7'2 "to 7'6" feet
Funboard / Hybrid / Evolution: 6'8 "to 7'2" feet (more revving than Minimalibu / Malibu)
Fish: 5'5 "to 6'4" (very wide but short board)
Shortboard: 5'10 "to 6'8" feet
Gun: 6'8 "to 10'0" feet (very narrow, long board for big waves)

Big wave surfing is said to have a long tradition. It is thought that even in the early days of surfing daring people in Hawaii have plunged down big waves. <br/> Their boards were massive, had no leash and no fins. Big wave surfing at this time must have been an even bigger adventure than it is at the moment.

Big waves are really big waves; Waves in which very few surfers dare. Of the few who still do, this discipline requires iron-hard physical stamina and courage. They have to stay underwater for a long time and have to deal with enormous forces.
The corresponding boards are very long and narrow (see also Gun under Board / Board / Surfboard / Surfboard) and serve only the fastest possible locomotion.

But as fast as you can be with such a board, from a certain wave height it is impossible to paddle a wave with pure muscle power.
If this fails, the jet ski jumps in. Since the necessary speed comes together quite quickly in this way, the boards are again smaller here. Boards serving tow-in purposes are significantly shorter than their muscle-powered brothers.

A famous representative of big-wave surfing is for example Mike Parsons. The well-known movie spectacle "BILLABONG Odyssey" shows this and other daring surfers in search of the biggest wave of the planet and its conquest.

Barrel means barrel, "barrel" and if you look at the shape of the wave that describes this term, then you know where this term derived from.
A barrel arises when a wave rolls over. This creates a barrel-like tube through which you can drive through with sufficient speed.
For most surfers, the barrel or tuberide is the highest of emotions as you are at the center of the breaking wave, a perfect tunnel of water.

Blank refers to the prefabricated polyurethane foam core (PU) of a surfboard, so to speak, the blank from which you shaped the shape of the board at the end.

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