The Loogey ain't no Booger!

[ragboy]

Last year we won a 2007 Yellow Loogey. It was a great board and a step up for my son RJ, who was 11, going on 12. However, certain tricks going into the wake, and 360s were impossible for him to do. At first, we just figured it was ability, but he tried so hard.

So I emailed Lance at Inland Surfer and he told me that the 2007 and previous yellow loogey were designed for smaller wakes and had a tendency to pearl. He said the new green loogey or 2007.5 yellow fix that issue. It was the end of the season, so we decided to wait for the new green loogey. We picked one up a few weeks ago and instantly RJ felt the difference. He was able to carry a lot more speed forward, do tail slides, and even just barely start to get some air.

Well today was not a great day. We go out, and first thing, the iPod is not working. Its DOA. Everyone is bummed, we always crank the tunes. Then we realize someone forgot the snacks on the kitchen counter. I just got our new Inland Surfer Blue Lake 2 days ago, and so wanted to get some pics and Whitney pulls out the camera, and says she forgot to make sure the memory card was in it. Ever have one of those days?

Well, not the first time my iphone has come to the rescue. So I get some decent pictures of the Blue Lake. The kids love it. Ashley & Whitney will now use it full time instead of the cybershapes. RJ described it as super fun, like the loogey only smoother, and less squirly. But not a beginner board at all.







Whitney dialing it in goofy.



RJ Throws a tail slide. Not the best pic, but its hard to get the timing right when using the iphone for pics.

[ragboy]

Now about the new Loogey that ain't a booger.

So we are still a bit down in the dumps and RJ says, "Hey dad, should I try a 3"? I say, "Great, you haven't tried that yet on the new green."

He makes one attempt, and does a 540. He OVER rotates. What a difference with the new loogey. I knew right away he was going to land it. I was bummed. There was NO way the iphone camera was going to capture this. But then I remembered I downloaded a piece of share ware on my iPhone the other day that I had yet to try. It was called iPhone Video Recorder. I had only the trial version that was good for only 30 seconds of capture.

So first we test the recorder. Its not great, but it will do. You have to click through like 3 registration notices when you record, and 30 second limit, what a pain. So we work out that RJ will thumbs up when he is ready to attempt, and we will thumbs back when we start rolling. Then he has 30 seconds to make the attempt. Believe it or not, this all worked. We only missed like 2 of his attempts. Its not great quality, but I chopped together his attempts. Here is the best quality:

http://www.garcias.com/Garcias_2008/...es/RJ_360.html

And I also uploaded to youtube for those of you without quicktime.



You can tell from the video, we were pretty happy about the 360. Mine was the first loud YEAH! when I knew he sticked it, then the rest of the loudmouth garcias jumped in.

RJ has REALLY been progressing with the new loogey. It is very exciting, and he is only 12. I guess this means I am going to have to sac my boat out even better to really give him the best wake. I am also thinking of trying the quad fin loogey as well. Not sure.

[dogbert]

That's awesome, my youngest son finally landed a 360 this past weekend on....of all things, a '90s vintage HO Skurfer. We took the fins off and put Gator Grip on the surface.

[da.bell]

RJ made those turns look very easy on that board. I have seen others that try a lot harder.

[Timmy!]

That was awesome!!!! We just got out 2007.5 Yellow Loogey last week and took it out for the first time on Sunday. The water was a little choppy but decent enough to start to get a feel for the board and it is a lot of fun! I got the full rotation on the 360 but fell out of the pocket a split second later. I tried one more time but it was just too choppy to get it done. The Yellow doesn't like chop at all.

[Coach]

What was your speed, taps and ballast weight. We have been playing with our settings and are trying to get everything dialed in. Right now we are going 11.4 with taps at 4 with no ballast exept for big bodies.

[ragboy]

11.4 was the speed also. I sometimes go to 11.6, but this was at 11.4.

2 400 lbs in each rear. 100 lbs up front. About 700 lbs of people and 2 fat bricks on the side. So altogether about 2000 lbs.

I usually do taps around 2-3 to keep the pocket long.

[Coach]

11.4 was the speed also. I sometimes go to 11.6, but this was at 11.4.

2 400 lbs in each rear. 100 lbs up front. About 700 lbs of people and 2 fat bricks on the side. So altogether about 2000 lbs.

I usually do taps around 2-3 to keep the pocket long.

Thanks for the info. The video is sweet.