Does Dan Mann have a pass to Surf Ranch?
A key, a code; whatever handshake it takes to get through the gates on any given day no matter who is there?
After this we wondered. And now this, below.
We’re jealous, but whatever, because even though we’re not surfing freshwater as often as him, we are at least surfing more happily than we were before we had the NO BRAINER – a flat rockered fast shape that Kelly asked Dan to make for Florida slop (and 4-6 foot tubes, too?).
It’s rare to see a surfboard grovel so well and go so smooth in rounder waves too, but if someone was going to make a shape that reliably did both, it would be Dan Mann after what he learned from the Baked Potato (and the Sweet Potato too and the Potatonator as well and that whole potato family of surfboards that have helped that other guy in the lineup get more waves than you since 2012).
The No Brainer is a new shape designed for Florida slop (and more) by Kelly Slater and Dan Mann. Photo: Glaser
A few months back, Kelly said that the NO BRAINER was “the one-foot Oceanside model”.
Dan says it works well in weak waves because “the way the fins are, the location of the fins with the relationship with the rocker, on a board like this with almost no rocker, you’re gonna get all the drive and grovel you need. But the tail and nose is quite pulled in compared to the potato world.”
He says “It’s definitely a a performance board hidden inside of a purely fun groveler.”
What he won’t say is how he’s getting so much Surf Ranch time recently.
NO BRAINER dimensions are below. They’re at Surf Shops in Australia now, and slowly slipping onto Surf Shop racks in the U.S. throughout June, and Europe in July.
5’0 x 18 7/8″ x 2 5/16″ x 24.6L
5’2 x 19″ x 2 3/8″ x 26.1L
5’3 x 19 3/16″ x 2 3/16″ x 24.8L
5’4 x 19 1/4″ x 2 1/4″ x 26L
5’4 x 19 1/8″ x 2 3/8″ x 27L (Kelly’s personal dims)
5’5 x 19 5/16″ x 2 5/16″ x 27.2L
5’6 x 19 3/8″ x 2 3/8″ x 28.7L
5’7 x 19 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ x 29.9L
5’8 x 19 5/8″ x 2 1/2″ x 31.2L
5’9 x 19 11/16″ x 2 9/16″ x 32.6L
5’10 x 19 3/4″ x 2 5/8″ x 34L
5’11 x 19 13/16″ x 2 11/16″ x 35.4L
6’0 x 20″ x 2 13/16″ x 37.7L
6’2 x 20 3/8″ x 2 15/16″ x 41.1L
6’4 x 21″ x 3″ x 45.3L
6’6 x 21 1/2″ x 3 1/8″ x 49.2L
