Soft-tops are super fun. Sure, they don’t perform as well as a regular surfboard, but what they lack in performance is made up for in ease. It’s easy to catch waves. Easy to paddle. Easy to ride waves. If you don’t care about huge, gouging turns and airs, you can have a lot of fun on a soft top. Which is why they’re getting so popular these days.
For a while, Wavestorm had the market cornered. It was, in fact, the best selling surfboard in America for a while there. Wavestorms were soon found in every lineup, from barreling Hawaiian ones to knee-high Canadian ones. “Real” surfboard makers jumped on the train, producing models of their stock shapes, but soft. The latest is JS’s Bull Run, a surfboard created for Occy in particular.
The Bull Run was already made for a surfer who likes a bit of size under their feet. It is not a paper-thin, heavily rockered little elf shoe.
“The Bull Run is built for surfers who want a generous outline with a full nose, providing more stability, easier paddling and extra momentum down the line,” JS writes. “While less extreme than our dedicated super grovelers, you’ll be able to get plenty of volume hidden in a much shorter board.”
So to make a soft-top surfboard that has a bit more performance in its rails, JS decided to keep it simple. “Proven JS small wave shapes that you can actually maneuver, built to maximize durability and safety,” the brand explained. “It starts with the same top-quality materials and construction processes we use in our world-renowned JS range, and is finished with a soft three-mm PE shell all over, plus a slick bottom & Carbon T-Stringer.”