The Mid-Length Surfboard Movement | Rob Machado’s Seaside & Beyond

Let’s face it; 99.999% of surfers will never see a dime for their obscure hobby. There’s no money, glory, or fame in our 5:00 am strike missions. We do it for the love of the ride, the intimate connection with the ocean and maybe, just maybe, catching ONE amazing wave that will lighten our mood for the rest of the day. Yes, surfing is about fun, and anyone who thinks otherwise should take up another hobby… like accounting or data analysis.

However you obtain your “fun” in surfing is up to you. Some wave-riders enjoy the mellow, free ride that a longboard provides while others enjoy hammering big top-turns and aerial maneuvers on their high-performance shortboards. This dualism in surfing of Longboard vs Shortboard has been prevalent in the culture for 50+ years with most surfers setting their roots in one category… until now.

Made famous by professional surfer and style master, Rob Machado, mid-length surfboards are bridging the divide between the longboard soul surfers and shortboard hot-shots. What exactly is considered a mid-length surfboard and does this goldilocks paradigm of the one-board quiver really exist? Consider this: on either side of the spectrum, a mid-length board can help improve your surfing and levels of enjoyment. If you’re a longboarder seeking more maneuverability but need the extra volume for paddling power, a mid-length fulfills both of these needs. If you’re a shortboarder that wants to catch more waves on smaller days and but still bang out some powerful turns and maybe even an air, once again, the mid-length fulfills these needs.

Drawing inspiration from the mellow, lined-up waves of Cardiff Reef in San Diego, Rob Machado and Firewire joined forces to create the “Seaside & Beyond” mid-length surfboard. This board can be ordered from a 6’8 – 7’6 with anywhere between 41 and 59 liters of volume.

As Rob Machado puts it, “Stretching out my Seaside fish model to a 7 footer was a life changing experience. I got really addicted to it for a while; I couldn’t get off of it. Now it’s just a staple in my quiver that I take with me no matter where I’m going. The first feeling that really captured my attention with the 7 foot Seaside & Beyond was “the glide”. When you get into mid-length surfboards, you have much more glide and ease of catching waves. Getting up into that 7-foot world is what caught my attention, keeping the glide and keeping maneuverability.”

The Seaside & Beyond retails online and in stores around $1000 USD which isn’t a bad deal for a board that can replace your whole quiver and be ridden 365 days a year. But if you’re not ready to make the monetary commitment just yet, Witch’s Rock Surf Camp has a selection of brand new Seaside and Beyonds in our Firewire demo center. We actually ordered one of every size which includes 6’8″ / 6’10” / 7’0″ / 7’2″ / 7’4″ / 7’6”.
The waves in Costa Rica are rarely below 3 feet but rarely above 8 feet making it the perfect destination for this mid-length wave craft. When testing out the Seaside & Beyond in glassy, chest-high Playa Grande, we could only imagine how this board would perform in perfectly peeling Ollie’s Point….
We’re excited to constantly improve our surfboard selection at Witch’s Rock Surf Camp and we believe the Seaside & Beyond is an important surfboard niche that is now fulfilled. Do you currently ride this board or have had experience with the Seaside & Beyond? Drop a comment or send us a message and tell us how it performs for you and what are your favorite surf conditions for this board.