Roberts Modern 80s 5'6"

Modern 80’s Tech Specs:
1. 80’s Inspired Outline with Wider Nose and Bump Wing Squash Tail
2. Roberts Signature Nose Rocker with Tip Flip and Rolled Rails
3. Modern Single Concave Bottom Shape for Lift and Speed
4. Great Blend of Modern Hybrid and Shortboard Performance

What We Like:
The Robert’s Modern 80’s takes all the fun of higher volumed 80’s shortboards and supercharges them with modern rockers and bottom shapes. This board starts with a design very similar to the popular Robert White Diamond (the board that won him Surfing Magazine Shaper of the Year) and then gives it even more performance and range through thinning the nose and replacing the diamond tail with a bump wing squash.

We personally witnessed this why everyone should add a Roberts Modern 80’s to their quivers with two of our staff members this summer. They both had quivers of pencil thin shortboards and most of the time were under-foamed or pessimistic about the conditions – even though everyone else was having a blast. They were young (low 20’s) and not much into the fat slabby grovelers, that’s what kept them surfing the tiny shortboards, except the performance just wasn’t there in sub head high surf.

On both of these guys, their first sessions on the Roberts Modern 80s were EYE OPENERS. Twice the speed, glide and huge arcs all over waves they probably wouldn’t even surf before. They also had SMILES on their faces rather than grimaces. It was pretty cool to witness both of them “open up to foam” and feel what its like to enjoy surfing in every day conditions. Because they were surfing every day, they also doubled their surfing ability in less than a month, and this was ability they could transfer back to their pencil sticks when it was pumping.

In short, why do we like the Roberts Modern 80’s? It packs the fun, speed, ease of use and power of a small wave hybrid into a high performance “looking” shortboard design. This board rips and is a great addition to your quiver.

What We Don’t Like
The “Modern 80s” name sends a good number of people into a retro haze of confusion. “I’m not retro, I’m young and aggressive!” The person saying this is often the perfect surfer for the Modern 80’s because they have similar shortboard quivers to the two guys described above. They don’t want a fish, they don’t want a hybrid, they just want a fast, powerful “shortboard” that doesn’t mess up their surfing when transitioning back and forth to it. The Roberts Modern 80’s is perfect for this.

The funny thing is, even though this board is the “non-hybrid hybrid” of choice for the younger crew, it’s also a very rangy, easy to surf shortboard for those surfers who were alive in the 80’s to feel how much fun those boards were. The lack of speed and late drop pearls of the 80’s have been addressed with Roberts single concave bottom shape and his signature progressive nose rocker. This board will have you smiling.

Why you want a Modern 80’s:
You want a shortboard looking design with more glide, power and speed.



Roberts Description:
This board features an 80’s looking outline with a modern concave and rocker.

PURPOSE: This board gives the rider a wide stable outline with a bump squash tail for tighter turns and good hold.

ROCKER: Low tail rocker with slight flip off the last 12 inches for release. Low to medium rocker with flip off the last 6 inches for smooth transitions on drops and big maneuvers.

RAILS: Medium full rails for stability.

FINS: Tri fin is standard, use your favorite tri fin template or slightly larger set for extra holding power in larger waves.

BOTTOM: Single concave for maximum speed.

WAVE TYPE: This board works in waves 6 inches to 8 foot faces.