On the hunt for a mid length surfboard with plenty of paddle power, style and flow that you can put on rail and flick around? Well the new Elveen from McTavish surfboards could be exactly what you’ve been looking for…

REVIEW: McTavish Elveen Mid Length

Who’s It Aimed At?

The McTavish Elveen fit really nicely into the mid length surfboard category – both because of sizing and also due to the surfers it’s aimed at.

It’s designed as a board to fit the quiver of the longboard looking to drop down in size a bit and increase performance, or for the shortboarder looking to size up to a mid length without sacrificing too much manoeuvrability.

It’s certainly a little more progressive for beginner surfers, but is going to be a solid choice for anyone intermidiate and upwards, with the more experience you have unlocking more of the boards potential.

 

 

Board Breakdown & Dimensions

Currently the Elveen comes in two sizing options:

• 6’11” x 21″ x 2 3/4″ 
• 7’2″ x 21 1/2″ x 2 7/8″

I tested out the 6’11, wanting a little more performance and shortboard style vibe from it versus my other longer, more cruisey mid length and at 185cm and 85kg it went really well.

With adequate foam under the chest, a really nice pulled in pin tail and medium rocker, the Elveen has all the charecteritics of a solid mid length surfboard, with the addition of some hull style rails at the front, allowing even easier rail to rail surfing.

If you’re on the lower end of the experience spectrum, a bit heavier, or just want something with the extra length, the 7’2 is never going to be a bad choice either!

 

 

Fin Setup

The McTavish Elveen comes as a single fin with sidebites, and although you can run it as a dedicated single fin, the sidebites are really going to help up the speed and drive of this board.

With that in mind, the McTavish team recommend the Mctavish Wiz 6″ centre fin and FCS II Quad Rear as side bites – which as you may have guessed, work a treat!

 

Ideal Wave Conditions 

When it comes to ideal wave conditions, like a lot of mid length surfboards, the McTavish Elveen covers a lot of bases.

I surfed it at the points in about thigh to head high waves and it handled everything with ease – but the bigger and punchier it got, the livelier the board felt.

If you’re looking for a full on small wave mid length or something that will excel in more mushier conditions I would say the McTavish Rincon in a 7’4 or 7’6 would be a better shout, or even the Thunderbolt Moe.

 

 

What’s It Like To Surf & Final Verdict

I was pretty surprised at the McTavish Elveen.

Despite surfing it in the smaller size, I was stoked with how easy this board paddled and I locked into heaps of waves on it – even on a busy day at the Pass in Byron Bay.

With plenty of trim and flow (a staple of anything out of the McTavish factory!) it also turned beautifully and was, as expected, heaps of fun. It did need a bit more work to get through flatter sections (especially in comparison to the like sof the Rincon which carries speed ridiculously well), but made short work of the open face.

The extra drive of the sidebites allowed me to lean into bottoms turns and carves a lot more aggressively than my single fins and the pulled in tail pivots around in the pocket pretty seamlessly – all of which keep that fun factor high!

Will I be adding it to my quiver though? Well to be honest there’s a lot of overlap in my quiver at the moment, especially in the mid length range (they’re just so damn fun!) and overall I prefer the single fin feel of the Rincon over the Elveen.

Don’t get me wrong though, the Elveen is heaps of fun, and if single fins aren’t your vibe then it’s going to be a great addition to the board rack!

 

 

What’s your go to mid length surfboard?

Any I need to add to the review list?