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Is the Christenson Bonneville a Pig?
Yes, absolutely. Designed by Chris Christenson in collaboration with Mitch Abshere, the Bonneville is a classic pig design. Its most defining visual characteristic is its outline: it features a pulled-in, narrower nose with the wide point pushed significantly behind the center of the board.
How It Compares to 50s & 60s Pigs
While the Bonneville honors the visual silhouette of a late 50s Velzy or early 60s pig, it is very much a "modern-vintage" log. It retains the pivot-heavy, hip-driven turning characteristics of the original era but injects modern hydrodynamics to fix the historical flaws of the design—most notably, the notoriously tricky noseriding.
Here is how the Bonneville departs from the mid-century originals:
- The Shallow Nose Concave: This is the most significant modern upgrade. Original 50s and early 60s pigs almost universally featured rolled bottoms (belly) all the way through the nose. This made them fantastic for trimming but offered zero lift, making tip time a highly unstable balancing act. The Bonneville hides a shallow nose concave that extends almost to the board's midpoint, generating substantial lift.
- Reverse Rocker and Tail Kick: Classic pigs often had very flat, continuous rocker profiles. The Bonneville utilizes a distinct "reverse rocker" with heavily pronounced tail kick. When you step forward, that tail kick catches the water flow, essentially acting as an anchor in the wave face to counterbalance the narrower nose and keep the board locked into the pocket.
- Refined Foiling: While the Bonneville stays true to history with soft 50/50 rails running all the way through the tail, the foil (foam distribution) is highly refined. It sheds the clunky, overly thick rails of early 60s boards, making it much more responsive and sensitive to slight shifts in weight.
- Fin Versatility: Vintage pigs were defined by massive, glassed-on D-fins set flush on the tail block. They pivoted beautifully but offered zero adjustability and carried immense drag. The Bonneville features a standard single fin box. This allows you to fine-tune the board's "steering wheel" and "brakes"—swapping between a 9.5" to 10" pivot fin for locked-in noseriding, or something with a bit more rake and flex for driving through smoother turns.
How the Bonneville Impacts Your Quiver
With an incredibly curated quiver that covers the entire evolutionary timeline of the pig design—including a 50s chip, early 60s pig, late 60s pig, and a modern pintail s-shape stepdeck pig—the Bonneville is going to fill a very specific, utilitarian gap in your lineup.
- It Will Feel Like "Cheating" on the Nose: Compared to your 50s chip and early 60s pigs, the Bonneville will feel almost suspiciously easy to noseride. You know intimately how those mid-century rolled bottoms require you to perfectly stall the board and balance on a bubble of water to get any tip time. The Bonneville’s shallow nose concave and pronounced tail kick mean you don't have to work nearly as hard to stall; the board generates its own lift and mechanically anchors the tail in the wave face.
- A Grounded Contrast to Your S-Shape Stepdeck: Your modern pintail s-shape stepdeck pig—and parallel, rolled-bottom logs like a 9'9" Beachball—demand very active, dynamic footwork. Stepdecks flex and slice, allowing you to turn from a bit further up the board, while pintails roll beautifully and continuously rail-to-rail. The Bonneville, by contrast, is a more traditional "stall and walk" machine. You have to step all the way back to the fin to initiate that classic, heavy pivot. However, once you set the rail, it locks in with a much more stable, predictable feel than the highly foiled, sensitive rails of an S-deck.
- The Pocket Alternative to the Glider: When the waves are lining up perfectly, you might naturally reach for a 9'10" four-stringer glider to set a high line, catch waves early, and trim from way outside. The Bonneville is the exact opposite tool. It wants to stay deep in the pocket. Because of the reverse rocker, it actually needs the curve of a steeper, bowling wave face to fit into; otherwise, it can feel like it's pushing water, whereas a flat glider would effortlessly fly out onto the shoulder.
The Verdict: The Bonneville will likely become your highly reliable "lazy Sunday" pig. When you want the classic visual aesthetic and the tight pivot-turn feel of your early 60s boards, but you want user-friendly noseriding without the hyper-active technical demands of your S-deck, this will be the board you reach for.
繁體中文
Christenson Bonneville 是一張豬型板嗎？
是的，絕對是。由 Chris Christenson 與 Mitch Abshere 合作設計，Bonneville 是一張經典的豬型板 (Pig) 設計。它最明顯的視覺特徵就是它的輪廓：具有較窄且內收的板頭，最寬點明顯落在板身中心點之後。
與 50 和 60 年代豬型板的比較
雖然 Bonneville 保留了 50 年代晚期 Velzy 或 60 年代早期豬型板的視覺輪廓，但它是一張不折不扣的「現代復古」(modern-vintage) 長板。它保留了原版強調以板尾作樞紐 (pivot-heavy)、依賴臀部發力轉向的特性，但注入了現代流體力學，以修正該設計的歷史缺陷——最明顯的就是改善了過去極難駕馭的走板越野 (noseriding)。
以下是 Bonneville 與世紀中葉原版設計的差異：
- 淺板頭凹槽 (The Shallow Nose Concave)：這是最顯著的現代化升級。原版的 50 年代和 60 年代早期豬型板，從頭到尾幾乎都採用圓弧板底 (belly)。這讓它們在直線加速 (trimming) 時表現極佳，但無法提供任何升力，使得站在板頭成為一項極度不穩定的平衡特技。Bonneville 隱藏了一個延伸到板身中點附近的淺板頭凹槽，能產生實質的升力。
- 反向翹度與板尾翹起 (Reverse Rocker and Tail Kick)：經典豬型板通常具有非常平坦、連續的翹度 (rocker)。Bonneville 則採用了獨特的「反向翹度」，並帶有非常明顯的板尾翹起 (tail kick)。當你往前走板時，翹起的板尾會抓住水流，基本上就像在浪壁上拋下一個錨，用來平衡較窄的板頭，並將衝浪板鎖定在浪壁的口袋 (pocket) 區。
- 改良的板面弧度 (Refined Foiling)：雖然 Bonneville 忠於歷史，在板尾保留了柔和的 50/50 板緣 (rails)，但它的板面弧度 (foil / 泡沫分佈) 經過了高度改良。它去除了 60 年代早期過於厚重的板緣，使其反應更靈敏，對重心的微調更具敏銳度。
- 舵的通用性 (Fin Versatility)：復古豬型板的特點是固定式、大面積的 D 型舵 (D-fins)，與板尾齊平。它們的樞紐轉向很美，但完全無法調整，且帶來巨大的阻力。Bonneville 配備了標準的單舵盒 (single fin box)。這讓你可以微調衝浪板的「方向盤」和「煞車」——可以在鎖定走板的 9.5 吋到 10 吋樞紐舵 (pivot fin)，或是帶有更多傾角 (rake) 和彈性以驅動流暢轉向的舵之間進行更換。
對您現有衝浪板輪替的影響
您的藏板極其精美，幾乎涵蓋了豬型板設計的整個演進史——包括 50 年代 Chip、60 年代早期與晚期的豬型板，以及現代的尖尾 (pintail) S 型 Stepdeck 豬型板。在這樣的陣容中，Bonneville 將會填補一個非常具體且實用的空缺。
- 宛如作弊般的板頭停留 (It Will Feel Like "Cheating" on the Nose)：與您的 50 年代 Chip 和 60 年代早期豬型板相比，Bonneville 的走板越野 (noseriding) 會輕鬆得令人懷疑。您非常清楚那些世紀中葉的圓弧板底需要完美的失速 (stall)，並平衡在水泡上才能獲得任何站在板頭的時間。Bonneville 的淺板頭凹槽與明顯的板尾翹起，代表您不需要那麼費力去製造失速；板子本身就會產生升力，並將板尾機械式地錨定在浪壁中。它消除了走向板頭的焦慮感。
- 與 S 型 Stepdeck 形成沉穩對比 (A Grounded Contrast to Your S-Shape Stepdeck)：您的現代尖尾 S 型 Stepdeck 豬型板——以及像 9 呎 9 吋 Beachball 這樣具有平行板緣、圓弧板底的長板——需要非常活躍、動態的腳步。Stepdeck 具有彈性且破水銳利，讓您可以從稍偏板身前段的地方進行轉向，而尖尾則能漂亮且連續地進行板緣對板緣 (rail-to-rail) 的滾動。相比之下，Bonneville 是一台更傳統的「失速與走板 (stall and walk)」機器。您必須完全退到舵上方才能啟動那種經典而厚重的樞紐轉向。然而，一旦您設定好板緣，它會以一種比高度削薄、敏感的 S-deck 更穩定、可預期的感覺鎖定在浪面上。
- Glider 之外的口袋區替代方案 (The Pocket Alternative to the Glider)：當浪型完美排列時，您可能會自然地拿起 9 呎 10 吋的四木條 Glider 來設定高線 (high line)，提早下浪，並從很外面開始直線加速。Bonneville 則是完全相反的工具。它想要待在浪的口袋區 (pocket) 深處。因為反向翹度的關係，它實際上「需要」更陡峭、如碗狀的浪壁弧度來契合；否則，它可能會讓人感覺在推水，而平坦的 Glider 則能毫不費力地飛向浪肩 (shoulder)。
結論：Bonneville 很可能會成為您非常可靠的「悠閒星期天」豬型板。當您想要早期 60 年代板子的經典視覺美感和緊湊的樞紐轉向感，又想要友善的越野走板體驗，而不必面對 S-deck 那種高度活躍的技術要求時，這就會是您帶出門的那張板子。
