Taylor Jensen Breaks Down His TJ Pro Model in Thunderbolt Technology

Taylor Jensen - TJ Pro Model in Thunderbolt Technology

Taylor Jensen has won three longboard world championships, with back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012, and a third in 2017. Throughout his career, he has competed on his signature model, the TJ Pro shaped by Dan Mann, which is available in Firewire Timbertek, and will be available in Thunderbolt Black (carbon fiber) and Red (Xeon fiberglass) starting in April. To get us hyped up for the release of this high-performance longboard in Thunderbolt, we invited Taylor Jensen himself to come into the shop and talk us through the dimensions and design.

The TJ Pro comes in a stock 9'0" length, with a single concave stretching from the nose through the center of the board, then transitioning to a double concave and eventually a vee out the tail. The bottom contours blend smoothly, creating for a seamless transition from rail to rail and maneuver to maneuver while surfing. Taylor rides the board as a 2+1, with a 6.875-inch middle fin and 4.25-inch side fins, which are essentially standard shortboard fins. These smaller side fins provide drive and maneuverability, which is exactly what you want when you are shredding a longboard on your way to world titles.

One of the most fun things for Taylor is that he can now ride his board in three different constructions (Timbertek, Thunderbolt Black, and Thunderbolt Red), each providing different feels and thriving in different conditions. The Timbertek tends to dampen the ride a bit, which is great for a more traditional feel and helps with the flow on bumpy days. The Thunderbolt Red is laminated with Xeon fiberglass, and provides a lot of flex, making it livelier and more responsive. Meanwhile, the Thunderbolt Black in carbon fiber provides more stiffness and control and is best for larger waves where you need to turn in powerful, critical sections.

Whichever feeling you are looking for, the TJ Pro is now available here at Hawaiian South Shore starting. I’ll be testing them all out!

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