Some time ago, I got in touch with a guy who is heavily into tandem and SUP surfing. His name’s Fred and together with his girlfriend and tandem partner Aurely, they attend almost all tandem events in France. We talked a bit and I eventually offered to make him a board. He was looking for a PE board as he doesn’t like EPS for SUPs. I happened to have a big 11’3" Burford, so I shaped the board out of it but I was somewhat limited by the available width (about 27", the board ended at 26") Fred had asked for nose-riding ability but he also insisted that the board would not be too difficult to whip around. That’s when I decided to try a step-deck to take some volume out of the nose:
Aurely sent me a drawing with the kind of artwork both of them wished and it turned out like this:
Fred and Aurely were at the Oxbow WLT in Anglet last week, doing some tandem and SUP demos. I delivered the board there and Fred immediately proceeded to rip in the shore-break:
Thanks Greg. The artwork actually is on the bottom, not the deck, but there are a few color bands on the deck, too.
The whole board was shaped with the Skill 100 that I recently purchased from one of Swaylock’s members, equipped with a shaping barrel. Shaping with that tool is a real pleasure, especially when mowing lots of foam (which was the case there).
Hi Hicksy, it’s still not finished, alas… For instance, i’m still waiting for the power company to plug the whole electrical set-up… At the moment, I work with a wire that’s plugged in the house a few meters away…
Still, it’s getting better every day and I have a lot of room (shaping and glassing boards in the 11’-12" range definitely means a bigger shack).
Even though many things need some finishing touches, I have already nailed a few definitive “classics” on the walls:
You know, looking at that big board reminded me of all the extra work and glass and resin needed to build them. I build serveral 11.5 SUP last year. Really hard work. Guys who have only build short boards don’t realise how much extra work those babies are. And many of my tools and equipment had to be upsized to accomodate the extra width and length.
I do agree with you, Greg… As a matter of fact, the next board that I had to shape after that one was a 6’4" “Wombat inspired” and it just felt like a joke…
But I like to fight with foam… When I get to date with orders, I plan to shape a big 11’-something glider for myself…
The real challenge is glassing those over-sized boards… You got to be fast…
Nice job! The guy is obviously a good surfer but the board looks like it works perfectly. I was quite surprised at the nice turns the surfer was popping off. It looks like it would be a great section-connector/cross-country longboard for guys who like the really big ones.
Hi John, we had a bit too big “side-bites” for the first go-out. I’m sending Fred some smaller ones and it should help manoeuverability. Fred’s plans, as he told me, is to go “vertical” with it… Whatever that means…
Hi Wouter, shaping must have been in the 3 hours range, easy. Glassing, well, as you know, polyester gels in about 10 to 15 minutes, so you have to get the job done within that time for each coat. Deck side being the most difficult with 2 x 6 oz. Sanding is what makes you really hate what you’ve been doing, building such a monster… I would say probably another 3 to 4 hours… I sell those for 1200 Euros and I don’t feel like I’m ripping off anybody…
No extra glass for the step, that would be going against what’s looked for: flex. Besides, with a max thickness of 4", the lightened nose part still is around 3" thick… So I don’t think I’m taking chances there. Anyway, if it decides to break, it will break…
Thanks Oldy! Don’t forget that Fred, being the rider he is, might very well do pretty much the same with a door… Well, almost: doors have no fins. Still, it’s good to be able to think that maybe my board does not hinder his surfing too much…
It seems you’ll have enough decoration space left to display the vintage “Water Delight” I’ll deliver you in the coming weeks… You forgot to show the cool sign I’ve seen on your parking lot ! Ohh, and great SUP (but I’ve told you already).
…starting with 80 grit (sometimes 60, depending on the hot-coat), then 150. Very hard pad for the flats, very soft one for the rails. I recently discovered that the “shaper’s barrel” in a planer is very useful to grind down a fin-box without heating as much as with the sander. You just have to be careful because scratches from it are almost impossible to erase…
Sanding the gloss coat: 220 grit (dry) with a finishing sander, then 400, 600, 800 (wet). Sometimes I will stop at 600 (which was the case for this one). You won’t see much difference as long as you don’t put the board right under neon lights. That’s where all those micro-scratches appear…
