I have attached one photo of this board. Can someone help me get a decent photo to show here. My camera takes fairly nice photos but when I minimize the pixels small enough to post and the result is hardly worth the effort.
The board is a collaboration between shaper Nick Palandrani (Source surfboards)and I. It’s shaped from Austrailian Polyeurathane foam “blue”. Glass schedule is double 4oz. with 2/3 4oz. deck patch. Basted with colored resin and Qcell and free laped with R.R. Epoxy.
8’8"x15.0"x21.0"x15.5"x2.875" Weighs 12lbs 1oz.
Has a nice spring to it.
I have more pictures that I’m very willing to share if I can get them on the sight with acceptable quality.
I have glassed several Polyeurathane shapes with clear R.R. epoxy and have found that the foam browns much more quickly than when glassed with polyester. Here are some reasons I prefer to use epoxy. An epoxy laminated board will be considerablly lighter than one done with the same glass schedule in polyester. I like the extra springiness and durability of an epoxy/glass shell (much nicer to work with IMHO) and coloring the foam with an opaque coat of resin along with giving a nice even color coat also reduces off gasing during the lamination process. The color is very stable done like this and is quite sevicable. No cut laps are necessary to accomplish a nicely colored board as well along with excellent resin to foam bond.
This one turned out nice and light. I think a board of the same volume done with surftech type sandwich construction and this one would be very similar in weight.
Yeah, mix up a paste with opaque resin and Qcell and baste the board with a squeege. After it goes off sand it lightly with 120 grit. Wipe down with alcohol and freelap with clear resin. Be sure to do all your work wearing rubber gloves – even the sanding – cause a little body oil on the board really screws epoxy bonding up big time.
why are the small fins forward??? Ive been riding ACE quads since 1996 and the small fins are the trailers…my boards from Ace have been very loose and responsive. beautiful board
Really like the board. Couple of questions for you if you don’t mind;
Approximately how much resin and Qcell did you use when applying the opaque color on your board? Also, does it work much like a hotcoat in that you tape off the rails, cure, pull tape and then do the other side? This particular board has a white opaque, have you tried other colors, if so, have you been able to achieve a consistent, even color?
Interesting tail (pod?) on your board, how wide is the tail? Have you ridden the board yet? How does it turn?
On your fin setup, what are the numbers on the toe in and cant?
I think your question is in error. After all the small fins are aft. I do have a special small wave set-up for the board that I’ve taken photos of that has smaller fins forward. It just uses the C5 boxes and the forward Future Boxes. I’ll give posting it a go when I get the photos downloaded.
punasurf,
Nope – haven’t christened her yet.
RandR,
As I recall about 8oz. of resin per side. The Qcell increased the volume to aroun 11oz. or so. Because the basting material is a paste it doesn’t drain down the sides of the rails I saw no reason to tape off the rails. I just use a small brush with diagonal strokes along the rails from both deck and and bottom and then faired the result with a very gentle touch using 120 on small long block.
I’ve ridden several boards with similar shapes to this one and they turn just fine. The tail block on this Whale-Tail is about 8.0". The beauty of a board without a center fin is that it can be tuned with differing fin set-ups to make it just a loose in the tail as is necessary for the surf conditions.
Both fin boxes are pointed an inch outside the center of the tip of the board. So the trailers have slightly less toe in than the lead fins. I’m not big on numbers when it comes to toe in.
Chips,
I’ll only surf it as a sixer when the waves get super square and at least head high. No need for six fins un most surf conditons.
Greg,
Thanks for the tips on photo downloading.
I’ll be posting some more photos soon. I hope to get a few sessions in so I can report on performance. Several of my surfmates are jonesing to give her a ride including the shaper. Of course he’s second in line behind me.
More pics of Halycon’s 8’8" with different fin setup. His description:
“The fins shown are bonzer runners set at 22.5 degrees in the C5 boxes and 5.75 inch “Cik” template rail fins. It aint a bonzer nor is it a twinzer ~ Its the Twonger set-up.”
The best way I can thing to explain how to place quad fins is to set you lead fins exactly as though the board was going to be a thruster. Then place your trailers about 6.0" off the tail and between 2 and 2.5 inches inside of the lead fins.
The wider the tail the more more fore and aft fin separation you’ll want to have. My formula for toe in is just aim both boxes an inch outside of the nose tip, thus the trailers are toed in less than the lead fins. The more you move the trailer toward the tail the stiffer the board will be. The more you move them inboard the less they will release during rail to rail tranistion, thus giving the board more directional stability and dampening the board’s momentary transitional performance.
