I think it’s pretty rad that a large company continues to get behind non-traditional designs like this. As the general shape of performance surfboards seems to be shorter and wider, the idea of riding a 17 1/2" wide board concerns me. However, shifting the volume towards the tail of the board will hopefully make up for the 2+ inches of width I’d normally shape into a personal board. After watching the video, the design makes a ton of sense and there’s no denying the speed the board has as it flies around sections. I have a feeling, that this is going to be a design that a lot of us get asked to build for customers that don’t want to pay $700 or more for a shortboard, kind of how we all do our own version of the “Vanguard”. I haven’t had the chance to see the board in person and feel the rails, since it was only released a few days ago, but I went ahead and made a template based on the numbers the Firewire site offers. The instant challenge was tweaking the tail so it doesn’t resemble a penis so much (I can’t be the only one that sees it), so I redrew it over and over until I came up with something I wouldn’t be embarrassed to carry to the beach.
Dan Mann talks about how the narrow design helps the board go rail to rail effortlessly, and I got to thinking about the “Surf Skates” that were around a few years ago and how people were beginning to land kick-flips on surfboards and kiteboards. I think the “Cornice” outline is a great starting point for a surf skate style board, So I’m gonna throw a kick tail and severe deck concave (resembling a skateboard) on mine and see what I come up with. I know the topic of surf skates has a few threads already going, but if any of you gentlemen that have built them in the past want to chime in on some design features that either make or break them, I’d appreciate the input. I’m going to cut the blank and rough shape her up tonight. I’ll probably epoxy a piece of foam on to the tail for the kick, so I don’t have to make new foil and rocker templates. And I’ll be glassing her in 9 oz biaxial carbon fiber with bamboo inlays, since I have some laying around and the thing is going to take a beating as a prototype that might get kick-flipped (not by me!).
I’ve read in other threads, that deep single concaves don’t take to the air, so I’ll keep it mellower than I normally go. I figured a step deck with concave is the best way to leave some volume in the board. And I know I’m going to have to carve a severe amount of “V” in the tail to get that wide back end to go rail to rail. I figured I’d ask my Swaylock Brethren for advice before I burn through a couple hundered bucks in materials and hours of freetime.
I have always been curious about a parabolic design, but never wanted to invest the money on a build to find out how it worked… I figured it had to have been attempted with failure in the past.
I’ve seen lots of boards over the years that look interesting but that I’d never spend the money to risk it being a turd. This falls in that category for me. Secend, good surfers at Trestles or Oceanside when its firing are not a good representation of what average joe will be able to do in crappy beachbreak back home.
It’s been done and redone nothing new here. Tom Morey has had his swissler for a number of Years and of course Meyerhoffer has been doing boards like this as well. I’m sure someone in the 1960s had something. Anybody recall The Sidewinder? Don’t recall who made the Sidewinder.
Dale Velzy did it in the 50’s right before he did the pig. always looking for an edge in the market, he didn’t stay with it. It’s been my opinion that there is really nothing new in surfing, the same stuff just keeps being recycled every decade or two. The old stuff is new again. remember how many times twin fins were the latest newest thing? i can think of at least 5 cycles for that at least ;-/
Look at the tail. The edge is very thin. I think you’d want to see one up close and get a good idea of the edges, and bottom. Not sure if this design is better than what Tomo is doing or not. Goes to show that you can surf on just about anything. Get the edges and bottom right and you shouldn’t have too many problems. I personally think the wider tail is better than Mayerhoffer’s pintail. Not sure if that round tail is better than the fish, bat, fang or what Tomo does, but my latest board is a fat round tail like the nugget.
Welp, I went ahead and started this thing. I definitely realize that the side-cut thing isn’t anything new, however its nice seeing it"s application on a short peformance board. I also added a few bells and whistles just in case it isn’t everything I hoped for, it should be interesting, and if all else fails I’ll just ride it finless. Here it is rough shaped with the kick tail glued on the blank. I trimmed the kick with a router and hotwire, but I ws a few beers in and forgot to snap a photo.
So why not make it a build thread of a penis-shaped, kick-tailed, contoured deck, channeled, carbonfiber, bamboo board that might not work?
Holmsey out of Florida made the Sidewinder. It didn’t resemble these boards, much. Or the meyerhoffer and swizzle. More of a typical mid 60s longboard outline with forward agled notches in the rails near the tail. Just another weird gimmick idea marketed at the height of the noseriding craze.
I had pretty much all the same thoughts that have been said. I couldn’t remember who it was that had made the peanut board. And personally, in the video it doesn’t look like anything superior to a HPSB is going on. But heck, I’m interested to hear how your version rides. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Thanks Newschoolblue. I got all of those windows out of a commercial space for a ridiculously low price and figured I’d go big with the shaping room. I wanted to get it all painted before I shaped in it and posted pics, but I had to get this idea into some foam. The room is 26’ by 14’ so I won’t be hitting my elbows on the light shelves anymore. The idea was to have the a couple people shaping in there at he same time if needed. Believe it or not, I have less than $300 into this room and my factory is pretty rundown so I wanted the shaping room to be a gem that distracts you from the mold, extension cords, and leaks in the roof.
