Bonzer 3 or Bonzer 5

General Discussion
1

Aloha,

I’m thinking about delving into the world of Bonzer.

I’ve been into ‘alternative’ ‘retro’ 'whatever you want to call ‘em’ boards for sometime, riding fishes, twinnies and quads so I’ve come to a cross roads withthe Bonzer…3 or 5 fins?

I tired of thrusters about 4 yrs ago although still take out my 6’10" on bigger days

I love speed and bashing the lip, big sharp cutties and late take offs. I’ve struggled with the latter on my quad, finding it nose dives on stepper hollower waves. It’s great for 3-4ft but any bigger and I seem to get a spanking, no matter how far back I get my front foot!

Would my old fish being an inch longer, a bit thinner and slightly narrower, lighter glass job make all this difference to drops? I didn’t think so but clearly something in there does…

My quad is 6’1x23"x2.75 - super fast, goes anywhere, unforgiving but great to carve on, painful when you fall off at speed, makes any section with ease!

My old fish which I ride twinnnie 6’2"x21.5"x2.5 - fast, great for taking big drops on, glides over flat/slow sections, slippy slidy in bigger stuff as you’d expect! I can go as late as humanly possible in the lip and this boards always gets me out of trouble. This is something I want from my next board…

A friend of mine recently said I should go down the 5 finnned route - he’d tried one and loved it, he’d never go back and had already tried a 3 finned set up…

How do they turn? Can you crank a decent bottom turn on them?

I’m after a slightly more progressive shape without the bulky 70’s rails and a bit more rocker up front to help me make those drops!

I’ve seen some lovely 3 finned shapes…I was considering getting a single fin next, something aound 6’4" so figured a 3 finned Bonzer would be a good compromise.

One thing I don’t want are extra fins for the sake of it. I want a board that will ride well and be responsive over having extra fins and looking nice.

How different will a 5 fin ride over a three?

Any advice? Any pics or urls would be much appreciated before I put in an order…

cheers

2

I like the 5 fins myself.

www.bonzer5.com

3

hi swordy !

I know the concaves are slightly different for both designs …

but …

would you consider the ‘chipfish option’ …

ie : putting in plugs or boxes , so you can have the single fin , through to the 2, 3, 4 or 5 fin option ? [A back finbox , with four sets of plugs / side boxes ].

just a thought …

ben

4

cheers 5fin, I’ve checked the site a fair bit, it’d be nice to see more pics and boardshapes and dimensions on there…

all the info available is either ‘coming soon’, the history of the bonzer or bonzers “sold” :wink:

There’s a lovely bumble bee stub here ewhivh I like the look of…

http://forum.surfermag.com/photopost/data/501/151DSC00809.jpg, http://forum.surfermag.com/photopost/data/501/151DSC00810.jpg

5

I heard you really feel the exsperiance with the 5 fin…I’m getting mine next week from Malcolm Campbell…Looking forward to it.

5-fin paintail 7’6".

6

cheers Ben,

yep I’d def go for a box setup although I’ve recently damaged a lokbox and it’s going to be pain to get fixed…

that’s one draw back of my quad…I can’t experiment with fins

also easier for surf trips…baggage handlers have done a great job on my 6’10" but at least I’ve been refunded by the ailrline so I can buy a new board :slight_smile:

I think I’ll invest in a plastic board coffin next…

so what do you ride?

7

" so, what do you ride ? "

eeni meeni mieni…

" MOE !!! " ( yeah , right …in my dreams !)

In reality , though , Swordman , THIS is the board I have ridden the most for the last three years … “the prawn” [with a coupla options !!]

http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=214840;page=1;mh=-1;;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC

…hope this helps !!!

ben


8

ha ha!

I almost felt sorry for then, riding that old brown board in the front and then I saw pic 2… shame about her face but I guess you guys have plenty of plastic surgeons over there! :wink:

I’ll never eat a Prawn again!

marvellous marvin, you could do with a few more fin options though…!

I think a book is in order ‘the history of the prawn’ documenting it’s rise from humble single fin to super duper hybrid mystery machine

9

longer, more drawn out turns: 3-fin

looser, snappier: 5-fin

sounds like you’d prefer the 5

10

the bonzer 5 is still pretty stiff but i am geussing much looser than a 3 fin. deffinetly go the 5 fin route.

11

…the 5 fins is the modern 3 fins Bonzer…the evolution…, so, Campbell push this design not the other…

12

I have never ridden a 3 fin bonzer but I have three self made 5 fin bonzers based on the campbell bro fin placements and concaves. The 5 fin is great for fast or big surf . I have found that bonzers tends to bog in small or mushy waves. The reason I feel is that side runners have a lot of cant to them. the maga cant causes a lot of lift and the lift is caused by drag. so when you are riding waves that are slow or mushy the board will ride slower than most other fin set ups. it’s almost a feeling of having kelp stuck in your fins feeling. When the waves have some power and speed to them the bonzer seems open up and breaks free of the drag. I guess that is the fifth grear feeling… If you are looking for loose quick turns, forget it… the ride is more like a combo of a 2+1 and a thruster. They do carve big and long turns…

""One thing I don’t want are extra fins for the sake of it. I want a board that will ride well and be responsive over having extra fins and looking nice. “”

Don’t give in to the hype factor. You should test ride one for a week or so to see if you like the ride…

13

Hey Ben, you answered my question too, been thinking about a 5 fin bonzer to replace my 7’ big boy that has too much nose rocker so I only use it in O/H conditions. But mostly our waves are mushy so I guess a Bonzer will be of no benefit.

I guess I build a copy of the 7’0 with a relaxed rocker. What is the benefit of the widow maker setup over standard thruster anybody?

14

I like the 3 fin bonzer setup on my fish …goes good in small waves , too, because it is the 7 1/2" back fin doing most of the work* [and I LIKE single fins !]

the two side runners are only 4 3/4" base x 2 3/4" deep.

(Bear in mind , the board is 5’11 x 20 x 2 1/2" , though . A lot of the bonzers seem to be a LOT longer than that , from what I’ve seen here , and at surfer forums.)

ben

  • similar to the widowmaker setup in feel , to me anyway, Burnsie…
15

muchos gracias shipman,

that’s given me something to consider. Like Chipfish’s ‘Prawn’, I can always ride it with different fin setups

to overcome the drag and surf it in different conditions.

What’s stopping me from surfing it single fin or even tri fin depending on conditions?

Is the design built around the 5 fin set up done so precisely that different options don’t really work with Bonzers?

I don’t do small and mushy (if I can help it!), I’ve reached a stage in my surfing life where I just don’t enjoy it unless it’s at least 3ft and has a bit of power to it.

Summer flat spells might see me surfing in anything but that’s a different matter! :wink:

Winter is when I come alive!

I’d love to test drive some but unfortunately being in the UK I don’t have that privilige, I’ve yet to see a bonzer in Wales. I think I own one of the few quads here.

‘Fish’ are starting to become a lot more popular here now though so maybe our shapers will catch up! I know Malcolm Campbell has a guy shaping for him in Cornwall, England now so I might pop down and see if I can test drive some down there.

Some of you may have heard of a welsh surfer/shaper - Chris ‘Guts’ Griffiths, a former European Longboard champ. He shapes a ‘Mullet’ that looks pretty interesting:

"The Mullet is a wide tailed high volume board that you would ride in the same conditions as a Fish. The advantages over the Fish is that with a straighter tail profile you can generate more drive and also have less drifting. As someone who surfs longboards most of the time I am always trying to develop a performance board under 7’ in length that take the minimum amount of adjustment time when jumping from my longer equipment, the Mullet gives me this

At this years national championships, I won the masters shortboard caregory riding a 6’4" version of this board."

16

Hi Swordy, i would just call Guy Penwarden or contact him at http://www.houseof bonzer.com

He lives near Bournemouth i think & is a really helpful guy.He knows Malcom Campbell personally, has a quiver of different bonzers & is the guy who has had Malcom come to the uk in the last two years to shape some bonzers which were then glassed at Beach beat in st agnes.

17

Thanks Jory,

yep I’ve tried the bonzer site, I’m on there most days…no contact details for Guy on there as yet.

He was on the old site.

I did get an e-mail of him last yr but can’t find it!

I’m pretty sure I know what I want now, Just tricky ordering custom shapes via e-mail or over the phone and cornwall is a good 5-6 hr drive for me but I’ll try and get down there soon and see Guy.

I’d had a mail from Malcom who has offered to hopefully stick a board in a container shipment for me so I’d rather get one from the man himself if I can!

18

If you can get one direct from the states that was glassed at moonlight i would as the aggie boys lamination isn’t a patch on the californians even if the blanks were shaped by malcom in both cases. I haven’t got any contact details for guy but you might try tunnel vision in newquay, they had quite a few of the last batch malcom shaped in the uk this year, i don’t think they’ll have any left but they should be able to get you Guy’s number, even if only to smooth the transit from the US! Be prepared to be patient, i think there’s a lot of demand for bonzers right now. I guess they could replace the keel fish as the board to be seeen with in california!

19

I’ve made both a 3 and 5 fin, I’ve defenitely found the 5-fin to be looser and still quite drivey. It will hold a bottom turn like it’s on rails, I’ve found that you can really push off the bottom and climb back up to the lip with almost no effort. I also agree that Bonzers really like a bit of grunt in a wave, I’ve ridden mine quite a bit in mushier pointbreaks and they still go well, generate speed, and are quite maneuverable, better than a thruster in my opinion, but when the surf gets bigger and more powerful they really do have a magic, hidden “5th gear”. I’ve also found the wider diamond or arc tails to be a good idea in the Bonzer, they seem to like the extra planing area. Good luck and I hope you end up with a good board!

20

…Shipman what do you mean when you say “…tends to bog…”, you mean crap or something like that?. please explain me that…I really interested, cause I had been hear good reports…