other day i was golfing and had the idea to make the bottom of my next board like the golf ball, symmetric dimples. I know the dimples give the ball greater lift, flight, and acceleration…i assume the air pockets would make the board faster, (despite drag of paddling) and better float…does anyone think this would work in water? or maybe just a waste of a good glassin’.
-mike
we had a fad of this kind of glassing in the mid 90s. The shapers would shape the dimples into the board in one way or another, A bitch to glass and Im glad it went away. It was odd feedback on it as I rcall
There was a lot of recent discussion about this on another thread - I believe the “Fin Theory” thread - incuding the fact that some Morey boogie boards come with dimpled bottoms.
The Willis Brothers in Hawaii worked with the Phazer bottom in the late '80’s and early '90’s. I glossed and polished the boards for a couple of months in the Fall of 1990. There was a pattern of about 10 dimples in front of the fins, elliptical, approx. 2-3" long x 1/4 inch deep. It looked like someone had taken a sharp spoon and scooped them out. Though you had to be a little more conscientious during the wet stages, they were easier to glass than channel bottoms.
Spence how did those boards perform?
Unfortunately I never rode one.
IF you wanted to do this dimple thing it could be better to glass as normal then lay down some small bumps (rather than dimples). It’d be cool if they were already applied on a sheet and you just cut out your pattern, peel off the backing, lay them on the board and pull the top sheet. I think there are some candy “dots” like this. The little clear silicon bumpers for cabinet doors could work. Or just make a pattern of circles on a cardboard template and drop some silicon dots in the circles.
If you think the dimple concept works on streamlined bodies (surfboards), I would say the “bumps” sticking out of the board would be more effective than dimples/depressions on the board.
for those who’ve never seen one, I just posted a photo of a 1991 Phazer (dimple bottom) board in the glossary:
…waste of glassing and time to develop it, similar dynamics between water and air, but air reacts about a thousand times faster. there is a reason it didn’t catch on and become mainstream…
for those who’ve never seen one, I just posted a photo of a 1991 Phazer (dimple bottom) board in the glossary:
Hey whos board is that? I can see that picture is taken from the aparments on Makaha beach.