Thanky Ambrose. The sick thing is that there are already several ideas floating in that intellectual space for future garage adventures. Have to see how they relate to the reality of this one…must add water first
the brain
as well
is primarily a water based organ.
rehydrating is essential.
propper ion balance will make all tests successful
blue is the relectionof the sky not the color of the water.
pump up the volume and exequte the plan.
…ambrose…
Many plans
Much water needed
MMMMmmmmmmm, water…
Ahhhh, the test flight. Offshore winds. Sparkly 4-6 foot faces. Very moderate crowd. 2 year old 4/3 full suit, rashguard w/ hoodie, AND 2 mil vest under it all. Still damn cold and the water at about 53 I think. Hate to contemplate February. Oh well, that’s later.
The ride: Not bad on catching waves though definitely more finicky as to timing than a foamy. Probably because so small but extremely twitchy sensitive. Stuffed the nose dropping in several times because until you’re weight is on it, there is zero tail rocker so you have to get up and on the board immediately, no lying down gliding in. Feels smoooooooth and much more connected w/ the wave action. Speed and control definitely come from the tail as the fin is right back there (currently about 5 1/2 inches in). Weight on heels and just lean it a bit and zip…it comes around. Haven’t found the throttle for any feeling of acceleration but taking off behind sections, if I could get in and on the board, I out ran it and was on the shoulder looking for a cutback in a flash.
Love the down in the water feeling but not totally sold on the trade-offs of freezing my nads off while not being able to see outside and paddling 1/2 as fast as anyone else. No worries about getting caught inside though. As I relaxed more, got more and more zen about it all and unconcerned about paddling out timing or effort. Stayed out quite awhile after I would normally have come in due to fatigue and cramp warnings. Just easy cruise back to the line up, watching the bubbles and turbulance go by overhead as I ducked effortlessly under sets w/out slowing down. Got several waves due to others being flushed by set wave one and I could easily hold position, come up and get the next wave.
At this point, haven’t ridden enough waves to think about tuning fin etc. The flex feels pretty good so far and no real noticible hang ups in control other than my lack of co-ordination and lack of knowing how the board works. Super fun to ride my own creation and have it work pretty damn well. Got several fun waves out of the mix.
Fantisizing about next one already though…same bottom, maybe fishy
outline, twin keels, but leaving in the blank and stringer and only
removing foam in flared knee wells to make back corners flex and keep
as much float a possible in a thinnish board (and maybe tapering the
stringer to zero at tail for a little tail flex). Would need much
less glass, maybe 2X4oz on bottom and 3 or 4 layers on deck?.
Maybe get quicker start paddling and be able to sit chest deep instead
of chin deep. It’s cold out there.
ha cool stuff, yeah I had to buy a hooded and taped 5/4 and 3 mil full fin booties just for sitting so low in the cold water all the time! Good to see you’re enjoying your own creation! take care
Glub!!!
good doctor , have you watched “Crystal Voyager” ?
…the section where George is surfing that left hander , when they take the ‘coupe’ for a cruise ?
The same nose bog problem becomes evident in that footage , on a few of his bottom turns, while Richie West , on his stub is flowing off the bottom and the shoulder . I have watched that segment in slow mo HEAPS of times , trying to suss it out …
if you like , I might be able to send that bit of footage to you , I’d value your feedback .
cheers !
ben
You might already have figured this out but…you can’t paddle these things, just hold on to the rails and kick. Hold it out in front of you like a kick board. You can use a one arm paddle for a little burst of acceleration. I used to get in as early as any paddling surfer by placing the board on the wave face almost at arms length. My body could be almost behind the crest but as long as the board was laying out on the face below me, it would drag me right in . Never had a kneeboard that gave me more cramps than flexies though. Lotsa bananas and even salt pills seemed to let me stay out a bit longer (Santa Cruz just before the full suit).
Ride a few more but it sounds like the fin location may need adjustment…The sweetspot should not be on your heels but very neutral, on your shins
The left in Crystal Voyager is pretty fat…not the ideal medium for a flexy.
You did a great job with the board!
Chip, trying to get copy of CV but so far no go. Would love to view the clip. do you have it as an emailable file?
I think fin is too big as well as maybe too far back. 10 inch deep nearly 5 inch base. Have not tried fully hanging off the back yet; feels like I need to push the nose down with the one hand that is on the board. Next go out I’ll try letting the nose figure it out on its own and just kick like I mean it. See what happens. Already dreaming of floatation though. Except when I get caught inside on a biggish set. Ahhhhh, "run silent, run deep…: "
Too bad any real point breaks are several hours drive from here. Each way.
reduce the base area of fin as well as tune the flex to forgive tracking
in me bloated opinion
IMBO
fin drive =area
reduced base area>release forgiveness & potential for bleeding off drive and checking face position
flex>adjusts rection time for said adjustments
…ambrose…
do flippers{fins attatched to feet?} extend over tail while riding?
If there’s flipper hang, it’s not much. Can’t really see back there but guessing from about where knees go etc. I think the fin is too big. A bit of filing and sanding should fix that. Little at a time. I’ve been here before and a little to much is way too much and not so easy to put it back. That little tiny dust just doesn’t want to adhere. Heh.
Hang mentioned above is paddling into waves. Riding, knees are about 1/3 or a little further up the board (I have very short legs by the way).
if fins were to hang beyond the hard trailing edge of glass
the flexibility of the fin [flipper ]material would soften the release
and broaden the medium somewhat by opening up the potential
toconsider the plan shape of he trailing fin{filpper} tips
and the articulation thereof.
…ambrose…
the trailing edge of the tail fins of fish
tapers to a flexible membrane
sort of the low tech version of GG’s rubber tail bladder…have to Linda Blaire my head so I can get a better look at how my flippers sit when I’m riding. Or then again, maybe I can check on dry land
Emailed Dale S. about having to ride back on board etc. Here’s some response:
Check flat rocker’s flexibility from about halfway back, especially in thelast 12"-18". Definitely should not have to ride off tail to maintaincontrol. Greenough also had similar problem with early edge board that was too stiff, w/slight reverse rocker (1/4")… super fast, but crude handling. The edge tail should have at least enough flex to
accomodate the curves in a hollow 4’ to 6’ wave, particularly when
moving directly down the face. [Also he mentioned cutting fin some as likely too big, but to check flex first. I remeasured and realized I never measured fin after making he template and the actual was bigger ended up about 10 1/4 deep, 4 1/2 base, 5 rake. Now its 9 3/4, 4, 4 1/2 and narrower for top 2/3 and more flex in tip; was very little.]
me: "So I should be able to kneel w/ knees just behind 1/2 way or a bit
farther back and drive straight down and smoothly out into the flats
w/out having to worry about weighting toward feet to prevent pearling?
Or maybe, same scenario but just shift weight toward feet a bit?"
Dale: Yes. Minimal adjustments.
In fact, it might be insightful if you studied some of the old
spoon/edgeboard surfing footage that featured Greenough. George’s
boards were designed to function with “accelerator and brakes” in a
balanced, mid-deck position.
George’s ideal of high performance surfing is achieved through neutral
handling, a goal which would not have been successful if he had been
always shifting around on the deck to find the optimum position for
trim, turn and stall (also true with high performance surf mats).
George wanted his edge boards to be very compact and light, fast and
maneuverable, having maximum “horsepower” available for a wide range
of conditions. He also wanted them to be strong and resilient, yet
offer exceptional feeling/sensitivity. George often makes fascinating
comparisons between how his surfcraft are set up and and small,
high-powered performance vehicles.
One more detail to consider… the wider the fin base, the less
flexibility (especially lengthwise) through that area, i.e. an 8" wide
base will make the deck panel much stiffer than a 3" base.
George told me his first fiberglass spoon had very poor performance…
too stiff, too much glass. So he began to carefully sand away and
taper, fine- tuning until just right. Soon it became a completely
different board!
Just found coppy of Crystal Voyager…friend sending me a VHS. Maybe I can convert to DVD so watch the slow-mo version…
Just found copy of “Crystal Voyager” …friend sending me a VHS. Maybe I can convert to DVD so watch the slow-mo version…
good stuff doctor , that should help !!
There’s nothing like SEEING how stuff works [or doesn’t] , I always say .
ben
Just watched CV last night for first time since it came out (Saw it in movie theater). Have to say I don’t get the criticisms I’ve read on the KB forum. Many say looks like GG is struggling w/ the board he is riding, not making waves etc. At first viewing I didn’t really see any of that. Maybe I missed something. Looked to me like board worked ok even in the waist high waves in one sequence and flew in the better waves…
I’m back from Angourie. It was really fun on my spoon, not so hard to ride either. awesome.
“Not so hard to ride either”
and that was without swimfins or highly powerful waves! in a springsuit with no deck patch.
spoons are super fun allright.
as flexspoon said the style of spoon im on (velo type) gives HUGE TWANG!
and in crystal voyeger after he explains his retractable keel he says:
" after a heavy days work on the boat, i would climb the hill behind my home in hope to get a late evening surf"
when the music kicks in it shows how he paddles into the wave.
in regards to George struggling without the edge board runners, i think he surfs really good at sand spit and love the way he slide-slips down the face.
in regards to George struggling without the edge board runners, i think he surfs really good at sand spit and love the way he slide-slips down the face.
which is a heaving, full speed ahead tube , by the looks ! [America’s Kirra equivalent ?] …
AWESOME!!! thanks for the frame grabs chipper!