Hi
I am new to Swaylocks, but I have spent 3 weeks researching so I am hoping that I am not going over old ground.
I am writing a paper as a part of my program which has to do with the impact of wave energy on surfboards. I have gather a great deal of information from a number of research papers on wave motion, pitch, surfboard planes, fin and water displacement. All great, but the practical implications are quite different.
There two areas containing 2 specific subjects that are of interest to me. These are mats and spoons. During my research I found a number of variations on the basic surfboard being say, kneeboards, paipos, body boards and of couse windsurfers etc. The effect of drag in some cases has curtailed some of research, for example body boards have extra drag because of the rider’s body in the water.
The mats are of interest as they generally have no fin, and can very from 3 to 4 “silos”. I have read quite a deal about Dale’s mats. As well I have read quite a bit about velo spoons.
I have seen the Fantasea film and noted the exploits of George Greenough and in particular the speed he achieved on mats by limiting drag. He was pictured with Paul Gross who I understand builds or built the 4th Gear flyer that was ridden. There is a website under construction for 4th Gear Flyer - does anyone have any information about this ?
My research has thrown up quite a deal about Velos and how they are built but very little on the subsequent build and history of the edge spoon.
Previously I had eliminated the edge spoon as having a “use by” date - apologies in advance, but hold on a sec please. … until I was surfing at Long Reef Bombie about 4 weeks ago … I saw this guy take off on a 4-5’ (overhead) wave and he blasted across the wave getting airborne ( the speed) … unreal … the speed was astonishing …looped back into the white water and I was impressed. I tried to get near him but he got another wave … flew across the face and was gone. I found out he was riding a spoon from other guys out there, really new, less than 6 months according to one of the guys. I tried to catch up with him a little later but he was gone … a solid guy, grey hair … receding hair line … anyone know him or seen him ?
The reason is that the spoon held a neutral line and tucked up high on the wave and looked to be in a direct line, no sliding … single fin … these things are applicable to my research. I have seen an article about the Greenough molds but it said that Greenough ripped his last spoon out in 1990.
I am trying to find out about these spoons and the relevance today - it is really strange coming from a long time ago but appearing to be advanced. I would be grateful for comments or pointers about their relevance and information.
thanks, Jim