Looks like the dimensions, formulas and performance have been refined for those designs.
Probably proprietary…
bg , secret shapers stuff....
surfiber , that's TREMENDOUS shapimg , mate , well DONE !
now ...
HERE'S the tricky part ...
here's where the buttcrack and the rail flow into each other , design wise [just to keep things ...ummm...'on track']
[as an asside ...
the email I received this in was entitled
" health and safety ...HOW TO HOLD ON CORRECTLY IN TRAINS "
[the punchline , beneath the photo ?
" no no , the old guy , what were you thinking ? ....I WORRY about you , sometimes ! "
[and rightly so ...when one works in the mental health field , it's a fine line every day ...]
cheers
ben
'
howdy ben,
that ‘train’ of thought is interesting, to say the least hmm !
cheers,
And a closer look at the butt cracks. The 5-8 is epoxy tinted a splotchy blue over the Clark. I still ride it a couple times a year and rarely keep homemade boards this long. The 5-9 is eps and I didn’t like the way it surfed, hence one more chance with different fins. It’s super light and the rails may be a bit too pinched. I don’t know…The first 6-0 is a PUPE. I still surf it all the time. It started with homemade cut away keels, but it was missing that 5th geer so I switched the fins out with the Rainbow Doc’s template. Much better. The last 6-0 may be my best to date. It’s epoxy over PU with 7.25 volan glass for shits and giggles. Gephart keels. Surfs bitchen. The 6-6 is epoxy over PU. Gephart quads. Surfs pretty good. I surf it when it’s too big for a fish or I’m just feeling old and slow that day. Mike
thanks for the update, mike. how does the moontail ride differently from your conventional fishtails?
cheers,
forgot where i found this wegener alaia with a buttcrack, but it’s no longer a fish. or is it ?
I like those boards , Mike - great to see you posting some of your work.
not to wander off topic , but what hull shape do you like to use ? ( was going to say bottom shape but this thread’s already awash with innuendo ! )
Hi surfiber,
I’m not sure I would even compare the two. The 6-6 has a small sweet spot. But, when your on it, it flies down the line fish like. It tends to bog and lose too much speed on cutbacks. I have no idea why. I’m just a guy goofin off in his garage. The idea was to revisit a long fish, but when it came time to shape the butt crack I thought ‘wtf’ and grabbed the lid to my garbage can. I probably wouldn’t make another.
Hey nuclear,
All have flat bottoms except my newest 6-0 and the 6-6. The 6-0 has a touch of V in the nose, flat through the middle and a touch of concave through the fins. The 6-6 was an attempt at a triplane through the tail. Kind of hull like. I like flat bottoms in general or slight V and/or concaves. Nothing too radical to break up the water flow. Just intuitive idea. Not based on me being a good enough pilot to tell the difference. I have been rolling the bottoms farther into the bottom lately and trying to improve my foils, in general, inspired by Mike Daniels and Reverb’s boards. I found for me, too thinned out of a tail, loses its down the line drive and speed and takes more pilot input. Good for the younger more athletic guys I suppose, bad for a 53 year old ‘hanger on’.Mike
hi mike,
not sure how much volume distribution & rail foil played a part in the bogginess, but i guess i won’t be going down that moontail path for my HWS simmons/fish/bonzer hybrid. i’m still staring at that wegener fishtailed alaia, wondering how well it works despite its conventional appearance. too bad i couldn’t find online testimonials. thanks for the ride reports!
cheers,
btw mike, have you considered mccoy’s take on overall board volume & foil? i might build a nugget-inspired HWS too
cheers,
1976
my 5'10" , winged , deep swallowtail Crozier kneeboard .....
[I wish I still had it today , it would be interesting to feel how it rides now , as I was 15 when I surfed this ! ]
....thanks HEAPS for the photo , Simon .... cheers !
ben
30 years later ...
A before and after shot
started as a 6'4 ['Strapper Surfboards ' Torquay] winged swallow , single fin .
The bottom of it was absolutely TRASHED , at the local dump ! I purchased it for $5. It ended up being stripped and reshaped into the 5'11" multi-plugged 'prawn' you see here .
**************[ I finally got rid of it , at a council throwout , after nearly five years of faithful service ....] ****************
hi mike
re: 'the prawn' ...
[the above is from the original post] ....cheers
hi surfiber !
for a few rides as a kneeboard , for the next ?? years standing up [only because it was a kneeboard , did i even TRY to kneel on it ....]
cheers
ben
hi ben,
looks like a winged & fishtailed mini-simmons from that shot angle, interesting board. you rode it exclusively as a kneeboard? or stand-up too?
5’3"x22x2 5.8"
Hey surfiber,
McCoy’s an icon and he and I should not be used in the same sentence. I’m not enough of a shaper to even try and duplicate his foils.
Ben,
Cool winged single fin swallow. Long live the PRAWN! Do you still surf it or did it die a glorious death?
A2, nice color work. Do you think routing out the stringer for a plug weakens the board? Mike
Wish I was a “tube” train safe handler
Miguel
hi mike ['rooster']
"it got thrown out at a council collection after nearly five years of faithful service" see original post]
hi 'surfiber'
I rode it maybe once or twice on my knees from [36 years ago] memory...[like I say , a LONG time ago now !] .....only because it was a kneeboard .
But I stood up on it throughout the years , till leaving sydney in 1983 [when the board was left on the front doorstep at 'sunshine surfing' in Manly , where I surfed then]
cheers
ben
Hey rooster, thanks, i use a holesaw, the only reason it is so large is because i wanted a nice purple halo around the green leashplug to tie everything together. usually i use a smaller holesaw or fortsner bit which ever im in the mood for, but i dont see why routing it would make it any less strong? its essentially the same thing as a fortsner bit.