For 'ZoSurf' ......the single keel setup .....

General Discussion
1

hi Paul !

well, you may possibly be pleased to know that , today , I finally got your red fibreglass single keel back off Hicksy…

Grant has been riding it in the “Moonrocket” board , apparently. [I’ll leave <span style=“font-style:italic”>you </span>to do a report on how that went , if you like , Grant ?]

So, anyway… I took it straight to the beach this morning with Pascal / ‘Popeye’ and tried it in the 7’ single’s finbox.

ooops !!

I quickly discovered …

the distance between the vertical front screw tab , and the back horizontal pin was such that , without modifying the base [moving the pin forward] , it would not go in the 7’ board’s finbox… “D’OH !!”

So, at the moment it is set , and waiting , in the 15" [!] finbox in the Bob Cooper 6’4" singly.

It looks good , and reminds me of the photo I posted here once of ‘Duck’ [Ronnie Goddard], with a similar single keel setup , in a very pinny gun , back in the 1970s.

Being that the original glasson ones that nat young and Wayne Lynch rode at Bells in the early 70s were on narrow pintails , I’m thinking this “should” work okay !

Paul , if you like , I might also try it in the large finbox in my 5’7 squaretail stubby single fin , as I know you were keen to hear how it goes in a REALLY SHORT board ?

I will template this keel , and possibly make a few variatons of it , for the prawn , and the bushy , and maybe the 5’7" “greenpin” single fin , too ??

Again , many thanks for sending this fin , Paul … I’m just STOKED I can finally get to SURF it [I just hope the thin looking tab will hold up to the stress , and that some rideable sized swell arrives during this coming week !]

cheers !

ben

2 

            <a href="http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k143/chipfish61/?start=#imgAnch6" class="bb-url"><img src="http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k143/chipfish61/a55.jpg" alt="" class="bb-image" /></a>       <a href="http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k143/chipfish61/?start=#imgAnch8" class="bb-url"><img src="http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k143/chipfish61/a53.jpg" alt="" class="bb-image" /></a>
3

RIGHT ON!!!

Looks good…

I’m bummed I never tried it on a short board, only on a longboard in a macrocystic swarmed break.

The ol’ bull kelp couldn’t phase that fin.

I didn’t know the origins of that fin…

Silly seppo!!!

Can’t wait to hear how it goes…

I do remeber it being a bear to get in some boxes!

Have FUN Ben!!!

Let me know hows it goes!

4

good to hear from you , Paul !

…well…

Ian [‘sandgroper’] is back here , and after five surfless days, suffering in Melbourne, is keen for a paddle tomorrow …

so , here’s HOPING there will be SOMETHING for it to glide onto !

…to be continued …

cheers

 ben

edit 6am sunday 29th oct’06…up at 5.30am , wind check …15 knot onshores . And they are forecast for the next four or five days too. I will keep a ‘weather eye’ out though …hopefully there might be a break …

still , with overcast skies , and a 5 metre white pointer [16 1/2 '] spotted just off the coast [500 metres] here all yesterday , it is a good day to give it a miss , I reckon . It was a very similar day , 6 years ago , when a fatal attack occurred at cottesloe (about eight miles down the coast from here ) in waist deep water …

5

Okay …FINALLY I got to rode it ! …for three hours today… in glassy , totally empty waist to [at the very most!] chest-high [‘bomb’ ] sets.

Man , it felt UNREAL !!

I couldn’t believe it was SOOO much fun !

Sideways takeoffs into tube crouches , the thing held in so WELL !

Up on the nose , I could feel the long base length doing its thing , to hold in the tail [and a narrow pintail DEFINATELY helped ! ]

Funny enough ,

the beach grader guy jumped out of his tractor , and bailed me up for a chat …turns out he had a Pat Morgan keel [“A.D.68”, are you here ?!] , when he lived in Vicco , in 1972.

He was intrigued by the Cooper , loved the outline and double concaves , and couldn’t believe how well it surfed [he had apparently been watching a few of my waves…I think he must have meant the BOARD surfed well, somehow!]

I think the rounded pin and this fin go together really nicely ! [and to think … I was offering this board for Josh to take back to Avoca with him ?! …Must definately have been one of my brainfarts , THAT idea !]

Off the bottom , it had the hold of a broad-based fin , like a twin keel . In the pocket , and off the lip , it felt so smoooth …stable .

And yet , backhand , during rail grab pigdogs , it had the interesting sensation [because of ?the thinness of the keel overall …I’m guessing?], of feeling like an inline rollerblade kinda feeling [that is the only thing I can equate the feeling to , sorry about that]. What I mean is , I could feel the thinness of the fin more , and it was almost as if I really had to have my back foot in EXACTLY the right place over the fin . Strange. I guess maybe because the base is so LONG , and yet the actual DEPTH of the fin , by comparison , is not actually that deep ? I would love to know what it will do on a backhand reo …no opportunities for that presented themselves to me today , unfortunately …

Well, does anyone else here remember what single keels felt like to ride ?

I would be keen to hear your comments .

And really keen to ride this again , repeatedly !

I wish I could have ridden it all winter at the place I surfed today , but alas , I only got the fin back last week !

[…I think we might need to make a wooden version of this for your “moonrocket” board , Grant , if you reckon you liked this fin in it ! Or else I’ll get you a JB1 or a JB2 multifin , from Colin’s , next time I’m there , if you like ?]

… to be continued …

ben

6

I found you had to surf it with your foot over or just in front of it. Turns were long and drawn out, like Chip said you had to pick your line and pretty much follow it.

It never slipped and sideways take offs were easy. It did track well.

Thanks Zosurf, that’s a fin that works really well with this board.

Chip, that Cooper, is that the one with the twist in it? Maybe that’s why it turns one way better than the other…

7

" Chip, that Cooper, is that the one with the twist in it? Maybe that’s why it turns one way better than the other…"

BINGO !

You nailed it Hicksy …

it’s flat on my forehand [right rail]

and twisted like my humour on the left rail . [beyond hope]

Maybe it can be the "right " board !! hehee

ben

8

well, well, well…

I do seem to remember about 8 months back everyone telling me you couldnt ride narrow tailed single keels in smaller waves…

remember this thread.

http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=184053;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;

Glad you had fun Ben!

There great fun arent they! its a unique, fast feeling hey.

catchya mate~!

9
Quote:

" Chip, that Cooper, is that the one with the twist in it? Maybe that’s why it turns one way better than the other…"

BINGO !

You nailed it Hicksy …

it’s flat on my forehand [right rail]

and twisted like my humour on the left rail . [beyond hope]

Maybe it can be the "right " board !! hehee

ben

Funny you should write that…

as it turns out my single keel is warped too! must be something about a lot of pre 76 shortboards…

mines a pretty deep single concave though.

old photo. i have hair and i’m not pasty now…haha~!

10

thanks for the link to that old thread Josh , I had forgotten how long ago Zosurf sent me that keel .

Hicksy had it for 10 months ?? …my , how time flies !!

It’s MY turn on it now …[what a pity it’s into pre-summer near-flatness already now, though]

cheers



  ben
11
Quote:
and a 5 metre white pointer [16 1/2 '] spotted just off the coast [500 metres] here all yesterday , it is a good day to give it a miss , I reckon . It was a very similar day , 6 years ago , when a fatal attack occurred at cottesloe (about eight miles down the coast from here ) in waist deep water ....

By white pointer you mean white tip or great white??? A white tip of that size would be a first of that size… a great white would also be interesting because they don’t like shallow water!!! Is there any further press available on this attack? Was the shark caught?

If it’s great white sharks then overcast and grey days are a problem. Awe heck a few weeks back in SA we had a 60% eclipse at mid day, the darkening of the skies was correlated with three sitings near the beach!!!

12

…THESE are the only “white pointers” I would ever want to get attacked by …

13

Chip - your description is similar to riding a longboard with a D fin. Well, not the pig dog & barrell parts :slight_smile: But the hold, sideways takeoffs, tracking…but then slipping loose again, etc.

14

…way more manouevrable , though , Ben ! [vertical off the lips , at least , forehand]

Well, Pascal [‘Popeye’ here ] rode it today , and seem to get a few good ‘glides’ on it .

cheers

ben
15

Well, today …LOTS of lefts

Another three hour session .

Amazingly , it was really empty again [I think everyone surfed early. I , for a change , surfed the 12-3pm shift . ]

All day offshores , overcast , shark spotter planes and helicopters circling overhead for ages .

Lots of waist high lefts , many with a bit of a run to them .

On the first wave , I managed two backhand reos , and a floater …STOKED !

Today I concentrated on standing more upright , rather than pigdogging the lefts , to see the drive the fin could give backhand .

On the lip , during the floater , the fin really STUCK it in there …felt more stable and drivey than my ‘normal’ 7 1/2" deep x 5" base JB1 fin , that’s for sure .

It came around really nicely , very smooth , on one backhand cutty , too.

On another left , it stayed up high under the lip , in the bowl, without sideslipping .

I rembered that THIS is what my deep double concaved bonzer bottom SINGLE fin [!] I used to have did too, and recalled Terry Fitzgerald mentioning that in one of his 1970s surf mag interviews.

Nat , with his MASSIVE keel fin on that EXTREMELY pinny tailed gun of his , did the same , while surfing that left reef break , during his boat trip with George Greenough and Richie West , documented in the movie “Crystal Voyager”…

cheers !

ben

16

Stoked your enjoying it Ben!

wish i was over there to have a go. atleast i can relate to it as your impressions as the sensations you described are what i feel on my singlykeel.

cheers!

ps. how wide is your cooper. my single keel is narrow and has a very narrow tail.

17

hi Josh !

the Cooper …

14 1/2 n x 6’4 x 20 x 13" t x c. 2 1/2" thick

Did I mentioned , pretty flat rockered , too ?

… 2 3/4 " [!!] nose rocker

1 1/4" tail rocker

Reverb , if you are reading this , I will endeavour to get you some shots of the rail profile …tail , middle , nose , and any other places ??

cheers

ben

oh yeah , while I’m at it …the trailing edge of the keel is , at present , 4 5/8" up from the tail tip , and feels really good there !

[the ‘apex’ of the keel is 2" up from the trailing edge’s base. And , there is 2 5/8" of ‘overhang’ from the finbox base , to the base ‘trailing edge’s tip’]

18

19

…just Ian [‘sandgroper’] and I , with a bank to ourselves for two hours this morning .

Glassy , some with shape , chest high bombs every five or so minutes .

blue skies , warm ,

wish I had a water camera with me .

mainly lefts today .

A good chance to do some backhand reos and floaters

fun fun fun

cheers

 ben

Ian had a go on it too …

20
Quote:

hi Josh !

the Cooper …

14 1/2 n x 6’4 x 20 x 13" t x c. 2 1/2" thick

Did I mentioned , pretty flat rockered , too ?

… 2 3/4 " [!!] nose rocker

1 1/4" tail rocker

Reverb , if you are reading this , I will endeavour to get you some shots of the rail profile …tail , middle , nose , and any other places ??

cheers

ben

oh yeah , while I’m at it …the trailing edge of the keel is , at present , 4 5/8" up from the tail tip , and feels really good there !

[the ‘apex’ of the keel is 2" up from the trailing edge’s base. And , there is 2 5/8" of ‘overhang’ from the finbox base , to the base ‘trailing edge’s tip’]

and twisted to buggery!!! Only goes really good one way!!!

joke Chip