Greetings,
I have been searching the net looking at Greg Noll’s site and Bing’s Restoration site. I was wondering if anyone here has attempted to copy a “Da Cat” model with step deck and channels? I have seen prices as high as $4000 for a “Da Cat” model. If anyone has done it or has specs so I could to attempt to make one it would be appreciated.
Thanks,
I have these dimensions that I got off of the net someplace, so take it for what it’s worth.
Length 9’-3-1/2"
Wide point 22-1/4
Nose 16-3/4
Tail 15-3/4
thickness 3-3/4
Thanks for the dimensions any dimensions about concaves or slots or step deck? I have to find on that isn’t in a museum to get the correct setup.
Would you like a fake laminate to go with that board too?
I don’t know if you ever surfed a dacat…but they suck. It was all a marketing scheme with Miki D to sell boards. I’ve got detailed pictures and water transfer logo if you really want to do it. But some one tried it a few years back, and got into all sorts of legal troubles. It all revolved around when Noll reissued the dacat to make a few bucks. Yeah, sure we can make an exact replica…but why?
You might call his son’s shop and see if they make modern ones. Or get a Yater spoon it’s what the Da Cat was copied from, and a spoon rides 10x better.
I owned a inspired copy that did ride better because it had more modern rails. I’m sure there are shapers out there that could shape you something simmular.
You might call his son’s shop and see if they make modern ones. Or get a Yater spoon it’s what the Da Cat was copied from,
While it’s true that Da Cat was inspired by The Spoon, they are very different in their details. Most obvious is the Yater being a true stepdeck, while Da Cat had a scooped out nose area, with a ridge extending into the scoop from the rear, along the stringer. Apples and oranges, pretty much.
Most people also forget that Noll blew his own foam and the first Da Cats had issues of snapping in half so the ridge was added for strength. But I agree with the added width and different outline the Cat was a different beast.
the later cats that were really thinned out and bladed were better than the early ones(which is what noll re-issued).
I was wondering if anyone really liked so much that they made a copy. Most guys make copies of Lis’s fish but don’t ask for a fake logo. These days you don’t see much experimentation other than a Yater type spoon here or there. Gymic or not surfboards are constantly evolving with better materials, blanks,adhesives,and construction.
I was wondering if anyone really liked so much that they made a copy. Most guys make copies of Lis’s fish but don’t ask for a fake logo. These days you don’t see much experimentation other than a Yater type spoon here or there. Gymic or not surfboards are constantly evolving with better materials, blanks,adhesives,and construction.
It’s all been copied to death. Most leave the dogs at home.
hahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahahhaha.
heres da “cat specs” lol.
I guess know one else will stick up for “Da Cat” here, so…
Da Cats do not suck. They ride considerably better that most 42 year old designs. It was designed in 1965, and most people had never heard of Yater back then. Renny did not advertise, his board making was a sideline for him back then, he was making most of his money commercially fishing and diving. So if you didn’t surf Rincon or Stanleys regularly, you probably had never heard of or saw a Yater.
Da Cats do bear more than a passing resemblance to Yater’s spoon, (especially the first year or so before the nose got wider and they got the tail channels) but they are not straight copies.
Do Yater spoons surf better? Ummm, maybe. Yeah, they do. A little. But a modern hi-performance longboard will surf circles around ether one of them, so… I’m not sure it matters.
The step deck that really sucked was the Nuuiwha Lightweight. I foolishly traded my prototype Yater spoon (Andy Newmans board that he won second place on at the Malibu invitational) for a Nuuiwah lightweight. I only kept it three months before I dumped it, and got… a Da Cat. I kept the Cat for a year before I got another Yater, about 15 minutes after that, short boards happened.
Mike
And another one to stick up for the da Cat: Jim Phillips does a very nice tribute board called “Da Copy Cat” which does very well. A large part of the demand for the boards is on the east coast and we make quite a bit that stay out west too. Jim has been making them as far back as the 80’s when we has shaping in FL.
He’s just returned from two weeks in FL so maybe he’ll show up on this thread and comment.
I owned both a Da Cat and a Yater spoon. It is true the Da Cat sucked. The Da Cat was probably made in 1965 and the Spoon 1967. I got the Cat for $50 in 1985 and the Spoon for $60 about the same time before the collecting craze really took off. I was down at San O one day and Tube Steak Tracey introduced me to Greg Noll, it was an honor to me him and no I didn’t tell him the board didn’t surf that well. Later Tube asked me if I thought anybody would buy boards made like the 50’s/60’s era boards. I told him yeas and I sure would but that was before I new what they would charge for them. I eventually traded and sold all my old boards away and took a trip to Hawaii with my bride with the money I made. The only board I kept was the Spoon.
I owned both a Da Cat and a Yater spoon. It is true the Da Cat sucked. The Da Cat was probably made in 1965 and the Spoon 1967.
Da Cat debuted in the Spring of '66, and was discontinued in Feb of '68. If yours had the lam near the tail, it’s an early one. If the lam was near the nose, it’s from the end of the run. The early ones didn’t have the removable polypropelene fin. The Spoon debuted in '65, and was probably available up until shortboards took over. I’d guess that an original (Sixties) Spoon could be as new as '68.
Well Yater and his son both looked over my Spoon many years ago and told me 67. Anyway I guess both the boards are closer in time frame then I oragianlly thought becasue my Cat had a removeable fine and the decal I believe was closer to the tail. It was a step deck with the tail channel things. The Spoon was a still is a great board and in my opinion the best board by far from that era.
Renny did not advertise, his board making was a sideline for him back then, he was making most of his money commercially fishing and diving. So if you didn’t surf Rincon or Stanleys regularly, you probably had never heard of or saw a Yater.
Really? Well, I started surfing in 1963, on the East Coast. A number of the people I knew had Yaters. “Didn’t advertise”? He had an ad in nearly every issue of Surfer Mag, from the very first one, up until about 1965. he continued to buy ad space in the mag, sporadically, after '65. First issue (1960), half page ad: 
Late 1961: 
One half of the inside cover page, 1963: 
Couple more: 
Another, advertising guns by Pat Curren: 
The Yater logo was also prominently featured in many of the early ads for Clark Foam. He also co-advertised with Tom Morey Skeg Works. That was a series done by Morey, in conjunction with the different shapers who used his fins (early to mid Sixties)
Well Yater and his son both looked over my Spoon many years ago and told me 67.
Like I said, a Sixties Spoon could be anywhere from '65, to about '68, in origin.
Does anyone have a picture or specs for a Philips Copy Cat?