I was recently asked to make a “hi-performance” longboard. David (the customer) had very precise ideas about what he wanted: basically, something along the lines of Harbour’s “Wingpin”.
The trouble was:
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I don’t like bump-wings that much. In my opinion, they just spoil an otherwise nice and pure curve… Real wings, OK, you actually have two different curves that are very neatly split, I can admit. But bump-wings… Oh well, you’re supposed to be able to do ANYTHING if you call yourself a shaper, aren’t you? Even things you don’t like…
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I had never shaped nose-channels before. I’m not even quite sure about what they actually do. Directing the water flow even better than a “classic” concave, I guess… In fact, David had not even noticed the nose channels when he had first looked at the Harbour site. Then he talked to the infamous Lob about my shaping him a longboard and Lob asked him: “You mean the same as the Harbour’s “Wingpin”? With the same nose-channels?” “Nose-channels?” David said, “Which nose-channels?” And that was it. Lob, you will have to pay for this, someday…
So, here we went, 9’2" x 22" x 2 5/8", bump-wings, pintail, AND nose-channels. David picked up the board last week-end and he should be riding it right now. I’m anxiously waiting for feedback in the next few hours. Here’s what it looks like:
That’s my second son, Nelson, (13) holding the board. In fact he liked the colour so much that he didn’t want to let it go…
BTW, tinted resin top and bottom, acrylic white pinline.
