Can anyone have any info on kneeboards. What type of blank to use, how long of a blank, what kind of shapes,ect. Thanks for any help.
…Check the archives.Herb
check out the Clark 6,2C. Looks like the right one, baby, uh huh.
Check out this site for general KB info. “www.ksusa.org” US designs are currently undergoing big changes as a result of Aussie influences. I’m currently riding a 5’6" x 22" Romo round pin quad and considering building an Aussie style 5’10" X 23.5" swallowtail thruster for O/H surf. The big difference is fins are placed farther up requiring a different riding style.
Here’s a cut and paste description AUSSIE vs: US US style Kneeboards: avg width 21-22", length 5’6 to 5’8 are the most prevalent. 4 fin Quads most popular/ Tri Fins are problematic for this Style. Fins set close to end of tail. Fins do majority of work of providing holding power.These boards take alot of wave power to get em going. Frequently kneeboarders wont go out in smallish mushy conditions with these type of boards --just not enough power to get em going. Frequently a kneeboarder will kick out of petering wave, whereas a Standup would keep on going.( This board needs power) 5’6" board will surf small-large waves ; 5’8" or slightly bigger will handle anything you want to ride. 2" step up/ step down in board sizes will take you to a higher/lower wave range.example: Romanosky Kneeboards link on KSUSA home page Aussie Style: avg width 22"-23"+ inches ; lengths 5’10"- 6’3" and bigger. Tri fins and Quads, fins set farther up tail to loosen the board up; Longer board lengths stabilize the design. The loose fin setup works with more tail rail/line to hold the board in…Specifically the TriFins have alot of rocker,…Quads not as much. These boards glide and gain speed in the mushiest of waves and are emminently more manueverable. Design works in all types of waves(Mushy-Powerful). Can do cutbacks and stay on petering mushy waves all the way to the sand. 5’10" can handle 1-8+ft face sizes. Step up to longer boards to ride bigger waves. 3" step ups in board size will give you the next range of wave size. Aussie design is basically an advance over the older US designs.
The regression of the shortboard revolution. How unfortunate. Contrary to pop opinion, 5’ to 56" kneeboards can be made to work unbelieveabely well in good, clean 4' to 12' waves. Consider the irony of why kneeboarding is rapidly fading into obscurity: Most of todays kneeboarders ride boards which are for all practical purposes, “multi-purpose” designs, capable of being used for kneeling or standing. In fact many kneelos ride their boards both ways. These boards are much longer, thicker and wider than traditional kneelo shapes. Consequently many of these riders have abandoned the use of swim fins, and arm paddle exclusively. To to a casual observer there are no significant differences between standing and kneeling. In general, kneelos and their equipment have few distinguishing characteristics as existed during the late 1960s to late 1970s. Deeper tube rides, later drops, radical maneuvers, a more intimate feel, portability, cost of equipment or faster??? Not since the advent of bodyboards. For the last 25 years bodyboards have increasingly become modern surfing`s most overwhelmingly radical, transition-to-standing design. So why would a novice water person consider kneeboarding? Why would anyone want to ride a kneeboard in flat bumpy junk waves?? Without a clean long wall with some power, kneeboarding = dead weight. Other things are a lot more fun, go faster and work better.
Watch closely. See the knee boarder. See em try standing up surf on the 6 thruster and get ready to die laughing. Real surfing takes talent an any surfer can knee ride. but real surfin doesnt start until you get up off the knees. Some call themselves “knee boarders” an ride 7` boards. Woo-hoo baby. Same as guys who belly board logs and call em “paipos”. Both come from the shallow end of th same gene pool.
Watch em closely. See the knee boarder. See em try standing up surf on the 6 thruster and get ready to die laughing. Real surfing takes talent an any surfer can knee ride. but real surfin doesnt start until you get up off the knees. Some call themselves “knee boarders” an ride 7` boards. Woo-hoo baby. Same as guys who belly board logs and call em “paipos”. Both come from the shallow end of th same gene pool.
Watchclosely. See the knee boarder. See em try standing up surf on the 6 thruster and get ready to die laughing. Real surfing takes talent an any surfer can knee ride. but real surfin doesnt start until you get up off the knees. Some call themselves “knee boarders” an ride 7` boards. Woo-hoo baby. Same as guys who belly board logs and call em “paipos”. Both come from the shallow end of th same gene pool.
I’d have to agree with you about the appeal of riding mush on a KB, Not much fun, a longboard or even a mat would be faster and more fun. But, I definitely disagree with your statement: “Consider the irony of why kneeboarding is rapidly fading into obscurity” There is a booming kneeboarder population in OZ, New Zealand, UK, and to some degree Hawaii, and a slow, but increasing, growth on the west coast. Don’t believe me? ask any kneeboard shaper (John Mel for instance). Just got back from Kauai and the Big Island and ran aross quite a few Aussie kneeboarders. They describe the kneeboard scene in Oz as very competitive and a major element at any break. Why kneeboard? if you haven’t personnally rode one on barrelling O/H walls then you have no clue. But then again alot of people are brainwashed by the surfing media and believe there’s only one way to ride a wave which is contrary to the belief most of the folks on this forum have. Longboard,shortboard,bodysurf,kneeboard, matsurf,boogie,paipo, etc, it’s all good and it’s all surfing.
Kneeboarding is fading into obscurity because most of its original distinctives are now shared with other forms of surfing. The equipment, paddling and the style of riding increasingly parallel modern shortboarding. Kneeboarding used to be a radical, non-conformist alternative to mainstream surfing, largely populated with hardcore loners that just wanted to be left alone. Rah-rah-rah, contests, organizations and clubs were anathema. Quite the opposite today. Yet kids on bodyboards routinely lay down lines and pull moves and ride deeper than past surfers have ever dreamed of acheiving. Often on mutant potentially lethal waves. So why arent they on kneeboards? Part of the answer is because their equipment is much cheaper, more durable, simpler, widely available, portable, sensitive and safer. Plus its great fun. It would be difficult to count more than 3000 or 4000 active participants worldwide, almost nothing in comparison to shortboarding or longboarding. Bodyboard sales are in the millions. By the time that Tom Morey sold Morey Boogie to Kransco in 1978, his production sometimes hit 1000 boards per day. The sport of bodyboarding enjoyed a worldwide fan-base similar to surfing, with its own professional organizations, world tours, media and industry. Is kneeboarding “booming” in 2003? The answer is obvious: just wander into most showrooms and count the glossy new in-stock kneeboards.
This subject was discussed in (www.ksusa.org), “How many kneeboarders are there world wide?” Their rough estimate was well under 3000. http://www.ksusa.org/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=192&start=0
Still convinced that kneeboarding is dying? Read on my friend. Notification I received TODAY!! We are pleased to announce the KSUSA Kneeboard Festival in Santa Cruz, CA November 7th & 8th, 2003. Please read below for the details or visit http://www.ksusa.org for more details. Attached is a manual entry form for those who don’t want to register online. Hope to see you there! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Annual KSUSA Kneeboard Festival & Gathering Featuring The KSUSA Titles Where: Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz, CA When: November 7th & 8th, 2003 (6th may be added if number of contestants exceeds 30) What: The biggest Mainland USA Gathering of Kneelos in history! KSUSA Open Titles (Every participant enters 2 events: The Open and either the AAA or AA events) Open - All entrants AND AAA - for experienced competitors OR AA - for competition newbies Nor Cal vs. So Cal challenge… details coming soon! Various kneeboard expression sessions and impromptu Gatherings at Santa Cruz area breaks Organized apre-surf parties at local pubs Kneeboard museum and kneeboard design forums Four-heat minimum surfing a premier point break cleared of all non-contestants Tons of merchandise and raffle prizes for all contestants Support of the Kneelo brotherhood How: Register online at www.ksusa.org or use manual entry form attached. The first 30 entrants are guaranteed to surf on Friday, November 6. Those not among the first 30 may surf on Thursday, November 6, if the total number of participants exceeds 40. Check www.ksusa.org for updates The registration deadline is October 1, 2003 Cost: $60 Contest Shirt (optional): $25 Sponsors: Freeline Kneeboards, Shoelkoff Kneeboards, Blast Kneeboards, Parkes Kneeboards, Victory Wetsuits, O’neill Wetsuits, Hurley International, Gath Surf helmets, and more! Details: Visit www.ksusa.org and go to the Contest forum. Festival event schedule, contest rules and other details will be transmitted to participants prior to the Festival. Contest Format: All entrants are entered in 2 events - the Open and either the AAA or AA events. All three events include a repercharge (second chance round) for anyone eliminated in the opening round. In this way every entrant will surf at least four heats. Contestants who progress to the semi-finals of the Open may be excluded from participation in the AAA or AA events. Seeding will be based on each contestant’s competitive success in the previous twelve months. Competitors without recent competitive history will be drawn into heats randomly. Lodging: Check the site for lodging suggestions and discounts! Contest Headquarters: Freeline, 41st Ave , Santa Cruz, CA.
“The time allocated for our event will allow 32-42 surfers to compete assuming double elimination first rounds and assuming everyone competes in two events. Perhaps, if we had enough participation, we can expand the contest to include Thursday for those who were not among the first 32 to enter.” Rah-rah-rah, competition, organization, conformity. Yeah right whatever. Wouldnt it be nice if we could all "reserve" a world-class pointbreak just for ourselves and our buddies. More than a few surfers who actually live at PP arent “stoked” with these goons and their little contest.
IF you really live there, you know contest happen all the time. One just this last weekend at 26th.
“The biggest Mainland USA Gathering of Kneelos in history!” “32-42 surfers” yup kneeboarding isnt dying- its booming. Enjoy your little fantasy world.
The validity of an activity isnt determined by the number of its participants. I have a feeling that if there were 1000 kneeboarders that showed up for this contest, you probably wouldnt be happy with that number either. Some people see their cup as being half empty, to others it`s half full.
Aw common- let the knee riders have their fun. Why is there so much left over anger at kneeboarders? It is part of our collective history. I, for one, am gonna cross the San Lorenzo River and check it out! If John Mel is involved well then double good. Mark- you are a nice positive guy- why does this bother you so much? My sense of the whole deal is that it going to be more of a surf carnival, like the ol’ surf-a-rama. I didn’t see complaints like this ‘bout the Logjam, even tho’ plank riders are fairly few in number. Relax, its surfing-'spose to be fun.
Although Pleasure Point is a point of land it is much more of a reef wave than a point wave. What is your take on it?
NZ swell coming in from 240 deg. 20 sec. 6 to 10 foot faces very low tide. PP is now a point break all the way through to the Hook, that is as far as I could see from the spot that I was setting at. Watched one guy on a red board. Don’t know who made the board. He picked up a wave at what would normaly be called 2ed peak, watched him go out of site around the corner at the Hook. I call that a long point break ride. Normaly it is a reef break though, your right. Just my take on it.