I have fallen for the idea of kneeboarding. What a great way to deal with hollow backside surf. I want to shape a Lis fish as it will allow me to surf and kneeboard in the same session. I just got a whole setup of supplies for a new board for christmas, and have been aquiring tools for some time now. What design characteristics are important for a fish to function well as a kneeboard and footboard? Rails : From what I have read, they are down rails the whole way through correct? I am thinking of 5’10" for length but can probably go 5’8", which will be best for a hybrid? This will probably be my primary board until I can get some more shaped so I want to glass it kinda tough. I am thing 1x6 on bottom and 2x6 on top, but have heard of doing 2x4 on bottom and 3x4 on top. Is this too much glass for such a small board? Which is the tougher method? Sorry for the questions but I couldnt find anything in the archives that had these specific facts.
go medium weight on glass–double 4on deck and 6ozon bottom an make sure fins are 6inchesup from pintailsand keep them parallel.try to get ahold of lis accellerating curve outline also and my last advise is when you get going too fast drop tp your knee’s[smile]
Hi David, First, I’d pose that question at the kneeboard forum - http://www.ksusa.org - and see what they think there. There is also a good design/construction forum at http://www.kneeboardsurfing.co.uk/ Let’s see - glassing a board tough is, to me, a helluva good idea, though some prefer to go light. I’d say 6+6/6 is fine and a lot less work than 4+4+4/4+4 though the 4 oz does drape and laminate very easy. The knee pad/deck pad that a lot of us use tends to soak up a lot of the deck damage. Beyond that… I should mention that the rails and fin placement that’ll work best on a kneeboard are kinda different than ‘conventional’. If you went with, say, FCS, then two sets of plugs might be a good idea. hope that’s of use doc…
Lis Fishes’as a kneeeboard and a stand up board…hmmm it seems we have forgotten that this was the original use for these boards. Under the banner of ‘total involvement surfing’, the fish was designed to be used for kneeing tight barrels and standing carves of the open faces. I wouldnt deviate from any description you can find for a traditional fish. 6+6/6 sounds good to me. I would rather consider careful fine skimming of the blank rather than overglassing with triple layers etc. My thick and lightly skimmed fish was glassed 6+4/6 (Farrelly Red foam blank - denser than ‘blue’ ) and its bulletproof. Already a year of surfing and its not showing much for it.
Thanks, i was looking at the 5’8" in the photos and will pretty much use that as an example. heavy glass for shure as it will be used probably 30-40% of the time as a kneeboard. Thanks again for the advice.
For what it’s worth, my current project is a hollow wood Lis inspired fish… I’ve build the frame parts, and will get to the deck skins this week… Stand up - Knees - Prone…It’s all good… http://www.hollowsurfboards.com
David, a friend of mine, does the same thing as you , he has a Twin Fin fish for both standup and kneeboard, but will knee on the late drops or backside. He’s a Wedge crewman, all arounder kind of guy …works for him. As to rail combinations for this…make one , then tailor the next. As to length he’s about 6’1" with his board, long , narrow,parallel rails …mostly a standup board. a 5’8" paddling about with no swimfins is probably going to give you more late drops than your bargaining for.