hi to the whole lot of ya’s…
im still alive and well, hope you guys can all say the same.
been a busy lad lately, married my girl finally on 16 march! as if that wasnt enough stress in my life, holding down a 45 h/pw job, and keeping up with a summerful of custom board orders for the boys…
still managing to keep that wave quota up though!!
thats what brings me to call on the swayteam again actually…
i’ve trawled the archieves, so i really hope i dont bore you with old questions,
but i would appreciate some input on tow boards… i know the general feel toward the tow scene from many of you!! but new zealand west coast is a different kettle of fish i promise you… very solid, angry, inaccessable for the most part… we dont lay eyes on another soul in the water where we go…
we have been in training now for quite some time, using a thunder cat with a yamaha 50… fully home built customised for surfing… complete with rescue sled…( by the way dont knock a thundercat for towing untill you have seen one in action! we can own conditions that jetskis dont want to know, and we can launch from the beach on days that the surf life savers wouldnt dare start up the I.R.B’s)
im not talking 20 foot styles … just mid range super solid stuff… double head, triple head very hollow
i have been using a 6’2 x18 1/2 x 2 3/16…fairly standard sort of board for me…(13 1/2 tail…so not really that “gunny”), with no foot straps…coz i like to move around
and it goes good…the next board i want to make this week, with a bit more glass around nose (where the tow rope causes minor grief) perhaps a shade heavier , and i want to have some plugs for the option of straps on nasty days…
what about shape though?
im thinking a 6’2 style thing?
should i go narrow? as i have seen sugested? or is that only for the massive realm??!!
also ive heard talk of moving the fin cluster forward?
concaves or vee?
basically the board needs to handle better during the boost into the wave, which gets pretty quick,
but still perform after that initial speed has burnt off, ya know?
i feel like a board 17" wide might grind to a halt a the first sniff of a mellow section…
i still like to turn too, its not just straight lining in a tube or nothin!
am i better sticking to my conventional shapes? they just skitter round a bit behind the rope!
o what ever shall i do…
included one of my indo pics from a few months ago, which i gnawed your ear off about ,sorry…(chip)
heres me at empty late season padang… non tow obviously
