Ben,
Please note that the creditation …
" ** with thanks to Bob McTavish, Mick Mock, and others at the surfresearch site"
is highly misleading.
surfresearch.com.au is completely the work of Geoff Cater.
Since I go to so much trouble to reference and credit all of my sources,
it would be nice for my own work to be similarly recognised.
Geoff.
Also recentlty added at…
**[click on ‘catalogue’,
then look under 1974,
Cooper Bonzer 6ft 11’’
click number on right hand side #221,
Manufactured by ex-US surfer, Bob Cooper’s company,
the entry also links to extensive Cooper biograhical notes.
Geoff.
ah the drama is so entertaining. i have had the pleasure of owning riding and wearing out of two cambell bonzers i still wish i had them. but i will say if you make one the channelling depth and length are very important to the ride and feel of the board.it gives the feeling of being propelled out of the hard turns and the spray off the bottom is unreal.ahh im gettin all misty for my old board and the rincon on a nw swell, tubes you could drive a bus through.mmmmmm tubes arghhhhh.
I read that the affectionate term “seppo” for Americans was derived from
“septic tank” which downunder rhymes with “yank”. Only in Australia.
Hi Chip.
Good luck on your bonzer 3. The fastest board I ever rode was an Eaton bonzer 3 egg. I got to ride it one fine, overhead day at Malibu ( I had patched dings for the owner ) and afterwards I was offering the owner any price to have it, but he wouldn’t let it go. To his credit, he still has it, watertight, in great condition nearly 30 years later.
Hey Chip, I’m starting a Bonzer 3 as soon as I can chase down a blank, I’ve made one before (as well as 2 5-finners) but didn’t get too much time on it before I sold it, not enough to give a complete breakdown of the performance anyway. If you’re referencing the '70’s Bonzers, the 3-finners that the Campbells are doing now tend to have a mellower concave in order to make the boards less “tracky” and less sensitive overall. It’s true that the 5-fin uses the idea of splitting the runners into 4, much like the quad fish from twin keel. I think the 5-fins have slightly more area than the 3-fin runners however. Bonzers of all setups are carving machines, once you get used to the feel of them carrying speed through turns you won’t want to go back. TFAD has some great photos of '70’s reproductions at bonzer5.blogspot.com, I think in the June or July 2005 section, as well as a beautiful “bumblebee” bonzer 3. The concaves are quite important, they’re placed to direct the water flow at/through the fins in order to harness/create the venturi effect of accelerating water along the bottom. Good luck, keep us posted, and once you hit that “sacred 5th gear” there really is no going back…I really want to change my Sways name to “Acolyte of Campbell” but it’s too late.
ive made (4) 3-finners in the last 9 months or so…restored an old one too…whaddya need to know?
keep the leading edge of the rear fin even with the back of the runners…runners dimensions are either:
10.5"x3"
or
9.5"x3"
toed in about 1/8" or a little more, but not too much.
canted out between 18 and 22 degrees.
trailing edge of each runner is about 4 1/8" from the stringer, making the leading edge 4" from the stringer.
keep the thickness of the board at the mid-a little forward point, the tail can be very thin, especially on the gunnier shapes.
dont make the concaves TOO deep, theres something to learn from watching the campbell boards being very deep in the early days, and are now reletively shallow…do it to your desire, it all flows!
so , in the 16 months since I first posted this , I am now ready to make a three fin …
…
…thruster ! [ / ‘truster’]
cheers ,
ben
Sorry Chip, I missed this.
I’ve made one and they ride nicely, although I wished that I had made slightly bigger fins. Seems like the two on the rail hold better for me than the single long fin thats toeing in towards the middle of the board. The tail was almost 17", so I had to be careful going backside or on a strong bottom turn going frontside, on a smaller tailed board it may have worked better. My nephew has it now and he likes it. Next time a little bigger fins for my short, 200+ pound build and it would be butter.
Best of luck on your build.
hi Ben,
Are you going to make your own side fins? If so, will they be plexiglass, resin or what? Will it be a Campbell style bonzer or Eaton with the deeper concaves?
just came across this old thread and wonder if you did make your Bonzer 3 and reactions on riding it
hi mate
thanks for asking
hahah unfortunately , I made an abomination …
a search under “benzer bottom” will reveal all [i don’t want to post it here , it is better left forgotten .hahaha … no , <span style=“font-style:italic”>really</span> !!]
it was stringerless , glassed with one layer of 4oz top and bottom …and …not surprisingly , it creased after a half dozen surfs .
when i fixed it ,
and it snapped a few weeks later , I threw it away . It was a piece of crap [ but a learning experience , maybe ??]
the upside was …the blank was free , at least , so it didn’t cost me heaps to make !
cheers
ben
[copy and paste THIS, if you want a laugh …
http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=260134;search_string=benzer%20bottom;#260134
Ryan, this post was gold dust to me. Thank you.
PS if you have any tips on making the runners, I fancy a crack at doing that. Never made fins before. thanks again, and i know its 12 years later, but gratitude doesn’t have a sell by date 