I don’t know if the waves are getting faster or I’m getting slower. Anyway, approaching my 68th year in a few months and started surfing when I was 13 at the old Redondo Horseshoe pier. Life has happened in the interval and now I find myself in the cooler waters of the Central Coast of California along the miles of wide open beach breaks of Pismo/Oceano. Went out for a paddle on my 9-6 a couple of weeks ago to try and catch a couple. Totally kooked it. I don’t want to quit yet so I’m experimenting with a kneeboard/proneboard, sort of a boogie board but longer and thicker. I took the front end of an old Warvel longboard stringerless PU blank and sort of came up with something.
The Warvel foam was a little suspect, tore out easy so I had to resort to gentler methods. I plan on a cork deck with a solid color in the resin, no leash, probably a strip of carbon top and bottom, at least the bottom, 4 oz. top and bottom with a 4 oz. patch under the cork. After all the recent discussion on the single/twingle fins, I was thinking of a “twingkeel” setup, or should I just go standard keel setup?
Length: 5’ 3"
Width: 22.5", 19.5"N, 20.5"t
Thickness: 2.625" @ 6" back of centerhttp://www.swaylocks.com/sites/default/files/DSCN0404.JPG
good on ya for putting up the good fight to stay out there!
I don’t have an answer on your question, only a gut feeling that the tail is too wide for the twin singles to really work effectively - the fins just too far from the rail. Maybe with a smaller rail fin, like Bill’s shark tooth, out on the edge? My first inclination would be to go with a more standard twin keel setup, but always interested to hear what others have to say.
The keels will hold and provide directional stability if they’re out at the rail. With a twingle you’d probably need 12" tall fins in order to hold that wide a tailblock .
If you don’t have a jig I’d be more than happy to do it for you.
I think those fins would be too small for a twingle.
I have a 6’4 broomtail (twingle) that I have belly boarded on a few larger waves to get to the beach and they were super fun. If you ever want to give it a go just let me know.
Keep at it! Haven’t surfed the Pier, St. Andrews or Pole Eight in a few years, but I can honestly say that I and a select few ruled those breaks for quite a few years. Late sixtys thru 2000. Single fin, Thruster and then Longboard. Last time I took off on one of those right handlers on the North Side and paddled back out in the rip under the Pier I was 60 years old. 68 now. But I’ll be back. Lowel
Hi, I ride and shape prone boards. Most of my boards have been 4 to 4’3". But my most recent is 4’ 9". I like regular thruster side fins or twinzer fins. They pivot easier. Also I have found that on my larger board it is better to have the fins further forward, more like a kneeboard placement. Having a wide tail with fins all the way back makes the board stiff. My twin fins are pretty close the rail. I might put them a further in towards the middle on my next longer board. I have had a blast on my longer board.
First of all, thanks to all for your comments and encouragement. And thanks to Wideawake for offering to rout the boxes. I need a little more experience with the install before going down that road. So far I’ve just done Bahne boxes and glass-ons. It sounds like you’re in the area, so maybe the next time you do an install I can be a fly on the wall. jbw, thanks for the pics. I was considering putting the fins somewhere between 5-8 inches up from tail for the reasons you mentioned. Any suggested dimension? And, no offense McDing, but since you revealed your age I can totally relate to some of your comments here. Ornery people live longer and are happier!!!
