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You know what they say about calling a place paradise.
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Nope. some call where I live paradise. I say...only if you are retired. Maybe Byron is the same. Plus..not enough surf where I live.
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Surfing has been sold up the tube by an industry hungry for profits. True knowledge is hard to find. That is knowledge built on a lifetime of experience. You dont need a licence to build or sell surfboards. Anyone can open a factory or shop, or get a job in a shop tomorrow and claim they are an expert. That's what happends and ignorance flourishes in that envirorment. The media has for the most part been in bed with the major advertisers and as marketing is all about control of information you have all been fed lies. Those lies have made those who have controlled the flow of information very rich, but the art of surfing died for these people a long time ago..... And pro surfing is the greatest of those manipulations.
But the world is changing. There are new ways for truth to find its way in the world, so keep your eyes and ears and mind open and watch surfing once again become an avenue for open expresion.
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Thought that was worth repeating - definitely contains some food for thought. Can't argue with any of it, this stuff has been discussed here before by lots of intelligent people. I might add: Licensing surfboard sellers wouldn't make the problem go away, contracting (construction / remodeling) here (Calif.) is subject to licensing requirements (4 years' of journeyman experience, and it takes 4 years to become a journeyman, so 8 years' experience - in theory), and it has done little to stem the tide of ignorance, phonies, poseurs, etc. The phonies with money will always find a way around the intent of the law, and in the end, licensing just becomes a cash cow for the state, and nothing more.
Found this whilst Googling about:
[img_assist|nid=1051166|title=Fibre Glas fin companyz|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
Nice blog spot article. All been covered here before in detail for a few years.
Fin foiled perfectly by 40 year veteran fin maker Larry Allison.
Glad to see blogs and folks starting to pay attention in larger numbers.
I am on to my second astron, i realise now the first one was too small not in height
but in volume. I resisted Geoffs instuctions in buying the first one because it looked
right and not too beefy in the back end and i thought i was smart and thinking i knew
what was best for me. Anyway i rode a friends zot which was 5'10"x22x3, which has
a wider tail and even though it is only a quarter inch difference at the wide point the
area carries to back end of the board. I took it the beach with mine and surfed some
clean 3ft beach break peaks and after riding mine for a while and feeling pretty happy
with the way it was performing, i tried my friends which i thought looked too wide and chunky
to be practical. But after a few waves i realised how wrong i was the extra support gave
me the added speed and support over flat spots the turns were smoother and the linking
of manouvers freer. What can i say i rode it a second time to make sure i wasnt kidding
myself and even rode a few more waves on mine and it felt too loose and sensitive not
getting the job done in conparision. My friend said i could swap if i wanted and jumped at
offer and said he could see how much i was enjoying it.
Geoff mentioned when i brought mine that he would like to make me a bigger one than i
picked i at a later date i thought i knew what i was doing, turns out he was right, more
volume more fun when it comes to mccoys zots. Everything you think you know about boards
disregard it when it comes to these things.
I wonder how many shapers have fought and lost the volume battle with their customers over the last 20 years?
I sometimes sneak in an extra 1/8" or even 1/4" in thickness and up to 1/2" in width and bring the volume further out on the deck so as to provide a little more beef. Then I lie about it when marking down the measurements in the stringer. I haven’t been caught yet.
Hey Solosurfer - if you know, would you recommend that gullwing-type fin for a stumpy or the keel fin (for a single fin setup, obviously)? Right now, I just have some random single in my board but figured I should try something actually meant for the shape.
Thanks in advance!
I've been on a 5'10-201/2-23/4 pot belly and wanted to learn the difference between that and the zot? Mine is a single with the gull wing fin and both these boards seem similar to me. Thanks.
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Hey Solosurfer - if you know, would you recommend that gullwing-type fin for a stumpy or the keel fin (for a single fin setup, obviously)? Right now, I just have some random single in my board but figured I should try something actually meant for the shape.
Thanks in advance!
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<PGeoff designed those Gullwings to go with his boards, so I would try that first. I have sold quite a few Spitfires to Aussies and some who ride McCoys. The reports I have gotten have been good on the spitfire. The spitfire seems like it has no drag, but it’s basey so it holds in well. It’s pretty much just Cheyne’s fin with the wings flapped down and a reverse foil applied by Larry. We tried them with thicker blunt foils like the Spitfire plane wing and that worked also, but the one I sell the most of is Larry’s reverse foil. Now I see Firewire, Lost and a few others are doing things with the name Spitfire.; ha ha.
I also call it a wingless keel. I think it’s a good fin for a collection to have a good when you want a different feel. It makes sections really well and is fast. Goes into the lip like there is no fin on the bottom on wide tailed modeld for obvious reasons…but still holds. I am riding mine right now an a double ender called the fat bastard that is 6’6’’ x 17 x 23 x 18 x 3 1/4
Larry just made some Spitfires with the same black, red, clear combo.
[img_assist|nid=1044538|title=The only thing I own that is close. I named it the fat bastard.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=201]This board was shaped back in 99 when I still had my shops and it’s been a blast at my various weights. I have two McCoys that are 23 " wide shaped around the same time and my 6’8’’ McCoy is almost 22’’
Thanks!
Larry makes/sells the Gullwings? I don’t see them on his website. In terms of the keel fin, I was thinking of Cheyne’s with the wings.
I sell them. Go to my site revolutionsurfer.com. There are some articles and such about ti as theindependentsurfer.com.
Thanks
Hey Tombstone, that’s great to hear about the Zot. It’s kinda hard to give someone else total control over length and width with boards, especially when you know what you perform best on. I allowed Marc and Geoff to decide with my two nuggets and will do the same with the Zot as the boards they picked me were excellent. It seems with Geoff’s designs only the shapers themselves (Geoff primarily) really know what is right, because the design is quite different from many of the standard designs available. I would never have picked the 5’8 nugget, it looked too short and too fat, but it is the best board i’ve owned.
Is that pic of you tearing it up? Looks like a thruster? What type of McCoy and size? Keep your reviews coming of the Zot, it keeps me psyched to get my own.
Hey Tombstone, that’s great to hear about the Zot. It’s kinda hard to give someone else total control over length and width with boards, especially when you know what you perform best on. I allowed Marc and Geoff to decide with my two nuggets and will do the same with the Zot as the boards they picked me were excellent. It seems with Geoff’s designs only the shapers themselves (Geoff primarily) really know what is right, because the design is quite different from many of the standard designs available. I would never have picked the 5’8 nugget, it looked too short and too fat, but it is the best board i’ve owned.
Is that pic of you tearing it up? Looks like a thruster? What type of McCoy and size? Keep your reviews coming of the Zot, it keeps me psyched to get my own.
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The only measurment I ever gave Geoff was I told him I wanted my board to be 23’’ wide. He called it the Wild one. The rest he did and has done on all the McCoys I own. They all work unreal. I rode the 8er last time surf was up a bit and was catching more waves than surfers riding puke tech ten footers.
Here is one of my 7’2’’
[img_assist|nid=1051193|title=McCoy Wild one|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=184]
[quote=“$1”]
.
[img_assist|nid=1051194|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=189]
6’8’’
Just use the email from your site to order? I don’t see fins for sale.
I do see the boards, however. Are they all shaped by Pautsch?
Sorry Solosurfer - didn’t realize those images were active hyperlinks.
I see the Spitfire fin and the Horan boards. For the Gullwing though, just email you?
Hi Batoes, yeah that is a photo of me in Bali at Keramas a couple of years ago.
That is a nugget geoff shaped for me it is 6'7"x20x27/8 it is quite slender for a nugget
and digs a little juice, the tail is about 161/2" and can be pushed hard with the sure
grip of the mccoy rail. Most people wouldnt dream of riding a board with a tail that
wide as a step board for slightly bigger or more powerful waves but put together
with the right curves it can work wonderfully. I thought i would add another photo
which shows the ease in which the board will roll onto its rail and hold firm when you
apply pressure.
I will post you a photo of my zot in the future you may be interested to see, looks like waves this
weekend stay stoked
Sweet! That is an absolute textbook bottom turn in action. Great to see someone shredding on a McCoy design. When i talk positvely about Geoff’s designs I have come up against people who sometimes make silly claims. They claim the boards are for old guys, fat guys, learners, blokes who can’t surf etc etc, essentially they have a very basic negative view of a board they don’t understand because it looks different. What i love about the nugget design is that it caters for everyone, everyone who has an open mind, maybe fat, old, beginner or shredder. Or in my case, a midget, or close to it.
i’ll post one too, nothing as good as yours though.
would love to see some Zot action in the future, and yes, we’ve got some waves - had plenty this arvo.
I’m just about to crawl into my van and sleep. Currently 15kms out of Byron and will go and see what all the fuss is about tomorrow morning after a surf.
Good stuff, ask Geoff whether he’ll lend you a zot - promise to bring it back and all that : )