Alright . Im thinking of making a paipo board as kind of like an experiment to see whether or not id be able to make a surboard. Any and all fin suggestions and size suggestions would be appreciated. I am 5’4 125 pounds.
–tom
Hi Tom,
Have a look at http://rodndtube.com/paipo/forum/index.php - quite a lot on the subject.
hope that’s of use
doc…
I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen one in SoCal… or anywhere for that matter.
that link you posted claims that paipo’s are the “fastest waveriding boards made”. This true? I don’t see how it could be faster than a well pumped surfboard, unless they can get higher on the wave.
Ah…well, in the 60s and '70s, paipos were pretty hot stuff. And the majority of the mainstream were made in SoCal - Newport Paipo and El Paipo. Indeed, I started out with something just like this: http://vagabondsurf.com/PaipoNewportConcaveVector.html
As for ‘the fastest’, etc… you can get into and hold an edge in the steepest part of the wave, plus they have less area so less drag. They operate pretty much only on the vertical, stall on the flat - It’s a defensible claim.
Believe it or not, there are things out there which can go faster than a pumped surfboard… and with minimal effort.
No wonder they`re not often seen… many of the people who devote themselves to such wavecraft prefer the solitude of uncrowded waves… along paths traveled by few.
Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe.
The edge holding ability I had on my old “EL Paipo” has never been matched by anything else I have ever ridden, shortboard, kneeboard (close), boogie. The ability to hold a high line acrossed a vertical wall in the power curve for a extended length of time was amazing. I remember taking off in front of the cliff at the Lane and taking a blazing high line all the way thru the Slot and getting 6 feet of air as I kicked out without trying. If we’re talking straight line speed I’d say this thing was the fastest.
P.S- I wish I still had that board. Lost it during a big swell (pre-leash days) and never saw it again.
I made a piapo board while i was in grad school, no place of a 60’s board on research cruise as a lowly grad/grunt. anyway, i carved it from marine grade plywood, and used solar heat and weights to pull a kick into the nose, no fins, just very sharp edges , a layer of glass on the top and ottom to seal and hold the induced rocker,thing went like a rocket in the shorebreak of several ports of call around the central atlantic! i still have it , haven’t ridden it in several years, the glass weighted it down enough to give it almost neurtal bouyancy, so if i wiped out it sank and slowly floated back to the surface just about where the wipe out occured…Now , i want to take it out tomorrow! hummm
Quote:
Ah…well, in the 60s and '70s, paipos were pretty hot stuff. And the majority of the mainstream were made in SoCal - Newport Paipo and El Paipo. Indeed, I started out with something just like this: http://vagabondsurf.com/PaipoNewportConcaveVector.html
As for ‘the fastest’, etc… you can get into and hold an edge in the steepest part of the wave, plus they have less area so less drag. They operate pretty much only on the vertical, stall on the flat - It’s a defensible claim.
thats exactly wut i was looking for. I needed some dimensions. When i order some blanks ill probly just cut one in half to attempt to shape my first paipo board.
For what it’s worth, get some 1 1/2" sheet foam and you can probably save yourself a lot of work. Rip it in half, stick a stringer in to give you some rocker and there ya go. Mine was glassed ( as is the Concave Vector in the pics) with a fairly heavy Volan, the thickness was mostly in the lastthird, tapering to maybe 3/4" or so up forward. I dunno if you can see it, but the nose starts out flat and then about 1/4 - 1/3 back the concave starts, getting to a max of 1/4"-3/8" and the whole bottom is concave rail to rail, S-rails with down and (for the times, anyways, everything else back then was round-railed crappe’ ) hard rails in the tail.
Tuck a leash plug forward someplace, don’t give it too much thickness or buoyancy - the idea is to be able to just kick like hell and push the nose down and go deep under incoming sets. Buoyancy isn’t an issue with takeoffs either, it’s kick like hell a couple of times ( see the UDT thread a little while ago for Greg Deets nice new UDTs ) with your paipo held out at arm’s length, catch it and yump yourself forward onto the board and get your angle going right ricky tick for a top turn, you’ll run out of zip if ya try to do a bottom turn with this beastie, she stalls at too high a speed. Always stay high on a wave, the thin rail and the fin just about on the rail will hold you there.
It’s kinda like it’s the surf-skeleton, like the sleds they use on luge runs where you lead with your head. To do a cutback, get as high up as you can, slam your weight to the opposite rail so your turn is fast and you stay high and it’s more an elongated S turn. Needless to say, the hollower and faster the wave is, the better.
hope that’s of use. I remember I went from the Concave Vector to a 5’0" x 19" all down-hard-railed G&S kneeboard that was another rocket… and like Huey Lewis said, " I like things that go fast"…
doc…
that was extremely helpful. I have two more questions. Where can i buy sheet foam? and will i be looked at like an idiot when i go to have it glassed?
—thanks in advance for all the help!
Hey 5-9,
I’ve got one that’s real thin and very heavy for how big it is. It’s shaped kinda like a triangle and back edge is 30 inches across. It’s 40 inches long. The rails are rolled up and so is the nose, which is a rounded off affair. It’s a real tough well make board with thin rubberized padding on the deck to soften things up and help you stick to it. I’d recommend one of these to anyone who in interested in a full on Piapo board. If you want to make one yourself you should have a close look at one before you start. The guy that makes 'em is a master at it.
Mine is incredible and if you do it right you don’t need any sticking fins.
Mine cost me $300.00 including shipping. You can build one way cheaper but you’ve got to do the right things with the high density foam to get the shape right.
Check out the Piapo site.
I am given to understand that you can get polyurethane sheet foam at Fiberglass Hawaii and I’m sure there are others, also there’s some that sell it for marine use and signs. Varying thicknesses, several densities, at least from the marine and sign people. Dale knows far more about that than I do, in fact he turned me onto a few sources.
As for looked at like an idiot…well, depends a lot on where ya take it. If it’s someplace that caters to the room-temperature IQ duuuudes who look at the magazine pictures, maybe. Find somebody running a glass shop that’s a bit older and has a clue or two themselves ( and if you go with a cut-lap Volan glass job you should) - well, that’s another thing entirely. Funny thing is, there ain’t many kneeboarders or paipo guys still around, but they’re represented in the business far beyond their ‘population in the wild’ . You may be pleasantly surprised.
Oh, before I forget, the fins are really no more than keel-like low-aspect slabs of relatively thin sheet glass, no more than 3/16" thick after they are glassed on. No toe-in, no cant, 90° to the bottom and parallell with the centerline, pretty close to the rails.
Hope that’s of use
doc…
5foot9arakawa,
For a taste of pure paipo boarding, Ive had excellent results with sheets of 1/4" exterior grade plywood which offer inexpensive freedom to experiment with different templates. Ive often preferred slightly triangular outlines with rounded corners, about 42" long x 32" wide rear edge, and a completely flat profile. Modify quickly and easily.
You can orient the plywood so that it has a flex pattern either across the width, or the length. Seal the plywood with paraffin/wax, hand-rubbed or molten. This most basic form of paipo can function effectively without any fin(s), rarely requiring the rider to drag legs and/or swim fins for directional control.
Like all other wavecraft, a paipo’s range of performance is qualified. Yet within those limitations, no other form of surfing can compare to the feeling of slicing such fast, clean, high lines… riding a razor blade.
http://vagabondsurf.com/PaipoHome.html
http://www.rodndtube.com/paipo/MyPaipoBoards.html
http://www.rodndtube.com/paipo/forum/index.php
I’m going to make a plywood paipo this summer…and then try foam.
you might trade some material cost if you use styrofoam (real cheap at Home Depot) and epoxy resin (expensive, but you’re not going to use much of it).
Saw it lengthwise and put a redwood stringer in it, glue it up with a thin bit of carpenter’s glue.
Shape with a sanding block and some sharp 60 grit, finish with 80 or 100 grit.
Glass it clear.
Two fins near the tail corners, no cant, no toe-in.
Problem is, however, that this will have less flotation and wave-catching ability than your direct competitors, the boogie boarders. You’ll duck dive more easily though. Where would you ride it? Stand-up surfers aren’t gonna give you waves; and if there’s a lot of boogers around there will be no manners in the crowd there.
that’s not the point
i ride pretty much a slow longboard beachbreak in the central area of long island, ny. And as far as not getting waves, me and my friends have many peaks to ourselves all the time. Also…ive done repairs on surfboards using regular sanding resin, will it be a mess if i use epoxy resin for the first time?
May I suggest a look through http://www.precisionboard.com/Mar/default.htm and mebbe contact 'em to see who carries their stuff in NY. Urethane foams are a helluva sight easier to machine and sand than the insulation foam you get at the home despot. Works real fine with polyester ( the cheap stuff) resin.
Also, and shamelessly copied from a post Dale did in the thread here… http://rodndtube.com/paipo/forum/viewtopic.php?t=56
Architectural grade PU foam (4x 8sheets), in various densities, has been widely available for many years…
Polyurethane foam:
http://www.precisionboard.com/Sign/default.htm
Vinyl Foam:
http://www.generalplastics.com/products/product_detail.php?pid=25
Core-Cell- Structural Foam:
http://www.atc-chem.com/PGE/PR-CC-Overview.html
Marine foams:
Aircraft foams:
http://www.wicksaircraft.com/gotopage.php?page=24
hope that’s of use
doc…
For an example of what you can do in a short period of time for not much money, check out this plywood version of the Newport Paipo Concave Vector which Roger Wayland made and surfed in one weekend. And yes, if he likes it he’s going to make one out of foam/fiberglass…
awesome…thanks to everyone for all the info. I am definitely building that last one i saw next weekend. Ill tell everyone the results and how it rides soon.