and it got me thinking. It was suggested that with a Pig’s wide tail a quad fin setup makes a good fit. I didn’t want to take the above thread off topic, especially with such nice pictures being posted, so I thought I would start a new one for discussion.
I’m looking for a new “go-to-take-it-out-everyday-without-thinking board”, to replace my 9’0 Hobie Peter Pan Slug (please reserve all derogatory and negative comments associated with this board and the person it is named for, out of the conversation. Regardless of how you feel about either, the board works great in crap waves we get here in RI 95% of the time when there is no real swell. But most of all, I find it fun to ride, which is really the point after all.)
I’ve tried to find a replacement everyday board for a while now, but always seem to come back to the slug. It seems that boards billed as everyday all-around go to boards are not so for the waves I generally surf on a regular basis. But to bring this back on track, a pig, with its wide tail might be a great fit! What are the communities thoughts on the effectiveness of a pig shape for small gutless surf, and how would a 5 fin design (either ridden as a quad or single or 5?!) improve/hinder the design?
My sense is that, with such a wide tail, the pig would excel in gutless waves. Without ever riding a quad, I imagine the quad setup may hinder the small wave performance of the pig, but give it the ability to also surf larger faster waves. The idea was to get a pig with quad+box and depending on the wave size ride either as a single or quad fin.
I have been giving a board like that a lot of thought. Wide hips and tail with less nose and a little less nose rocker A channeled bottom and more of a bonzer set up. This would be a board to surf off the tail like a short board yet have some glide and drive Template would be something like a cross between a the McCoy nugget and the Mctavish carver with modified bonzer bottom and fin set up. This might just be pure magic or a big floating pile of dog poo. Somehow the Chinese just don't get my concepts
My concept is to get a fun board for most of Florida's mostly sad conditions without going to a full bore long board. i say go for it and report back
I have been giving a board like that a lot of thought. Wide hips and tail with less nose and a little less nose rocker A channeled bottom and more of a bonzer set up. This would be a board to surf off the tail like a short board yet have some glide and drive Template would be something like a cross between a the McCoy nugget and the Mctavish carver with modified bonzer bottom and fin set up. This might just be pure magic or a big floating pile of dog poo. Somehow the Chinese just don't get my concepts
My concept is to get a fun board for most of Florida's mostly sad conditions without going to a full bore long board. i say go for it and report back
Nice looking ride Ace
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There is a great picture of Velzy holding a narrow nosed pig on google images. Wide tail narrow nose and belly.
In the 1970's I think it was Dewey Weber made a modern pig short board. It was called of all Things " The Pig" It was ugly as sin. It didn't help that my friends board was an puke green yet when I traded boards with a friend I was amazed at how well it surfed in really poor conditions. There is a lot to be said for a board that makes the below average and average surf fun. It took me just a few years to once again re discover Pigs. Like 30 years. What can I say ,I am a slow learner. It was around 1994 That I had Bob Sakota ( donald Takayama's head shaper make me a 8'6" thruster Pig. That board was amazing. The only thing I would have changed would have been a slight concave nose.
The Board That I now want is another version of The basic Pig. Think of it this way
Drop Knee Thanks That is like a blue print of that shortboard Pig!
Now look at one part of the Ad they talk about another Board the Easy Rider. in a One fin, Two fin or THREE fin configuration. Any links to a photo of three fin Easy Rider?
The template of that Pig looks nice. Notice the S line in the deck? lots of volume in the tail. Now if you play with some more contemporary Rocker, rails , foiling and fin system you just might have a really exciting little board.
Here’s a link to several pics of a single-fin “Easy Rider” that somebody (not me or anyone I know) is selling. Look quick: it’s a CL listing and could disappear at any time:
Now look at one part of the Ad they talk about another Board the Easy Rider. in a One fin, Two fin or THREE fin configuration. Any links to a photo of three fin Easy Rider?
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I don't know which models were using three fins, but in 1971 Weber was using my removable ''tri- fins'', which I marketed as PressLock Fins. I have seen some of the Weber Boards with the system at vintage auctions. Think about it, removable sidebites, in 1971, and no screws or tools needed. I developed the system in Sept/Oct of 1970. Just shy of forty years ago. Yikes! Where'd the time go?
Bill, Thanks for the info on your system. Seems like you were just a few years ahead of your time. By the way do you have any photos you could post?
I have told some younger surfers that there were thruster style boards around 71/72 ,They look at me like "yeah right old man" when they get sassy, I just call them young whippersnappers! hit them with my cane and walk away mumbling to myself
What is the general sense on a quad set-up with the fat, pig tail? Has anyone ridden one as a 4+1?
Ace- That board looks like alot of fun. If you don’t mind me asking, why the blunt nose? How do the four fins ride compared to a similar shape with a single?
btw, called the guy on the easy rider, it was claimed hours after it was posted on craigslist. bummer!
"Ace- That board looks like alot of fun. If you don’t mind me asking, why
the blunt nose? How do the four fins ride compared to a similar shape
with a single? "
I like the “feel” of the and looseness of the Quad set up. Very skatey till you need the bite for the turn. The boards have very thick wide tails and I would probably have to put a pretty big fin to control em than I am back in the past. The Quads and SIX fins really opened em up to new possibilities. I have made a couple 4+1 and they always seem to come back as Quads.
“why
the blunt nose?”…Why not?
You know where to find me Bill {or anyone else who is interested} come on by anytime and give it go.
Ah yes, I finished off about 2 dozen of those for Dale, they sucked donkey balls, he put every bell and whistle he could think of into those. Rather than order a blank with the rocker he wanted, the master was on a flipped around backwards blank, ultra flipped tail pigs do not ride well, too much tail.
He finally called up Donald and asked it he could use Donald’s program at KKL, Dale hadn’t been on a surfboard since 1962, but tried to re-invent the surfboard every day.
He had Sean Mattison try out boards for him and if Sean couldn’t make them work, he called him a butt wiggler surfer and was riding them wrong
You might remember that the Weber pigs didn't work very well either. You probably saw Tabeling surf them at the time Larry Pope took those pics (in the ad a few posts back). LP has told me Tabeling struggled mightily on the pigs. He moved on to those tiny fishes pretty quickly and did some memorable surfing at the inlet. Pope got some great photos in that period. I knew one guy that had one of the Webers briefly, he couldn't ride it and neither could I.
That’s funny. I remember more than a few folks didn’t like thrusters when they first came out. I remember many Floridians wanting to stay with Twinnies. Funny how times change and refinement changes the outlook on things.
That's funny. I was trying to edit my post to add something, butI got ''access denied'', because you had pulled the trigger first.
Here's what I wrote: I like what Jim's doing with the longboard versions, and Ace's 4+ fin stuff looks very functional. And if someone wanted to make a shortboard wide-tail single fin, the McCoy model would be a better one to follow, as opposed to the Weber. Sometimes there's a reason things are left in the past...
As I recall I was pleasantly surprised at how well the ugly little Weber pig worked. Dismissing the pig as unworkable for you does not mean that it was not a good board for it's time. The Weber pig never gained any real following due to a number of things one was the 2nd advent of the twin. The other was that boards in Calif were at that time moving to the all purpose Calif Semi gun The board 13" or so nose wide point about 19" and up from center. 12' to 13" tail, diamond tail, pin tail, round pin. swallow tail with wings without wings ,you name it and they were all down rail thick nose,wide point forward of center Boards. Bill Caster in San Diego made some beautiful boards like that. Wilderness in San Barbra was also making some really nice semi gun boards. This was the era of The revolution The Old names were dieing Hobie,Con,Noll, and Weber were on the way out they were the old guard and the new up shots were on the march taking over. Lighting Bolts of that time pretty much a optimize the what was considered state of the art in design. I could never get a twin fin to work for me. Those that can get them to work have proven them time and again. The irony is I loved Fish. San Diego has had a core group of Fish varieties for more then 30 years. A lot of surfers put down the Bonzer It tracks wasn't lose only good for down the line doesn't work ....... Yet for almost 40 years they retain a near cult following.
Others more notable then myself have continued using the pig model of a wide point back of center wide tail for some time now. Geoff McCoy, Cheyne Horan were very successful with his interpretation of the Pig Nat Young has made a long board pig. McTavish is another that has made some rather successful Piggish style boards.
I had a Pig 8'6'' shaped by Takayama's head shaper Bob Sakota, Bob used a modified Nat Young template. That board was fantastic. Wish i have never sold it. I have two new boards in the works one a longboard pig nose rider and the other a pig style bonzer shorter for more of that short board surfing experience for this old man.
Back to the thread I say do a five fin Pig play with the fins and see what happens.
