I was delighted to see your recreation of Nat’s “Sam”. I was curious though whether you had an opportunity to look over the original item. If so, how closely did you follow it. I believe if my memory serves me well, there was an article in “Surfer” about the paddle-out re-entry maneuver. In the article Nat was talking about Vee in the tail, and I think he was referring to “Sam”. Did you include Vee as well? ,
My knowlege of Sam is second hand, from someone involved with making it. Sam didn’t have any V. That was the next step in the design evolution of the short board. The tail of Sam isn’t wide enough to call for V. It works fine with round hull and small, round rails. My fins are small and further up than on the original…easier for mere mortals to turn.
Don’t suppose anybody has a copy of the article I mentioned. Nat had some really interesting insights on the board he was using to do the “paddle-out re-entry”?