thanks heaps for replying Rich !
..... I'm glad this thread hasn't finished yet , and you still have more to contribute !
do you have [a] photo[s] of the old boards in question , alongside maybe a shot of the blank[s] you use ?
here's a few shots of the outline of the 6'4" Bob Cooper single fin that I mentioned previously ....
Unfortunately , the partly shaped blank I was given YEARS ago , doesn't fit it ! [and I don't want to narrow / shorten the Cooper's template ...if anything , I would probably WIDEN it , slightly ...especially in the tail area , and pod, perhaps [ making it a rounded square , or 'chopped tail , even?]
so ,
'IF' I did go ahead with / get a modernised version of this shaped [a BIG 'IF' !] , it would need to be from a brand new , and possibly slightly ?bigger ? blank .
I probably need to ride the original single fin more , though , to see if it really DOES work well, as I might just be getting a bit sentimental about old singleys , without them [THIS one] neccessarily working that well or feeling that good , for me .
You see, the problem also lies in the amount of TWIST in the tail , and a fair amount of the rest of the board ...a couple of the rocker [lack of] and profile shots , show this fairly clearly ....
the twist...
Also , although Simon commented that the 'tail was fairly wide for a single fin' , I still found that , for me at least , it didn't FEEL like it ? I guess that may be because he is used to narrower tailed guns , whereas I have [had] shorter , wider tailed singleys [ mine , were mainly for beachbreaks , vs HE [and his son Eli] are riding theirs , in some powerful , more hollow , bigger reef breaks]
Here are some shots that he took , of his son Eli ....
he is pictured on one of Simon's single fin boards [ though, in these shots , he is pictured on a beachie , there ] ...
Here's Simon , with the board in question ...
[ and ... no .... it AIN'T a lightning bolt , [unfortunately ] by the way ! ]
It would be good to have a rocker / foil profile shot of this too, I'll ask Simon via the internet when next we are in contact ...
Interesting to note from the photos ...
Eli's 'feet together' 'Chipper' stance , off the bottom , then the 'Curry ' [his surname] 'legs-apart ' thruster-style [? near / straddling the "rocker apex " ??] stance , on the highline floater ...that's a LOT of rail to float the boat on , right there !
So , anyway ...
regarding the 'old templates / new blanks / rocker / foil thing ...
[ ? maybe?] to be continued ?
..... but , maybe not !
...I already have 'too many ' boards , I think ....there are really only THREE , that I consistently ride , out of a quiver of ten [?!]
Also , maybe it is the [? 'tear drop- type' ? ] shape , of the 6'4" Cooper , that I am not used to
The singleys I had in the 1970s , the 1980s , the 1990s , and a couple into the new millenium ...all had different curves . The nose not being THAT much wider than the tail , compared to the Cooper . [Wish I had made templates of every one of them , in 50/50 hindsight !]..
By the way ...
with the combination of the twist in the board , and the go pro's unfortunate distortion , the Coops 'appears' to almost be an 's-deck' ?! [ it isn't , thankfully ! ]
cheers !
ben
" By the way , Chip - I'm only a medical away from the visa now , so the move is looking ever more likely - I hope one day we can meet up and have a surf /beer ...and talk surfboards till the small hours."
.... that would be GREAT if it happens one day ! hopefully I can give you stacks of fins to play with !
cheers