Quote:
Yeah, I guess your gen, JeffHakman, rode slightly wider singles too…
Yep…Mccoys. Wink.
Quote:
Quote:Yeah, I guess your gen, JeffHakman, rode slightly wider singles too…
Yep…Mccoys. Wink.
never mind fish’s "butt cracks " …HERE’S a bumbat type board !!
Hi Fatbob,
just made this singlefin dimensions 6’5" x 21" x 2’ 7/8" nice wide 7 1/2" tail which I make wider the shorted the board. Mid point 3" forward center and I tuned this shape up with modern rails and rocker and beak nose.
Got involved with some FCS finboxes…not that nice to look at but did the job (didn’t use FCS fin). Red tint.
Post some pics when you complete yours!!! Singles fins are fun and well worth the all the effort. Used a homeblown Blank for this one.
TM
Hey Wildy,
I just have one basic question, I am not trying to tear you down but…what is an old fashioned board and what is the cutting edge? As far as I can see the thruster (although materials have improved which may be applied to any kind of board, thruster, single or otherwise) has not changed in the past 25 years. Sure, thinner, lighter, slight changes in design here or there but what the hell is so cutting edge about that? Maybee the fin systems that have been developed but this is more a conveniance than anthing else, and singles have had detachable fins for god knows how long. I don’t feel any single, unless its actually an old board is a retro (or retry) board, it is simply the continuation of a time tested design that keeps on going, no different than the now good old thruster. I am just pretty fed up with people acting like the single is some kind of time life books series to be held up when people are feeling nostalgic. And as for rehashing, if your on a thruster your rehashing things just as much as a guy on a single cuz theyve been around for a hell of a long time now.
Personally I like single fins too, I’m ‘lucky’ enough to surf El Porto/Dockweiler/Venice more than anywhere else, and when it gets any sort of size it’s mostly just a steep drop and then try to outrun the thing. By no means a classic wave, but a single fin is a blast to ride there and you can really haul on the things. I had a nice loaner Jeff Ho 7’ (or thereabouts) that was great until I tried a Widowmaker, and now I’m sold on them- goes fast and tracks well like a single but seems to hold in better, and I’m more and more leaning towards the idea of a single grafted onto a more modern shape, so please keep this thread running with updates on how these boards turn out and ride- I’m interested!
(Check out Tyler’s surfing in ‘Single Fin Yellow’- it’s a retro board for sure and he’s a better surfer than I could ever hope to be, but it shows the single fin/El Porto combo working really well)
G’day Chicksav, love the name.
To me, the cutting edge is the use of the most advanced information and technology to produce a better product, which will enhance and encourage higher performance. I’d like to hear other peoples interpretation of cutting edge also, as I’m not the only person with an opinion.
There are some cutting edge thrusters, but those edges were honed from the many thousands of thrusters made over the last twenty plus years. And I think some of the early ones could now be classified as retro, and if people want to shape and ride an old design then good for them.
But since the three fin revolution, very little advancement has been seriously tackled on the single fin market. When you have a stable proven design that is relatively easy to ride, it seems the mass market says why change.
Every time I made myself a new board, and I have made myself modern singles for the past umpteen years, most people would ask why, why not a thruster? The answer was always to have a better board. And each board I made was made to be better than the last. I feel no nostalgia for single fins because I’ve been riding in-line for the past fourteen years and I haven’t looked back.
I checked out Michael Cundiths rack boards when I visited last year. He shapes an incredible variety of boards, from modern chips and longboards, to old style singles, call them retro if you want but they were old designs, planshapes, rails, etc. I wouldn’t want to ride one just as much as I wouldn’t want to ride a thruster or a bonzer.
To make a ‘retro’ single, but using modern rocker and or rail shapes, is not retro at all. Why not just make it a modern single like it should be? Planshape, bottom shape, rail shape, make the thing modern, and it will go better.
I really think it’s great that people want to discover, and rediscover, old designs. As I said, I hope they learn from it. But I think it’s the total design package that should be labeled retro, not just the amount of fins or where they are positioned.
Retro is retry, modern is modern. I don’t think they mix well together except when people are sharing waves and everyone’s having fun, and that’s what it’s all about.
I definately want to shape a single fin from a thruster blank .
I have had / been riding singles consistently since 1975 , [my first single fin was in 1971 , at the age of 10] but have enjoyed thrusters , twinnies , my multifinned prawn now , and have had gos on surfmats and mals recently .
So, I feel like it’s time to give a modern single a go , for me …so I can compare the ride with my 70s singles .
A.D. 68 , and Lucas …
I’d like to hear your .05 , please ?
…as you two have ridden a lot of '70s singles too , eh ?
ben
this will be an interesting thread , as people talk about their experiences with single fins . […I’m a fan of singles, for sure !]
How did it go Ben? I’m always glad to here about single fins!
Heres i am with my green ‘fine line’ single fin around 1 year ago. the board is from around 1976.
hi Josh !
well, I never got to ride it in any size …
but when it comes closer to the time when you’re going to Gerringong , I’ll give ya me mate Rosco’s address …you can find out for yourself how it rides then …maybe werri will fire while you’re there , hopefully ! [ross lives the other end of seven mile , shoalhaven heads …
Cool!
Cheers mate.
here’s a crappy old single fin trimming in a straight line [again]… because “you can’t go vertical on a single fin” [well , a 20yo mate told me that , so it MUST be true …“Tracks” magazine wouldn’t lie , would it ??]
ben
[ p.s. - for the humour-challenged…sarcasm was used in the above post ]
[…Mike Tabeling in south africa in 1976 , for anyone wondering …]
Hey there Ben, how would you describe that jumper? Retro, retry or cutting edge!!
and , a Gary Linden …
I hope these outlines are giving you some ideas / inspiration , Bob ??
this ad , at least , had the length and width of every board !!
[from September 1974 “Surfing”]…
top to bottom …
kneeboard…5’1 x 20
fish …5’6 x 20
summerwing … 6’4 x 21
swallowtail… 6’8 x 20
diamond tail [for you , Lob !!] …6’8 x 19 1/2
fun shape …8’ x 22
Frye pintail [!!] …8’8 x 21
