Round Tail Quad

Shaped to be a daily driver in average beach break conditions.  

5’11" x 20" x 2 1/8"
Single concave all the way through
Quad/Thruster convertible
Ice-9 Mowses Foam
Resin Research Epoxy polished finish
6/4 deck, 4 bottom

Canvas Round Tail Quad

 

canvas round tail quad

 

canvas round tail quad

 

A few shots of swaylockian hackysaky tearing up some sub-par waves on it.

 

hackysaky

 

hackysaky

 

hackysaky

 

hackysaky

 

hackysaky

 

hackysaky

 

hackysaky

 

hackysaky

does it turn too well and lack a bit of drive, especially on ya backhand ????  but feel better frontside and flows much smoother ???

From my experience it does not lack drive and I haven't recieved any input from other riders that it lacks drive.  All positive feedback so far.  Wondering how you made these assumptions?

seaside heights area? by the last picture?  or am i just losing my mind.

 

board looks great. how did you like the Ice-9 blanks?

As you can tell from the pics, it really was not a good day for testing a new board out, BUT I did get a few waves that lined up (none of the ones pictured) that I could get a little groove goin’ on.  Once I figured it out, I was actually surprised at how well it did drive considering I usually assume a more glidey, skippy style on quads and a more drivey style when on thrusters.  I definitely want to try this board out in more real waves rather than the slopfest of last Sat night.    Here is my cursory review quoted from the surfermag.com BB:

This one (the pic with the pier in it) really captures the mood of the day. The
whole time we were out there we kept laughing at how long we were
staying out in moody, relatively junk surf, but every once in a while a
decent wave would push through that allowed for a turn or two, and it
was like someone pushed an “attitude reset button” that provided the
motivation to stay in longer.

So, no pics of the two decent
rights I had that day, huh? That is ok, I am sure she has some good
pics of seagulls on the jetty or shells in the wash
No worries, just kidding with you/her… we were not exactly providing
consistent quality action to keep her focused. As I said, it was a good
“recreational” session, nothing to take too seriously.

It took
me a little while to “get” the board since I was trying to ride it foot
position/weight foreward like I normally do on quads. Then I realized
that if I slammed my foot way back (sometimes even all the way back) on
the traction pad it actually drove and carved harder. I definitely look
forward to riding that board again, hopefully in cleaner, more lined up
swell to really smoke the tires on it.

 

EDIT: I wound not say “ripping it up”, but more “doing my best” given the conditions (I actually commented in the water that I wish I could all be 13 again when every wave was good and your one and only board was your “go to” in everything from knee-high to well-overhead) and defintely did not feel held back by the board at all.  In fact, the wide outline and relaxed rocker (as compared to some of my other go-to boards) seemed to float through the mush and cut the chop nicely.

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seaside heights area? by the last picture?  or am i just losing my mind.

 

board looks great. how did you like the Ice-9 blanks?

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Yup, a few towns north of SSH.

Thanks!  Ice-9 foam is easy to work with and seems rather strong, but I think I may switch over to EPS (Marko) and see how I like it.

Nice. i like surfing there in the winter.

 

i also like the Ice-9 foam. seems really tough. my latest two are Ice-9 with bamboo veneers. should be tough, but pretty stiff.

 

i went from Brian at Greenlight Surf Supply EPS 2# to the ice-9. i feel the ice-9 wwas easier to work with and seemed stronger. id like to try warvel foam from the WMD thread eventually.

 

Actually, I think pridmore’s question/comment is realistic as I often think this about quads in general.  That said, I’m sure you (rdj) remember me commenting in the water that day that I was surprised at how controlled the board felt compared to my expectations.

Yeah I figured it was a statement in general about quads, but was looking for clarification.

I guess I must be the exception, but quads seem to work better for me backside than thrusters.  I feel like I can control the board and my angle of attack better on a quad going backside by using my front foot more.

that’s a great looking board… will be curious on this because i also have some days like that on the local beach…

Amazing board. Thats whats in my head to do next. What were the nose and tail widths?

My impression is that there are two things going on - you don’t have the leverage with your heel that you do with your toe, and initiating a turn or pump toe side can be done with much less body english than heel side: you can use your feet and lower legs more and your upper legs, glutes and upper body less on the toe side compared to heel side. This means pumping is easier and faster for me toe side than heel side. Wide tailed boards seem to exaggerate these differences because they require even more leverage and respond even slower.

nice board, to be sure… but i love the old-school folding chair!  those are hard to find these days.

 

I spent a little time in NJ shortly after GDing HS, in 1984.  actually i caught some pretty fun waves when the summer swells would hit.

 

I believe that warvel is no longer offering multi-density blanks (someone correct me if Im wrong, I vaguely remember reading this in the WMD thread).  That doesnt mean you cant glue up a custom multidensity blank yourself.  Lots of guys on here have tried it with good success.

[quote="$1"]

From my experience it does not lack drive and I haven't recieved any input from other riders that it lacks drive.  All positive feedback so far.  Wondering how you made these assumptions?

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from the pics....and from my experience with quads...just a comment, not picking at the board, it looks great, really nice, the pics tell me as a shaper and designer a few things, thats all but you and others are enjoying the boards and thats what its all about.......looks like a nice stick, quads and round tails are a very good combo and if you get them right, they are the ultimate all rounder IMO....

I think the difficulty backside with some quads, like with a lot of retro fish, is not necessarily the fin setup but has a lot to do with the outline and tail width. The tendency toward wider tails in quads, which used to be pretty common, but now that seems to be changing, can make them feel stiffer backside. Also, the wider tails in square or squash or bat… or even swallow form… keep the ouline in the tail straighter - another factor that can give quads a bad name when it comes to backhand surfing. Same with retro fish. The ouline is very straight through the tail to the tips. But I think the round tailed versions are curvier in the tail, so they add some forgiveness to any added width. Another solution is the double bump or wing that does something similar… brings the tail width down quickly. And you see a lot of them these days.

mechanically, how does a wider tail stiffen up the backhand?

harder to go from rail to flat on the face and vice versa to really pump it?

 

Beautiful! Great work man

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nice board, to be sure.... but i love the old-school folding chair!  those are hard to find these days.

 

I spent a little time in NJ shortly after GDing HS, in 1984.  actually i caught some pretty fun waves when the summer swells would hit.

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Thanks!  The chair was salvaged from the garage of an elderly friend who wasn't using it anymore.  Summer can be fun, but late fall and early winter are my favorite.

[quote="$1"]

Beautiful! Great work man

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Thanks!  If you're the same Bud over on the erBB, your board are pretty sick.  Your twins look really frickin fun.  I'm doing a twin with trailer fish right now.