Okay, I searched the archives for what spiral vee meant, and it really, really confused me. I kept hearing all these remarks of “double concave vee” and all sorts of crazy stuff like that. So now, I’m even more confused than I was.
Could someone explain to me what spiral vee is? Pretend you’re explaining this to a complete idiot, because when I searched in the archives for the answer I was greatly confused.
Just a double concave with progressively changing depth of V, which happens because the board gets narrower as water flows off the back, then disappears (the V) because of the tail rocker. Just another way of saying double concave, which happens the same way really.
Initially it was just a Vee, one that peaked in front of the single fin. If you planed the rocker, and then took material off to make the spiral vee, it creates a rail in front of the fin that has additional hold. Later people started cutting the Vee first, and then taking concaves out. But, for a single, the position of the peak, and the rail shape starting in front of the fin, and proceeding about 12-18 inches forward from there, has a large impact on rideability in steeper waves.
" The tail vee is only a swelling around the fin, due to the straightish rocker into the fin and the radical little tail kick. So the rail rocker line is a nice curve due to the vee. get it? Have a look at one closely and you’ll see what I mean. The vee has gone by the time you get to the very end. Some people call it the spiral vee. It’s the only way it can all add up."
-Bob McTavish 1976
http://www.surfresearch.com.au/1976o1201mct_classic_backdoor12_40.html
Okay, can anyone post a picture of “spiral vee”? I think I need to actually view it to understand completely.
Is Spiral vee just vee with concave on either side of it? (If that makes sense at all)
Vee with concave on either side of it is the Stewart HydroHull.
Spiral Vee is a vee that peaks in front of the fins, and flattens going fore and aft.
spiral vee:
a vee in the bottom tail section that has its apex under the back foot, generally in front of the fin/fins.
Attributed to Terry Fitzgerald, circa 1974.
FINALLY, an explanation I understand.
Thank you.
grab a piece of flat stock 8-10 inches wide 6-8’long clmp one end go to the other end…grab the short dimension…and twist it…imagine a second piece along side twisted the mirror image way …put a block at a chosen apex along the middle length of your choice and you have it ! Viola the homoginized catchy market tool of the season past on the continually evolving latest remarkable advancement in revolutionary surf design from the cutting edge of smoke and mirrors…That bick and hydro hull completly changed my surfing! truly the best board I ever surfed…ambrose… august 29…1968… R.B. picked me up hitch hiking out of Lihue with my 6’0 22 1/2 " wide board with an 18=“nose maybe 20 and a 10” tailblock with a cut off gordon & smith wave set fin made out of 33 pieces of foam…“I’ll bet it will spin out!” he said. he was right . I spun out drifted into pakala barrels from behind all afternoon from a suprised young Katange oh yea prone was cool
JLW, picture this, the V increases deeper as it get closer to the tail. Most of the spiral V boards of the day were round pins or wider squash/diamond tail. The outline crosses over the V panel and up to the stringer, this line goes from the outer edges in an arc to the stick, thusly it looks like a spiral as it crosses this changing plane. Does this make any sense?
I’ll just stick to blakestah’s explanation.
The reason I ask is because I ordered a blank a few days ago and it should be here any day now.
I’m making a single fin for 3-6 foot hollow waves.