With the promise of better surf in the fall, I thought it was time to get off the fish and on to a performance board for smaller surf. I originally was going with my rather typical 6’4" squash quad, but changed my mind on the way to the shaping bay after reading about Bill Johnson’s futuristic V-tailk, aka “Stealth Quad”. I usually ride shortboard tris or quads with a squash, but have tried nearly every other tail design. The 2 “magic” boards in 26 years have been a 6’4" squash and 6’3" round pin.
After 2 surfs in head-to-slightly-overhead surf, I have to say maybe this is more than a novelty. I didn’t notice much difference down the line or off the bottom, but I felt an immediate improvement in cut backs and off-the-tops. I wasn’t buying too much on the addition fin-like features of the flexible tail since most of it is lost after glassing.
In design thought, I suppose it’s close to providing the volume and lift of a squash, with some of the bite a swallow provides. I’d love to hear everyone else’s thoughts on it.
Board specs:
Length: 6’4"
Nose: 11 1/2"
Width: 19 1/8"
Tail: 14 3/4"
Thickness: 2 5/8"
Fin setup: FCS Quad setup with McKee Quatro M4 fin setup specs. M5 sides for front and rear was too loose. M7 sides for front / M5 sides for rear worked better for me (175 pounder that likes a lot of drive).
Not saying anything about yours really, but I bet every one of the dimensions of those tabs and that tail is critical to how much they flex, which is the claim
It’s a fad. Looks kind of silly too. Just my not so humble opinion though. I’d love to have an experienced shaper chime in and set the record straight. At least with the bat tail I can hum the old version old the batman song. Du-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na
Don’t be too quick to scoff…Greenough’s last flex spoons and his sail boards have very similar tails. He used to put a flexable membrane between the two “pins”. If the cut-out is done on a standard 1/2 inch thick tail, the shape is fashion only. If the tail is thinned to the point you can flex it with your fingers, then the shape is very functional. It will allow the tailblock rocker to flex behind the fin(s) only on the side being loaded.
The key here is that the “pin” has to flex. No flex, no function.
I don’t know how much of this translates once it’s glassed, but watch the shaped tail (blank) flex on video at the website. It looks like it’s thinned out to where it flexes a pretty fair amount!
I can only speak from personal experience. I have not seen one of these boards and I don’t know what type of foam and lamination he is doing (no sound on my computer). To me, using poly and 2X4/4 glass, the amount of flex will be minimal. Half as much foam and it might flex enough to feel.
I have seen Pendaflex boards with a “flex tail” that I couldn’t bend with both hands yet the riders swear by them. My experience with tailblock flex systems (short moment-arm) is that if you can’t bend it with finger pressure, the flex will be so minimal as to not be felt by the rider.
Their function would be really easy to test…just glass the two pins together to make the system rigid and ride it to see the difference.
I dunno, it looks like it’s shaved down to about 1/4" when he’s holding it and has his fingertip on it. And it’s a tab, not the whole hull width twisting or whatever, but I hear you.
Watched it again…
listened more carefully this time–CJ said he’d never ridden a quad before, so really, that’s probably actually the whole story. He’s talking about the difference between his regular thruster and this quad and it all sounds like the non-dragging part about quads. Good board, but the tail probably is less of it than the fin configuration.
One thing is for sure, it didn’t HOLD CJ back. Logic would seem to indicate that a single wing swallow quad should have or would have performed fairly similar, but CJ didn’t compare it to another quad.
I was out that AM and the surf was super super weak, even at lowers. watching that video, I am amazed at what he could do with such weak surf.
btw, NO WAY he linked a section to “churches”. He either doesn’t know where Church is, or he is high. I bet he bearly got to the northern section of “middles”.
normally I can’t fly but with my dual core processors I can adjust myself so instead of flying like a aerial wild jig, my partner can actually bank me or do any sort of flight maneuver.
My crazy geometricism allows me to break up radar and gaydar so I can slip in unseen to electronic eyes.
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Dude I can’t believe CJ fell for Churches instead of Church. And since the Church is gone its hard to dispute its location. 17 locals tell me its in 7 different spots.
Thoes guys seem super nice…but for some reason they make me yawn. They have a full bag of tricks and surf all conditions…but they are so plain? Not sure what it is? Maybe they are campaigning too hard about their religion or something? I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe they need a larger Globe logo or something?
Dude I can’t believe CJ fell for Churches instead of Church. And since the Church is gone its hard to dispute its location. 17 locals tell me its in 7 different spots.
Ummmm
well its not that hard to define when you surf that area all the time. The whole section is considered “Trestles” but is subdivided like below
Cottons
Barbed wire
Uppers
Lowers
Middles
Church (where they use to hold church service @ the point, Jons are there now)
Well, the shaper posted it. I merely linked it, because it seemed relevant to the discussion somehow.
(Hey, how are experiments in things finless going? Isn’t this finless longboard season? Any finless longboard riding videos yet? Start a thread!)
Hey man, I actually was just starting work on a new finless board at the beginning of the month, I posted a picture of the template on the recent asymmetric paipo thread. Unfortunately I fell on my skateboard and broke a bone in my left arm. I can’t shape, and I can’t surf. A good friend of mine once said “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.” Right now I’m doing the time! I’m looking forward to this winter! -Carl
I’m looking forward to this winter! -Carl