Anybody have any experience riding a Stu Kenson Mutant? Any other concave decked shortboard? There is some vague archive stuff on this (somebody even bought one through Swaylock’s, it would seem), but no specifics on ride, etc.
Kenson bills it as a “fish alternative” on his site… all I know is that it looks sweet and I’d love to try one out.
I have a friend down south that owned one for awhile.He liked it and it rode well for him.Herb
Thanks for the reply, Herb. Now if only someone replied, “I got one I’ll sell ya, brotha”. I’d try and bust one out in my meager shaping bay, but it seems like you could waste a lot of time if you didn’t have a good look at one first…
msacht, The Mutant series of boards that I produce can be adapted to just about anything from a performance tri fin , a Lis style fish , eggs, or as shown in your post a single fin soft diamondtail. The design was based upon the G&S Waterskate, and thru plenty of R&D have come up with a design that surfs well , has a more sensitive feel going thru the water and still has plenty of floatation.
I started shaping them when I was still at R. ( about 6 years ago) . The 1st one I made I loaned to a friend and never got it back. He now orders a new one about once a year ( he rides them into the ground), and we are in the process of building an epoxy model for him (EPS foam, RR epoxy resin). SK
a buddy of mine did a concave deck on a 9’2" performance longboard (eps/epoxy). it’s a lot of fun to ride. definitely worth checking out.
Concave deck is a small part of what makes it work.
Does SKsurf want to divulge the bottom shape characteristics? That, and the outline, thickness flow, fin config, determine it’s superior surfing capabilities.
Yeah, I made a concave deck 6’8"er for the SurferMagazine Design Editor, back in 1974.
Hey there Stu, thanks for the reply. I’m super interested in your take on this concept. When the “Waterskate” thread passed through a while back, it totally peaked my interest, but that version looked decidedly “Larval”, if you know what I mean. It looks like you’ve developed it interestingly. I would love to check one out and see what you think about the different subtypes of mutants: Tri vs Fish vs Single, etc. Do you run a particular bottom on all of the above “mutations”, or does it vary depending on the subtype (i.e. concaves on the tri, flats on the fish, etc.)
On that epoxy model you’re building for your buddy - do you recommend that “substrate” for this particular setup or is this a personal preference of his?
Once again, thanks for the reply, Stu. How cool is it that the designer of the board in question dropped a line here? swaylocks rips…
Hi,
do you still use the original rails of the G&S waterskate?
regards,
Håvard
Bottom design for most of the single fin Mutants are a flat bottom ( with a bit of release towards the rail )forward to a vee panel that graduates from just behind center and continues off the tail. In addition I use double barrel concaves thru the tail. With fish boards its pretty much the same deal. The vee allows the board to roll up on a rail easy and the concaves give you a bit straighter bottom curve.
The performance style tri fins usually get a Bonzer style concave, but some prefer the single to double combo, they both work well.
As far as rail design ( for the single’s and fish’s) with a deck concave you still need to carry enough volume to paddle. A low apex rail (modified Brewer rail line) seems to work best and you can still retain alot of volume in the rail line to allow for what you have taken out of the deck line. Widening up the outline (tail area ) also helps .
Another comment that seems to come up regarding the use of concave decklines is getting into a problem with soft foam ( cutting into the center of the blank) , I generally use superblue or supergreen blanks (7’4"R works well) and once the board is glassed I have yet to see one have a problem with the board breaking down due to getting into the softer foam.
With the EPS (Etech) epoxy resin combos you can build a lighter , stronger surfboard. The customers that have switched over to the Etechs are looking for a lighter more high performance surfboard.
Great info Stu. Hey, Roger Beal and I are building his first Resin Research epoxy board this weekend. It’s for me! Hi from Massachusetts.
-Rob
THANKS Stu!!!
Coque.
Yeah, thanks tons Stu. Great info. Very cool of you to kick down some of the design concepts used in these boards. You’ve piqued my interest and then some…