Many thanks to Patrick who posted the URL of “Surflight Surfboards” in Hawaii. I haven’t seen, ridden or even heard of these before now. High tech, controlled flex characteristics incorporated into a wide range of shapes that look good. Many of us have been discussing flex, “dead” boards, etc. - it looks like these folks have really been making remarkable advancements. This looks like some hot stuff with great potential. I hope Dale, Matt and the rest of you check it out! Here is the URL provided as a link: http://www.surflight.com
Many thanks to Patrick who posted the URL of “Surflight > Surfboards” in Hawaii. I haven’t seen, ridden or even heard of these > before now. High tech, controlled flex characteristics incorporated into a > wide range of shapes that look good. Many of us have been discussing flex, > “dead” boards, etc. - it looks like these folks have really been > making remarkable advancements. This looks like some hot stuff with great > potential. I hope Dale, Matt and the rest of you check it out! Here is the > URL provided as a link: Pretty interesting.Now, if we could get Greg or Paul to shape a hulled stubbie out of that stuff so we could experiment with it! Matt
Pretty interesting.Now, if we could get Greg or Paul to shape a hulled > stubbie out of that stuff so we could experiment with it! Matt Matt, I
ve been aware of the Surflight website (some very nice graphics and info) since last summer, but Ive never seen one in person, or heard anything about them. I enjoyed reading their conclusions regarding resilient, lengthwise flex in surfcraft, but, I am also personally aware of the profound importance of tuned torque, which is a significant, proven design element that has been eliminated in their line of boards. Perhaps someone who has experience with Surflights will share their story with the S.A. support/recovery group.
I’ve been riding Surflights on the North, West and South Shores of Oahu for several years now. They have quickly taken over my quiver and I now no longer wish to surf my few remaining conventional boards. In high performance surflights, I currently have a couple of short fish, a 6’8", a 6’9" a 7’2", an 8’0" and an 8’6". These boards give an immediate sense of control on late drops. No more waiting to survive the top half of a wave before I start thinking about pulling in! I agree with the other riders who consistently observe that it’s like surfing with radial tires after trying to drive retreads your whole life. The sense of control also permits me to surf a shorter board than I would with my conventional equipment. Best of all, acceleration out of turns is explosive and at the same time they are extremely quick. The quickness appears to come at least in part from the greater concentration of the core mass under your feet as opposed to conventional equipment where the mass is more evenly spread over the whole board. Because of the increased rocker that is induced by the pressure of turning, I’ve been getting them with a slightly lower tail rocker. This may explain why they’re also real fast in between turns. The tow-in guys seem to have the same reactions to these boards. Check out the tow-in page of the website for Richie Schmidt at Mavericks last December 22nd. It is my understanding that the clean looking wave was an XXL finalist. Jeff Johnston (Town & Country), Sheena Ribeiro (Brazilian pro shaper) and Matt Yerxa (Town & Country and Arakawa) have been shaping my surflights. Chris Bouslog Matt,>>> Ive been aware of the Surflight website (some very nice graphics and > info) since last summer, but Ive never seen one in person, or heard > anything about them. I enjoyed reading their conclusions regarding > resilient, lengthwise flex in surfcraft, but, I am also personally aware > of the profound importance of tuned torque, which is a significant, proven > design element that has been eliminated in their line of boards. Perhaps > someone who has experience with Surflights will share their story with the > S.A. support/recovery group. http://www.surflight.com
What caught my attention regarding the Surflight boards is that they incorporate new materials and methods of construction while maintaining the traditional role of the designer/shaper. It seems to me that the blanks open up a whole new set of problems for the designer. What planshape, rocker, foil, rail,and fin setups do you apply to a controlled flex blank. Perhaps such blanks will require the revisiting of some of Greenough and Solomonson’s ideas.Further, what might some of the creative surfers such as Slater, Tudor or Flecher do with such a board.In any case, I think the the Surflight process is an important step for designer/shapers faced with the new wave of pop-outs. Patrick
What caught my attention regarding the Surflight boards is that they > incorporate new materials and methods of construction while maintaining > the traditional role of the designer/shaper. It seems to me that the > blanks open up a whole new set of problems for the designer. What > planshape, rocker, foil, rail,and fin setups do you apply to a controlled > flex blank. Perhaps such blanks will require the revisiting of some of > Greenough and Solomonson’s ideas.Further, what might some of the creative > surfers such as Slater, Tudor or Flecher do with such a board.In any case, > I think the the Surflight process is an important step for > designer/shapers faced with the new wave of pop-outs. Patrick Patrick, Designs incorporating tuned, resilient flex can generally be ridden shorter, with less rocker (George Greenough`s are dead flat) in the last 2/3 of the length and with less effort in a wider range of waves and surface conditions than conventional equipment. Made properly, they will usually react quicker and travel at higher velocities with greater control… and because of these performance enhancing characteristics, they are much more at home (and optimized) on longer, more powerful, critical waves. As is the case with a flexible composite deck skateboard made for weighting and unweighting through turns, you can really load up this type of surfcraft when driving hard through turns, building speed on top of speed… whether it be by surfboard, kneeboard or surfmat. For sure, this design approach can definitely be a long-term headache, very complicated and touchy to get right, and sometimes hard to maintain… but when all the necessary elements finally come together, the resultant performance and feeling are worth all the frustration and labor.
Thank you John, Matt, Dale and Chris for posting your comments.Another thank you to Dale for posting his drawings. I found the drawings interesting in that the creative aspects of the design were readily apparent on paper. In any case, last night I began a 5’10"x16 1/4"x20 1/4"x15 board to which I hope to apply some of the ideas. Thanks.