its the tail of an 11’ plus board , so yea the fins are forward …
the tail fin is about an 8" fin but doesnt look it on that angle …
the rail wood is cedar and balsa …
in this shot the fin actually looks as big as it is …
weird what camera angles can do …
this thing was big …
fun project tho …
regards
BERT
Hey Bert
I tried looking for a personal email but not one available, yes, there might seem to be couple of guys up here with the same yearning for learning like yourself but I have lived and worked here for 20+ years (and not as a sander or glasser, but as a what used to be the main input into making a board “the shaper”) I have shaped for everyone of the guys that you speak of and signed their name on thousands of blanks. Here’s a couple of Gold Coast industry truths!!!
most of the ghost shapers, glassers, sanders are inexperienced kids
most of the guys who have the toys dont know how to operate them and dont want to, thats why they need people like yourself to come play so that you can make them look good.
3)the current so called number one shaper in the world made a twin fin and put the fins at 12 up, now that shows you how much he knows about design.(he told me this himself)
4)we had one kid come to us calling himself a sander and his quote was “I’ve been sanding for 3 months now, so I know it all”
5)most boards are glassed with one layer of 4oz on the deck to save money and make them light so that the sheep think its a good board because it’s light. (people wonder why they break and desolve in water)
6)the industry leaders up here are purely money and ego driven, thats why boards are the same as they where 10 years ago only weaker.
So if you or anyone else is wanting to come here for industry advancements you are heading for the wrong place, I suggest going to Sydney and see Chilli, as he is the only one of the new generation that seems to have the ability to take it to the next level.
Yes people will say that I am envious of what these guys have but then they dont really know me.
I am like you Bert, just wanting to progress what we are currently doing and really the only way to do it, is to do it yourself, if it is the money that you need to succeed then go after unglorified money and find a real bussiness partner, one that won’t claim your ideas as theirs. I was lucky enough to have found one, finally.
No doubt we will meet because up here, if you change your jocks they know about it.
“ive spelt it out loud and clear that i would rather stay a small producer than work with idiots …”
GREAT WORDS TO LIVE BY
hey dustylungs…
althought i have no knowlege about the gold cost, I think your post is worthless and weak with out a real name attached…
put you money where your mouth is with your signature…
aloha
john potocny, nobody ohau…
bert there be islands to the north that still contain gold. just by some shark repelent and off you go.
michael
So if you or anyone else is wanting to come here for industry advancements you are heading for the wrong place…
well dusty based on your experiences and keen observations it sounds more and more like an opportunity…it makes me wonder though…someone’s got bust that price barrier down…wanna bet against BB chances? Nah, he knows his target market…bet its not the Mtv crowd
Hey Bert,
It sounds like you have your head screwed on right about what the Gold Coast is. ( I’ve done a stint there also.) I fully acknowledge that it’s a man’s right to follow his stars, and if there’s recognition for what is obviously decades of hard work, Its that you would be paid to make epoxies for some of the world’s best surfers.
You probably have a wife and kids… thats what’s driving me to get serious about all this business.
I have my fingers crossed on one point however - That it’s not Base.
They would buy you out, burn you out and trash you my man…
P,S I love Miki Langenbach, he’s a fucken Legend!!!
Hi Jon nobody ohau
As your end reply states “john potocny, nobody ohau…”
Your signature means nothing to me so why would my signature mean anything to you, the people who I speak of (and am having a go at)know that it is me and that is all that maters to me. Like I said the industry up here knows when you change your jocks (mainly because their busy bangin their tongues up each others arses.)
hm maybe i should get an alias , so i can say what i really think …
dusty , i agreed with 4 of your points , the other 2 i have no knowledge of …
ok so its out , maybe it makes you unpopular for stating the facts , but isnt it obvious that australias biggest surfboard market is due for a wake up call if its how you say it is …
the industry has changed and is changing fast , technology is changing the dynamics of the whole industry …
once the whole package gets revealed and it all unfolds , then it will make sense to a lot of people …
just out of curiousity whats chilli up to that is seen to be advancing to the next level ???
can he make finished boards with set fins weigh less than a shaped blank ???
3 finished boards , all with set fins , top 2 weigh 1.7 kg each , bottom one a little bigger (its mine)
finished board the weight of a blank and you can put it on the ground deck down and use it as a trampoline as you can see below …
if i was relying on making a living from the existing garbage on the market and i saw a product like this being released , id be freaking out right now …
i wont be playing the same game as everyone else …
im on a team , and we all have posistion to play …
mine is what i do best , and so is everyone elses …
and speaking of base , they actually had first bite at this cherry , but chose to ignore it and pursue a streamlined production of existing technology , they saw no real future in developing new technology…
glad to see everyone is not stuck in the past …
see ya out there sometime dusty …
regards
BERT
So the big money men have bought into what you have been teasing us with. Does this mean a death blow to the locals who are just now trying to set up a rip and get to 1999 in the Burger’s world?
Superior Quality, Flashy Names and a marketing machine that is betting the first 2 as it is today.
The challenges mount.
when the shortboard craze kicked in , in the early seventies , was there a death blow to all who tried there hand at shortboard building ???
it just gave impetus to the whole movement …
they were the pioneers of there day …
the changing of the guard …
regards
BERT
once the whole package gets revealed and it all unfolds , then it will make sense to a lot of people
Can you give us any hints to what’s happening with the move. Are you working solo or going in with a group. Moving forward seems like a good idea to me. In my experience people tend to spend as much time with their family as they wish to. Having a good family life and a good professional life are not as independent as people seem to want to make them. Many of the most financially successful people I know also have great relationships with their kids, but it has to be important to you (which it is to you). The amount you have shared makes me believe that you truly care about advancing boardbuilding (not only for yourself, but for the whole profession). To paraphrase a famous quote “all it takes for bad boards to be victorious is for good boards to sit by and do nothing”. If you want to influence the game you have to be in the game. However, I hope that your new commitments will allow you to continue to be active here.
Hey Bert
Do you have a secret recipe for Epoxy???
You must have because it sounds like you invented Epoxy???
Although I do remeber a few years back some guys making Hemp epoxy boards that you could jump up and down on??? shit I dont know what happened to them, I guess yours must be better.
As for being light, you can go too light (weight is momentum) and technology is useless unless the rest of the team know what they are doing.
The Chilli factor is that he is more into the design side than the imitation of a surfboard side.(plus the guy can actually surf and any major advancement in surfboard history has come from above average surfers)(I hope that you can rip it up in the surf Bert for then I might be a true believer that you can make a difference, if you cant well your just as good as the rest of your team.)
I am pretty sure that if anybody wants to glass in epoxy they could because like you said every second kid over here can glass or sand!!!
"if i was relying on making a living from the existing garbage on the market and i saw a product like this being released , id be freaking out right now … "
Interesting quote Bert, if only I had listened to a quote like that back when I first started i might have a real job.
regards and best of luck and I seriously hope that you can change what is going on with your new toys.
Ken Reimers, Yes I am a nobody, but without the nobody’s you wouldn’t think that you are somebody
Bert,
I checked a couple of your boards out over the Quik Pro at a friends place (I may leave that name out as I feel that may give away your move) they seem light, really light. My question for you after talking to my friends daughter who was riding (or rode) your board/s is how do you combat the lack of drive from the lack of weight? I have ridden super light epoxies before and have always found that feeling of great sideways freedom but not too much forwards. Do you find that with shortboards the weight needs to be increased slighlty or does the flex in the rail bands help squish it along? I hadnt heard that problem with your boards and I am sure that others here would find it very interesting to hear how you have worked with that limitation over time.
I find it funny to hear the Anti Base comments on here as well as so much of that criticism is founded from a general lack of knowledge of what is actually going on there. You may have guessed already that I also work in this industry (not for BASE) and I know a little and the more I speak to others about them the further from the truth it becomes. Board prices in this area have risen (fact) and everybody (most anyway, with decent (not crap) product) is busier than ever. You can talk BASE down as much as you like but if they fail and fall then we are all screwed well and truly.
Here’s a word of disposable advice for you disgruntled shapers and manufacturers scared of the Bases and Asians etc. Stop bloody whining and find yourself a point of difference, give your customers more reasons to stay with you. Look at Bert, Al Byrne and Dick Van they are all running a different race to the masses and they will always have work from being at the other end of the scale to them. My point, maybe spend less time gossiping at lunch and start thinking of ways to better serve your customers.
In the true vein of this thread I will now also discount everything I have said but not telling you who I am. You wouldnt know me anyway!
weight is not why boards lack momentum or drive , its flex …
there is so much in various posts , to show why that is so …
if a light board bends its curve increases , slowing it, but if it bends but springs back to slowly it has nothing to drive it out the turn and feels like its lost momentum …
light , flexible and the ability to snap back with force quickly …
here dusty …
and longboards to
more than just words …
regards
BERT
i have no doubt , i will be open to my fare share of criticizm , plus those i will be working with …
but after 15 years of working with these techniques , ive learnt both how to deal with naysayers and answer valid questions …
not bagging base , for any other reason than there unwillingness to look at other options…
quite frankly , the place amazes me …
Gumby… The drive you get while surfing consists of pumping with all your body weight plus momentum and muscle strength plus the actual weight of the board (easily over 250lbs of pressure with a small guy). The addition or subtraction of a few pounds will not change the drive, its the difference between taking a drink and taking a piss before surfing. What you have felt with super light boards is what happens when you minimalize a Pu, or build like surftec, not what Bert is doing with focusing on flex with multiple cores, various sandwhiches and glassing schedules, perimeter stringers and so on. The idea isn’t to squish along over the bumps but to fling you out of the turns. A few pounds of board weight does however make a big difference when your whipping a turn around and one of the major forces of resistance is the weight out at the tip of the nose. I agree with you that in certain situations where stability is the most important thing, like really big waves or chop, a heavy board is beneficial. If your friend will let his daughter ride his boards maybe he’ll let you take one for a spin, especially if he believes in how bullet proof Berts boards are supposed to be.
Good to see that you can surf Bert even though you do try to do short board manouvers on a mal and a fellow goofy footer at that, just to show you that I am not as you quote “more than just words” here is a couple of my pics . I too ride my own shapes and ride what I beleive works for me.
regards
Ken
very good dusty… you have a name, you can surf… now get a few cases of beer, take a few days off work and read through Bert’s 1050 posts… this thread is titled “Bert Berger Tribute” after all… so pay him tribute and read what he is all about…
Bert’s not dying, he’s only moving…Some of you guys are sounding like he’s leaving the planet.
Good luck with the new venture Bert, I hope all your dreams come true for you and yours…
Well said hicksy, It’s amazing how a simple thread can turn into a pissing contest.
Yeah who turned this thread into a pissing contest?!!!
Oh fuck, is it just me or is it that when one sticks ones head up there’s guns blazing?