As Platty says, they went pretty good in a straight line but turned like ____. On the one hand you had the wide-tailed vees that turned well enough ( though they hadn’t figured out how much difference rails made- that was a year or two later ) and on the other hand you had these, which were pretty much old school rails applied to a newer outline shape, with precious little rocker to 'em.
We had an older Greek kicking around the shop, a beater that looked like it had been through the pier at Huntington a few times, the hard way. We eventually painted it and made it into a sign - no other conceivable use for it.
Hakman - well, now, that guy could do some stuff, he could. Can’t say I ever surfed with him up here, 'cos he borrowed my wetsuit to deal with the water up here. Needless to say, I wasn’t gonna go out and freeze my nads off… but I did get to watch, and I picked up a few things. An approach to it, that has stood me in good stead since…
josh, try and track down Lawrie Hohensee through surf info.com. hohensee surfboards. they made that one of platty’s and he would be more than helpfull to tell you how good or bad they are /were.
Would the tracker go better with a mellower planshape, smaller fin. 8" opposed to 10" and a deep vee in the tail?
It’s just become something i’m thinking about as the blokes where riding there tracker-like boards really well in Evan’s Head on Innermost Limits of pure fun. (those small long rights when there camping)
I was thinking something like 7’6" 21" 2 3/4" a wide point of + 8.
Nose: 16 1/3"
Tail: 13 1/3"
Pod: 5"
Shallow hull at the nose going flat in the middle before becomming a vee in the tail.
I have always liked the look of these boards, their nice clean lines but although I have never ridden one
they do look they would be really hard to turn.
After lurking on this sight for a while I have been wondering what difference some of the new board making techniques would make to these old style of designs.
For example making a “tracker” like one of the above pics out of EPS and epoxy that acentuated flex in the tail, that is thinner and lighter and with a flexy style fin.
Would this breath a bit more life into this older design?
Sure I wouldn’t expect it to “perform” as good as a modern shape but it could be really fun.
with these boards i think it really comes down to personal opinion again and what your surfing is suited to. my brother and i love riding tracker style boards. i have very little trouble turning them when i have been riding them a bit. of course it’s hard to jump off a shortboard or a modern longboard and turn these things cause they ride so differently. they ride very differently to a longboard too cause you have to rail turn rather than pivot turn. these boards are excellent when you get up a bit of speed and can just lean into a big turn.
i remember surfing a quiet point break just north of here a few years back with my brother. he doesn’t get to surf that much anymore but i got him to head off for a short trip. as i was paddling back out after a wave he came flying down the line on this classic old tracker with a big loveheart on the bottom towards the nose. he was trimming so fast in about the middle of the board and then from that position just cranked this huge cutback. it was a sight to see as he brought it back around and continued right past me.
when you get used to them, these boards can provide so much enjoyment.
my good friend Andrew (ad68 on here) has one also and he too shares a passion for them. i’ve just recently witnessed him riding one of mine in fun little waves and he didn’t seem to have any trouble turning it either.
like i said, it comes down to you, who you are and how you surf.
Most of the trackers I’ve struck are eminently rideable…to a point. They’re a brilliant alternative to conventional longboards- walk well, trim and paddle beautifully, and are very loose when surfed from the tail. And they’ve got a really lovely aesthetic, as Platt’s photos suggest.
I’ve tried surfing one in bigger stuff- with some success. Camel Rock, one of the local south coast spots, for instance, can get some good banks- fattish takeoff with a fairly critical wall further down the line- and my tracker (8’ x 22" x 2 3/4") works well there at times. But it’s those really hollow sections that get you. As with any board with the fin set forward and a fair bit of roll through the bottom, it tends to slide out pretty easily.
And the later the board, the less something like that is prone to happen. As Josh indicated in an earlier post- referring to that 6’11" Harley Ingleby is surfing in a Longboarding magazine- the fins were set further back post-tracker and performed better accordingly.
Anyway…good to see so much interest in so classic a design.
Andrew D. (ad68)
p.s. Luke- check out the Ron Wade site some time. The modern ‘Wild fire’ is nothing like the board I bought off Stratty. It’s more like ‘the Bug’.
Chip- sorry I haven’t written in a while…will do so soon. I’ve picked a few more boards I should tell you about!
that’s a pretty trippy board. How sure are you that it’s from '67? It certainly looks like it could be, but I was wondering what indication there was of that.
Chip, I heard from Rosco last week. He and some of the CS guys are staying in Merimbula- good thing too as the Bar there- surely one of the best lefts on the East Coast- has been cranking all week. Luke, where are you man???
The boards I’ve picked up recently- as Luke and Gill could confirm for you- are the Ron Wade (7’ x 19" x 2 3/4"- ca. ‘72-74, rounded pin with a beak nose), a backyarder (7’ x 20 1/2" x 3"- ca.'72, rounded pin with a nice rolled deck and the wide point about 4" forward), and a Sam Egan (6’8" x 19 1/2" x 3"- ca.'76, swallow with fliers- nice design on the bottom and a really nice fin). I also picked up a Carrabine (6’10" x 18" x 3") some time back that I may have already told you about.
The guy I picked the Carrabine up from- swapped him for that 5’10" keel-fin Pat Morgan (Chip)- has a nice collection, with a ton of transition stuff. He’s got a particularly nice 7’ Keyo pin tail- probably mid-'69, just post-tracker- with the fin set where it probably should be, right near the tail. He also has a more conventional Collins tracker.
Luke- I’m still yet to speak with him about your board, but hope to before we move back.
Chip- you mentioned hooking up with Platty. Is he from the South Coast somewhere?
…“Chip, I heard from Rosco last week. He and some of the CS guys are staying in Merimbula- good thing too as the Bar there- surely one of the best lefts on the East Coast- has been cranking all week.” …did you catch up with them , or were you still up in newie ?
The boards I’ve picked up recently- as Luke and Gill could confirm for you- are the Ron Wade (7’ x 19" x 2 3/4"- ca. ‘72-74, rounded pin with a beak nose), a backyarder (7’ x 20 1/2" x 3"- ca.'72, rounded pin with a nice rolled deck and the wide point about 4" forward), and a Sam Egan (6’8" x 19 1/2" x 3"- ca.'76, swallow with fliers- nice design on the bottom and a really nice fin). I also picked up a Carrabine (6’10" x 18" x 3") some time back that I may have already told you about.
The guy I picked the Carrabine up from- swapped him for that 5’10" keel-fin Pat Morgan (Chip)- has a nice collection, with a ton of transition stuff. He’s got a particularly nice 7’ Keyo pin tail- probably mid-'69, just post-tracker- with the fin set where it probably should be, right near the tail. He also has a more conventional Collins tracker. …that wouldn’t be that Geoff C. guy from near Rosco’s …the www.Surfresearch.com.au guy , by any chance , would it ??
Chip- you mentioned hooking up with Platty. Is he from the South Coast somewhere? Dave is from Killcare …near gosford …on your way through / detour to newcastle , when next you are up that way …type in ‘Platty’ in the search box below , then when you get his info , click ‘view users posts’ , and you will see some classic 60s and 70s boards , which is why I figured you guys would get on well…
why does Merimbula bar not work when i am in the area??
i would love to get that place good. nice long lefts…it’s what dreams are made of.
anyway, just let me know when you do manage to catch that guy about the board.
i checked Ron’s website the other day. remakes of old style boards rarely have the appeal of the originals do they? they just seem to miss something.
i’m pretty busy with my last couple of assignments at this point in time, haven’t put a fin in any of those finless boards i have laying around, which seem to keep accumulating.
thanks for filling me in on the bar. mind you, i surfed some great waves at the wedge yesterday morning alone for most of it. copped a few beatings too though.
hey man, i forgot to mention, when i surfed the wedge i rode the Kenn and it went really well. it felt bigger than 6’3 when i rode it and fairly stiff to turn which probably wasn’t so bad as the waves were pretty fast and heavy, not much turning necessary. was nice to cutback on the shoulder after the barrel section though.
yeah, spewin’ Merimbula wasn’t working when you were last down. Ah well, there’s always next time…
I surfed Bunga this afternoon- tide was a bit low for it, but still good, consistent waves. That Egan works well, but I’m going to try the Ron again tomorrow morning. Bunga should be pumping…again, Luke, where are you man?
