I could not believe I was reading ''40 feet Hawaiian.'' I was out that day. Trust me, if it was 40 feet Hawaiian, I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN OUT! As it was, I almost wasn't. Buzzy (Trent) described it as ''the largest Waimea can be ridden, before it closes out.'' The waves were solid pumping 25 feet, with 30 foot sets. The ''dribblers'' were 20 feet. I wanted no part of the set waves, that day. (Buzzy did.) Several days later, Xrays revealed that I had been surfing with a broken left knee. Compliments of an 8 foot, inside right at Sunset, two days earlier. Yes, Eddie Aikau was out there too. Not as impressive as the article would have you believe. My point is that even the best Mag's, still manage to deliver BS. Don't believe EVERYTHING that you read in ANY of the Mag's. Sadly, it isn't always factual.
Tom Blake.
He was obviously making a comparison based solely on weight, and nothing more. Even I got the joke. You’re being a bit “touchy” here, Bill.
[quote="$1"] (1) How am I being ignorant? ..........................(2) I was however having a bit of fun with you. [/quote]
(1) The ignorance comes about by comparing Roy's P O S (Pipeline Olo Special) to a mid 60's specialized big wave board. Roy's board design is, at best, superior to the board designs of the late 30's, and very early 40's. His designs, back in THAT day, may have had an impact on the direction of the sport. That is until guys like Simmons, Quigg, and Kivlin, came on the scene. Then, you pretty much know the rest.
(2) Try to make it fun for me too, eh?
[quote="$1"]
[quote="$1"] double 10oz volan top and bottom, with gloss and polish. [/quote]
Did those boards even pressure much if at all? [/quote]
Not to a significant degree. Tailblock area did, if you were doing hard stomp kickouts. And I did a few face plants into the deck, resulting in dents, and in one case eleven stitches in my chin and a mild concussion. If you surfed your board, right out the factory door, they would dent really easy. If you let it cure for several days, (the longer the better) the compression strength of the glass job dramatically improved.
Now I am letting my ignorance show. Did those boards even pressure much if at all? I’ve seen boards fron that era and I’m sure they were much more durable when they were fresh.
How am I being ignorant? I was the one that put that board on the scale. I was however having a bit of fun with you. I have not surfed nearly the size that you have I do agree that weight helps a board manage larger surf.
[quote="$1"]
[quote="$1"] My big wave guns, prior to 1969, weighed from 34 pounds to 38.5 pounds. [/quote]
Kind of like Roy Stewart's 13 foot board on the NS that weighed in at 37 pounds. [/quote]
You should be more careful, you're letting you ignorance show.
No, not even close. Those weights were within the ''normal'' range for big wave guns of the day. My board was 10' 7'' x 21.5'', double 10oz volan top and bottom, with gloss and polish. Buzzy's board was a Hobie gun, 11' 1'', or 11' 2'', and weighed 40 or 42 pounds. My 10' 3'' pintail gun, (the one in my avatar) weighed 34 pounds. While the weights of boards then sound crazy in the era of board weights under 10 pounds, and even under 5 pounds, those boards were surprisingly agile in the larger Hawaiian size waves. At least my boards were.
Kind of like Roy Stewart’s 13 foot board on the NS that weighed in at 37 pounds.
[quote="$1"] ''...that board sure appears to have very little rocker in it...'' [/quote]
Good eye. Guns of the mid 60's tended to have low rocker, BY TODAY'S STANDARDS. My stringers were typically cut from 2'' x 6'' x 12' RW, which for a 10 foot 6 inch board meant nose rocker of 5 to 5.5 inches, and tail rocker of about 3 inches+/-. More than ample to handle large NS waves, but much less forgiving than the rockers in use today. Also, some of those boards were blindingly fast, compared to todays boards. My big wave guns, prior to 1969, weighed from 34 pounds to 38.5 pounds. After that, it was 7' 10'', weighing 14 pounds. Things changed fast, (almost weekly) back then.
can’t say I read the article yet but did thunb thru it, that’s one interesting board, the red one belonging to Eddie in the article; good to hear your thoughts Bill, I always thought anything over legit 30 feet and waimea closed out, but as usual I have no idea. to hear 40 feet, might be the first time i have ever even heard it called 40 feet in print or otherwise
the board itself, just as a lifetime onlooker from the outside, that board sure appears to have very little rocker in it, I suppose for the time possibly that was the norm, again, just to my untrained eye, it just looks different than maybe what I thought it might look like in my minds eye
Aloha
Warren