Twinzer love... 6 feet of avocado-y, bacon-y, butter-y, goodness.

General Discussion
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Ok, this board was mentioned in another thread and L.I.T. asked some questions about it… I figured it should get it’s own thread.

To start off, I am a hack shaper at best. I am also a hack glasser at best. I have only built about a dozen boards total. If at any time during this thread you think to yourself “geeze, what an ass, chrisp is totally full of himself” please know that I am not. I totally lucked out with this board. Any positive qualities that this board has are due to outright luck, and luckily applying what I have learned from others.

That said, this board totally rocks and is the best board I’ve ever ridden.

Here is my initial review of the board on the ERBB:

**Revelation!

Still buzzing from my session this morning.

Third session on the twinzer. First in halfway decent waves. HH glassy with some texture wonky beachbreak some OH sets on the outside bar that were really walled and funky. Really started backing off with the incoming tide but the inside bars were still good. The best waves were about HH and would just run on the lefts. Had to pick 'em though.

SO

MANY

TURNS

I am totally drinking the twinzer Cool Aid!!!

The gas pedal on this board is amazing! Just stomp it and GO! And it eats up the flat spots like no other board I have ever surfed. But it will also go on rail with ease. The mythical “fast and loose”.

A couple of turns I thought were gonna be throwaways but the board would wrap all the way and end up back under my feet like I meant to do it. This board is gonna force me to surf better! SO STOKED!

Took a really late freefall with the lip drop on one OH set wave. Didn’t expect anything but was happily surprised to stick the drop and project way around the section.

Super duper stoked on this board. So glad I read all the twinzer reviews on this thread. I am hooked… Can’t wait 'til tomorrow morning!!!

Yewwwwwwww!!!**

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This review was after just a few sessions. Now, 4 months later, all I can say is "even more so". This is my goto, everyday board and it still surprises me.
Fast, loose, drivey, nimble, solid. From waist high barely surfable to well overhead and thumpy beachbreak.
Those guys over at the ERBB (especially Ghostshaper) were really helpful with placement numbers and fin sizes. Everybody that sees this board says "that's a lot of fin". That was my initial thought too. But, there are none of the drawbacks from big fins. This board has improved my surfing immensily and I can't wait to get it back in the water. Did I mention I blew out my toeside main fin and box. Grumble grumble...
 
 
The build was super simple. USBlanks 6'2"A. Final dimensions are 6'0" x 15 3/8T x 20 5/16 x 14N x 2 1/4. There is a slight single concave that is deepest between the feet and fades to flat at the rear of the main fins. The rails are kinda average. Not thin and not thick. Sharp in the tail and tucked edge runs up to about the halfway point before going round. I used Robin Mair's Gearboxes and love them! This board happens to be my first attempt at colored resin work. On the bottom you can see my "anti-shark stripes" (patent pending). I glassed this one 2x4 deck 1x4 bottom with a fin patch. I was shooting for light and snappy...
 
Fin placement is different from a lot of twins and twinzers. I went with placements more towards the tail.
Main fins are at 8 1/4" and 1 1/4" off the rail toed 1/4" over 4 1/2". With the Gearboxes, I have adjustability too.
The canards are set parrallel to the mains and there is a 1 3/8" gap between the fin lines. The rear dot of the canard is exactly 1 3/8" over at 90* to the front dot of the main fins. Hope that makes sense.
 
The fins are handfoiled (by me) G10 in Greg Griffins template. I make my tabs slightly undersized so I get extra adjustability. If the mains are all the way forward in the boxes, they end up exactly on the rear dots. So, from there I have 3/8" of rearward adjustability... As for the canards, they are the opposite. If they are all the way BACK in the boxes, they are on the rear dot and that gives 1/2" of overlap with the main fin. If I move them all the way forward, there is only about 1/8" of overlap... I run the fins on the dots. But plan to play with moving them around. Honestly, the board goes so good that up until now, I have just left them alone... The main fins are 5 3/4" tall and the canards are 3 1/2" tall. The main boxes have 2* cant and the canards have 6*. 
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Thanks L.I.T., your posts sometimes read like a homework assignment, lol, but you inspired chrisp to document his success here so good on ya!

I’ve had a few of those dumb luck boards Chrisp so I can totally relate, that’s the fun of heading out to the unknown with each new project!

Xlnt thread, will follow this one closely, I’ve been wanting to try something a little different fin-wise on my next board. I saw the twinzer thread over there, and kinda avoided it because I thought the twinzer setup might be too esoteric, or unattainable for a backyarder like me. I will now go back and peruse the thread carefully, thanks for the heads up!

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:slight_smile: Thanks Chris.

But now you’ve got me frothin’ dammit.

And just when I’ve been really enjoying my Vanguard - ‘only picked it up a few months ago, and now you’ve already got me hankerin’ to try something else…

The defense pleads “Guilty as charged your honour!”.

In fact I’m gonna do it again; hey Chris, that outline and shape looks a heck of a lot like a thruster fish I used to ride when I was a kid; it went a lot like you describe the Twinzer too, and it’s got me wondering how much of the performance is due to the shape, and how much is due to the fin setup and arrangement?

In short, is that outline/shape Twinzer-specific, or does it work just as well (or maybe even better in different surf conditions?) with different fins and/or a different fin arrangement? -> have you played around with it yet (for instance, swapped around the front and rear fins to the regular quad arrangement) to investigate that?

Or slotted in a regular sized set of quad fins in both Twinzer and regular quad arrangements to see how much/what effect the size has to do with it…

… and,… and,… and,… oyyyyy, I just can’t help myself can I?

Here’s an idea; how about I take a dose of my own medicine, and before asking you to do all these little experiments with what you have, I do a few of my own with what I have; starting with trying a “Twinzer” fin arrangement on my Vanguard by swapping around the front and rear standard-size quads.

And then I could swap out the standard-size “fronts” with some large-ish twinny-sized fins I’ve got (to approximate what the fin-sizes look like you have on your board) and repeat the experiment.

Just to see what happens?

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Funny you mention it L.I.T.

I was considering making a thruster with this same template.

My instincts tell me that the amount of difference between this and all the other boards I’ve ever surfed is too great to be from a pretty average outline. The performance has a LOT to do with the fin setup imo. The outline is very basic. Smooth, no bumps, nothing extreme. The performance of this board is extreme. Again, imo…

As for switching fins around… I was considering putting in a center box and playing with nubsters. I was also considering trying some Rasta-ish keels with smaller canards…

If I understand it correctly, the twinzer magic has a lot to do with how close the fins are. The canard is supposed to be preparing the water to flow over the mains… or something to that effect… That said, I don’t think putting smaller fins in the front of a quad will give the full effect. Not saying it’s a bad idea to experiment… Just thinking out loud.

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Where are you at L.I.T.?

Do you want me to mail you a copy of this template?

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Sways not dead.

 

big UP 

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:slight_smile: Yes please!! -> incidentally, am planning on measuring up my 5’11" Vanguard soon. If you’re interested in doing your own take on a Tomo MPH style design am happy to send the measurement details as a starting point.

A different continent I’m afraid -> will send PM later tonight with contact details.

Thanks & Cheers! :slight_smile:

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Just had another idea for another experiment (sorry, sorry…)…

… how about adding a little Twingle to your Twinzer?

I.e. swap around the front canards so that the flat sides are facing out and foiled sides are facing in.

If I recall the theory of the Twingle correctly this should allow the fins to be at a greater angle of attack before flow separation occurs. Also a bit of a venturi effect happening between the fins.

As the canard’s are a lot smaller than the main rear fin you wouldn’t get this effect for the entire fin. Also I think the Twingle single fins are spaced even closer together than the slots on your Twinzer are, so again may get less/no effect.

But who knows? -> only one way to find out… (*note: I wouldn’t be surprised if Bill Thrailkill had done this same exact experiment on a Twinzer way back in the days of yore -> care to comment on this Mr T.?).

Sigh… so now there’s yet another experiment I’ve got to add to the list of doing with my Vanguard. At this rate I’m gonna have to start setting aside time to “just ride the damn board the way it was originally intended” :slight_smile:

'Catch ya later tonight guys!

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Avocado-y, Bacon-y, Butter-y, Goodness…Sounds like a recipe for a killer thick meaty juicy burger…The only thing missing is the Secret Sauce!

Great board. Really good blank to start off with. Got any bottom conture shots. …and …one blue fin to throw off all us copy cats?

Stoked you made a magic board…I think you have a few tricks up your sleeve…pretty soon you will have a magic wand and a pre paid Visa Gold Card from Firewire!!!

Fun Stuff.

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Hi chrisp. I’ve had good success with twinzers, too. My second board was a duck billed, boxy railed swallow tail blue blob twinzer. My first glassing attempt too.  The friend that taught me to glass was calling me a f…n ass…he for choosing a twinzer when we laid up the fins.  Another friend commented"what the f…ck is that thing when I lost the board and it cartwheeled to the beach. Surfed good though.  The current fish I surf has pro box and is set to ride as a quad or twinzer.  I’ve surfed it a lot as both.  The twinzer set up is more pivoty than the quad and still hold a lot of drive that I like.  I built a 6-0 twinzer fish inspired by a Larry Mabile twinzer I saw last summer in SD.  It hasn’t been waxed yet with all the Nino swells lately as I’ve been hunting with my Thrailkill board and an old 7-6 Haut.  Twinzers are for real.  Mike

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Funny, is there something in the air right now?  I’ve recently been combing through all the twinzer info in the erbb thread as well, feeling the itch to try one, and it seems many other people are feeling it as well. My thought has been to mix a tomo-esque board design with a twinzer setup.  Both are designs whose descriptions often include expressions like “inherent speed”, “built-in speed”, “instant acceleration”, etc. 

Cool board Chrisp.  You gotta love it when you get a good one.

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Right on Ray!

I will take some bottom contour shots if/when I get the chance…

Originally, both the canards were gonna be blue. Finishing up the last of the blue G10 that Lavarat gave me.

Unfortunately, I messed the other canard up grumble grumble. It was a beautiful foil but I cut the tabs out wrong GRRRRRRRRRR… oh well…

 

NewSchoolBlue, DO IT! I am totally drinking the twinzer kool-aid

My recent “chopped nose” thread is about this very thing… I want to build another twinzer. One with the rail line of my favorite 6’3" but with a chopped nose and a twinzer.

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Blew the finbox out a couple months ago.

I’ve been SO busy and the surf’s been garbage anyways.

Finally got around to fixing it this weekend.

Got back in the water with it this morning.

In the last 2 months, I’ve only surfed twice.

Both times on what I thought was a really good board. Had pretty good sessions on it.

Leading up to today’s session, I was beginning to doubt that the twinzer was as good as I had initially thought.

I mean, I raved about it when I first surfed it but, my memory was starting to fade.

Sure, it was a good board but not “over the top” good…

I was wrong.

The Twinzer today helped me to surf the best I ever have.

A board this fast should not be this loose and have this much hold.

Wrap around cutbacks to foam hits, carves, snaps, pumps down the line, etc, etc.

Serious mind surfing.

Did my best ever snap today.

Felt really good wrapping it around and hearing the water land as I was going into my next bottom turn.

SO MUCH SPEED constantly on tap just begging you to put that speed into a proper turn.

The board is constantly asking “what do you wanna do??”

I moved the main fins back a tad and it seems like the board goes EVEN better than before.

Unbelievably stoked with this board.

Stupidly picked up another ding today and it made me think that I need to copy this board quick before I destroy it.

If you can’t tell, I am STOKED on this board!

Plan to build a 6’6" stepup version in the next month or so…

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Don’t let the ‘‘cat’’ out of the bag!      You are more insightful, about the hydrodynamic function, than you may imagine.      Shhhhh.

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Good job Chrisp, this is exactly the type of follow up that really caps a great build thread. It’s like buying a new car, what counts is how you feel about it after 6 months or a year.

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