Who here is riding a quad longboard?

And, more specifically:

•what are your board’s dimensions?

•which fin set do you prefer and why?

 

Thanks in advance.

Bigwave longboards

10’1"  x 22 3/4 x 3 1/8  balsa deck. Made 2 mos after clark closed.

Quad set up based of Jeff Alexander’s set up

Back set 6 " up, 6" apart , straight on with  2 center fins, double foiled H2

Front set at 16"  set to preference. Use speed wings

Great board.

 

10’2" x 24 x 3 1/4" big wave longboard

 Placed per Mckee Quaatro FEB 2009 updated Specs

Great board.

to answer your other questions I think it is just personal preference, and in larger surf it’s mostly the rider and not the fin set up.

The waimea guns I make are 5 3/4" twin fins with a 4 1/2" trailer.


I have a 9'0 swallow tail quad longboard that I dont really like! The rails are too soft for my taste. I have tried moving the lock box fins around but I am having no luck changing its performance. I even got a hold of the fin company to see what they recommended. This board is just not my cup of tea. Probably going to sell it soon.

Dimensions of the board in question are:  9’6" X 18" X 22-5/8" X 14-1/4" X 3" with Future front and rear boxes and an FU center.

I’ve tried it as:

 

•a quad with Future TP 459 fronts and 375 rears

•a 2+1 with 7" HP center (9" up in the box) and Future SB 350 sidebites

•a single with 9.5" HP center (8-1/4" up in the box)

 

I was least happy with the quad set up: felt like I’d stomped on the clutch any time i wasn’t on an edge.  It also seemed somewhat lacking in drive out of turns.  I haven’t ridden anything but thrusters, 2+1s and, most recently, 
singles since I had an MR-type twinnie back in the 70s, so riding a
board that always wants to be on a rail is taking some readjustment.  It
may just turn out that that isn’t my cup of tea anymore, but I want to
give it a fair shot before I give up on it.

Next go out will be with Vector II
438 fronts and 375 rears.  Was thinking that maybe I should be going taller in front (like 5"+ with a smaller trailer (340 or 325) but, as this is my first quad, I’m pretty much groping in the dark (which is why I’m sounding you guys out).  Any downside, other than increased drag, to going with more fin depth?

The Speed Wings you mention look interesting, bb30.  Funny: by coincidence, I was near a major airport recently and was wondering what those up-turned wingtips on all the incoming jets were all about.  Reduced turbulence off the tip is the theory, I guess.

The setup on the 9’0" Griffin in cuttlefish’s thread (bigs up front with THREE smaller trailers) also caught my eye.  I could try something like that since I have the center box, but I’m not sure what size fins he was using:

Easy (and expensive) to get lost in the possible permutations.  Better go see what’s on the Future “Fin Tree” at my local shop or I’ll end being reduced to a diet of rice and beans by next month…

 

YES I AM!

and i love it

has the mckee set up

lots of rocker

stilettos fins designed by mr belik, but badly executed by some badass sander

width is 22.75, nose is only 16

tail is 14

2.7 thick or thin

eps epoxy with 6mm poplar stringer in the center, ligth finish

3x4oz deck with tail patch and a 2x4oz bottom, fusion boxes

low rails with apex at 0.90 inches

even in small dutch waves you can throw it around, it is great

oh, it is flat with a vee in the back, maxing at 18 off tail, about 5 mm high

maybe one day i will drop in a single fin box.

the glassing aint pretty though, but it works great

have never tried anything else since this is my first longboard

 

Here is some old info, which most of you have probably already read.  Mostly about shortboard quads, but interesting, none the less:

 

http://www.surfline.com/blogs/talking-design-the-board-blog-with-rusty-preisendorfer/rusty-breaks-down-the-ingredients-for-a-perfect-four-fin_38677/

 

http://www.surfline.com/blogs/talking-design-the-board-blog-with-rusty-preisendorfer/rusty-looks-back-at-the-history-and-evolution-of-quads_38953/

Thanks for pointing me towards McKee, bb30. 

In case anyone else who hasn’t already been there would like to access the wealth of quad info on McKee’s site:

 

http://www.mckeesurf.com/brucemckee/home.htm

We’re supposed to get a little bump in the local swell tomorrow, so I’ be trying:
•previously mentioned Vector II 438 fronts and 375 rears
Front Fins Height: 4.38" Base: 3.75"; Cant is set at 7 degrees
Rear Fins Height: 3.75"; Cant is set at 4 degrees


and from my local “Fin Tree”:
•a quad set of “Controllers”
Front Height: 4.50" Base: 5.05" 2D Area: 18.24"
Rear Height: 4.53"  Base: 3.89" 2D Area: 12.06"

•Merrick/Machado AMT Twin set with 375 center trailer
Height: 5.26 in, 13.36 cm
Base: 5.04 in, 12.80 cm
Area: 20.43 sq in, 131.81 sq cm
Rear: no data

 

 

Hopefully, I’ll strike pay-dirt with one of these sets…

I was until I broke it, was 9'1" and I don't remember the rest?  But I do miss it.[img_assist|nid=1048275|title=9'1" d|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=0|height=0][img_assist|nid=1048274|title=9' 1" c|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=0|height=0][img_assist|nid=1048273|title=9' 1" b|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=0|height=0][img_assist|nid=1048272|title=9' 1"|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=0|height=0]

10' 3" Forstall    Future Controllers

DANG, ocsurfer32!  I thought I owned some gunboats: that volumetric juggernaut of yours must catch waves before they’re even visible to the naked eye!

Today I tried the above-pictured Machados in front with the 375s shown with the Vectors in back.  Unfortunately, the waves were so small and crappy that I was able to get little feedback of any value.  I’m going to try the “Controllers” tomorrow.  Hopefully, the waves will improve by then.

 

 

18 1/4" x 24" x 18 1/4" x 3 1/2"

Me... 9'2"x24"x3 1/2" thick, 15 lbs.

I made it when Thrailkill suggested OQB (one quiver board).  I wanted a shorter performance board but I like/need to knee paddle occasionally, hence the thickness.

Fin boxes are set as-per McKee.

I LOVE it!  It is my go-to board.  It'll do anything!

I put 5 boxes on it to try it with ALL my fins in all different wave types.  I ended up using, 100% of the time, my C3 Fins (Carbon Curved Cutaway).

Why do I love it (in this configuration)?  1. I catch waves easy  2. turns on a dime  3. Holds in ANY wave  4. The C3's hold the tail down when I get to the nose.

[img_assist|nid=1060577|title=OQB 9'2" w/ CCC3 Profile|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=0|height=0]

 

 

 

 

[img_assist|nid=1060578|title=Bottom 9'2" OQB|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=0|height=0][img_assist|nid=1060579|title=Carbon Curved Cutaway Fins|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=0|height=0]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[img_assist|nid=1060580|title=C3 curves in boxes|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=0|height=0]

one of the few 9’ gemini twin hull longboards i know of.

glad i found it

 

Interesting fins, tridrles.  Did you make them yourself?  Only thing I’ve seen with that sort of curvature is those short-lived “turbo” fins during the 1980s (but they had standard outline templates).  The templates of yours look more like those Greenough Stage 6s with some added base.

 

Don’t let mom catch you running with that twin hull, oneula: you could put an eye (or two) out!  :wink:

 

I tried the “Controllers” today.  The surf was abismal, so I couldn’t really tell much.  But they felt pretty good on the one wave I got that stood up a bit and gave me some face to work with.  Will have to borrow them again when conditions improve.

 

 

Yes, their my design

I tried a pair of FCS Curved fins about three years ago but they just didn't allow my long board to move the way I thought they would so I started experimenting.  What you see is the end result...I love 'em!

I've made them both in full carbon (thinner and faster) and carbon with balsa over for easy foiling.

where’s the griffin 5-fin and the ku quad? thought you’d be showing off those boards. tridles was here this weekend and gave me a set of his custom fins. they are futures so I guess you luck out. would make that gemini look extra rad.

Yes!  I'd love to hear how my C3 fins compare on the gemini...or the Griffin!

Hey Harry!  Sorry I didn't call when we finished the M2O.  The water and wind out there was CRAZY!

But, we finished, 7 hours 39 min.  We needed to head at 1 o'clock, 20+ knh wind and 6' wind swell was coming at us at 5 o'clock and a 3' south east swell.  What a challenge!  but, it couldn't have been that bad 'cause I'm thinking of doing it as a two man next year.

Les  

Hey Les, we were out at my mom’s on Sunday so I wouldn’t have been in town when you got back. I should have told you to follow Keone, he knows that water so well. If you could have stayed close enough to follow, you probably would have had the best course. Just imagine, the swell didn’t hit Sunday, so you didn’t see big waves.

Keone’s younger brother Kainoa and I were talking about the crossing in June and he was telling me some of the things you have to mess with. The water moves differently as you move across the channel, and the tide changes affect how the water moves too, so you have to make changes in the direction you go based on what you know or think is going to happen further down the course. A lot of guys head further north early and ride the wind swell when they get closer to Oahu. Some head further south early and try to catch more of the waves coming from the south.

My classmates plan to do the Molokai Hoe crossing in 2 years with the 6 man canoes. It will be interesting, maybe Keone can get his classmates to do it and we’ll have quite a race. We’re 5 years apart and our classes are fierce rivals.

Saturday my family wanted to go to the beach, but also stop at a fish store in Waipahu for some snacks, so we went to Makaha. When we passed Downing’s shop George was outside. Too bad you missed seeing him. That leave’s one more thing to do next time you come over.