Okay …
so , kind of following on from this fairly recent thought-provoking thread of George’s …
http://www.swaylocks.com/…guest=4344550#260433
…what is your favourite board you ride the most ?
And ,
what are the design features that you feel make it work for you in the majority of waves you surf on a regular basis ?
cheers ,
ben
The most popular (as it is most riden) at the moment is my 9’2" longboard.
Mainly because of the condition that most frequant the shores around here. (accept for the last few weeks)
I mainly surf beachies and some tame reef breaks and my longboard seems to be the one I just grab off the racks the most.
Although most of the time, I take my 12 yr old daughter out with me, so surfing in 6-8 ft cowries just doesn’t happen.
Small, tame conditions is the majority of my surfing and the longboard suit these conditions.
Easy paddling, early wave catching, smooth rides and lots of fun.
Occasionally, my daughter and I ride it tandem, what a laugh.
I have posted a thread on the journy of my 7-6 which will be for more solid waves, 4-6 ft, and will be constructing a fish for more fun in smaller waves.
I also have a 6’8", and 7’0" that dont float me any more, a 7’8" funboard, and an 8’0’ mini-mal with more to come.
I intend on building a board to tackle solid Windang Island, but I keep putting it of because it gives me an excuse not to paddle out.
thanks a lot for your reply , Mick !
and when you design “the Windang special” [‘?windspec’?] …
…what size , width , thickness , rocker , tail shape , and fin setup would you be going with , and why ?
I hope that’s not too many questions , mate …
…the reason I ask is , I’m just trying to get my head around what I will design next for a winter thruster for here .
And , also …
I’m just interested to read the thought / design processes people put into their boards for specific waves / conditions , and how those expectations are / aren’t met …(ie: the learning / ? refining ? process , hopefully !)
…cheers ,
ben
“the Windang special” [‘?winspec’?] …
Probably, 7’10" x 19 1/2 x 2 3/4
around 12" nose, 13 1/2 pin tail
around 6" nose rocker, 3 1/2 " tail rocker
fin set-up, not sure, might have to look through the archives for that.
I like my boards big as I weight in at 95kgs and these dimension are what I think would suit me in these conditions.
Good float for paddling, early entry and I can still duckdive it, if I get it right, (I can duck dive my 8’0" mini-mal) sometimes.
These are just a stab in the dark, maybe even go a bit bigger, but a general guide of what I think.
single to double concave ?
flat ?
a bit of vee ?
fin systems ?
what kind of rails ?
how big a wave will you be doing there , you reckon ?
[windang holds pretty big yeah , from the photos and footage I’ve seen of the place !]
ben
oh , and how tall are you again , please , Mick ?
I’m going testing.
Plan on shoving 4 boards into the bag (all glassed-on fins! Sh&T!!)
3 thrusters, and a twinnie. I’m 5’10" x 166lbs.
Thrusters are 6’1" squash (pod), 6’2" round (epoxy), 6’5" round, all singles concaves with doubles
through the fins.
Twin is 5’7.5" swallow, with Vee nose-to-tail and double con as well.
All the boards are my favorite picks out of about 35 boards I’ve done for myself since the Mentawais.
Really working on bottom-turn-to-top-turn combos, no pumping, staying back in the source. These
boards all seem to have their speed well matched to the intended waves. I surf more relaxed, way
more fun.
I’ll report back
cheers George !
…I look forward to your boards review on your return !
ben
Slight vee in the first 8-12 inches into single concave deapest just in front of the side fins to a vee off the tail.
“THEN” I put in a “SLIGHT” double concave from about half way between mid point and the side fins to just in front of the back fin.
I dont call this a single/double, I call it a vee to single to vee with a slight scoop through the fin area.
My 7’8" funboard has the same set-up but without the single and I like the way it performs, so all Iv’e done is added a slight single into the equation for a bit more oomf.
All these variation are only very slight, 1/8 inch with my getting close to 1/4 around the side fin area.
My fin system is speeedfins 115 carbo-fins.
The wave can get pretty big at Windang, Iv’e herd 10-15 feet.
My limit is about 6-8 feet and thats about it. I surf for fun, not survival.
I am 183 cm or just on 6 feet and weight in at 95 kgs
Old Brewer 7’6" x 19" x 2.65.
Could handle anything, no worries, from 2’ BolinasPatch mush to DOH OBSF, but not any bigger.
Sorta limitied to Spring to fall medium sizing, but quickturning and ease in tiny to big makes it ONE board to have on the car.
This is a good question Ben, and after careful consideration, I was able to narrow it down to three boards. The reason is that I very rarely ride the same board more than three or four times in a row. Conditions are constantly changing around here and because of that, I’m often changing locations where I surf.
6’6" Wilderness Hull Bottom: Most often ridden since last summer. Took awhile to get used to riding this kind of board but once I did, it has become my go-to board. It excels in point breaks and reefs like Hammonds, Rincon, Pitus, and Ventura Point. It’s perfect for blowing through those hard to beat sections.
6’10" Yancy Spencer Fish: This is the Boardworks epoxy model with Futures 512 Twin fins and trailer. I picked up this board out of curiosity several years ago and have been very pleased with it ever since. It works great in everything from waist high slop to overhead point breaks. It’s also a fun summer board for the sand bars. I used to be embarrassed to be seen with a Boardworks (because of all the bad press) but now I could give a rat’s fat ass. Bottom line is, this thing works in a variety of conditions and has taken a helluva beating over the years with nothing to show but a few chips here and there. It’s a good travel board.
10’ Sr Pato Longboard: I made this board two years ago for myself. It has light concave under the nose, flat in the center rolling into a “V” before the fin and flat off the tail. Single fin with 10" Greenough Series 4. This is my fave longboard. I always bring it on camping trips up and down the coast. It’s a very comfy cruiser from ankle to head high waves and easy to plant my 4 yr old son on.
7’8" malcom campbell 5-fin bonzer shaped from styro and epoxy glassed by clyde beatty----it’s wide(22") and thick (3") with a squash tail abut 5" wide—it paddles fast and goes like a rocket in all kinds of conditions—and since it’s 5 years old with only a few deck dents–i think i’ll be keeping it a while longer—
Nice! Is this the round nose or pinched shortboard style?
kind of inbetween—14 3/4" nose and tail kind of an egg-ish hybrid-----for sure not a pointed nose actually rounded off to the radius of our 25 cent piece … actually had a a guy offer to buy it as i came out of the water on sunday…nope , no way 
Lately its been my 10’-6" Mickey Munoz Surftech Glide model. It floats good enough to use the canoe paddle and surfs like a 9 footer. Its a good all around board for what I like to do. Frontside, backside, slow waves, hollow waves… Once I figured out the fin set up its been nothing but smiles…
7footers ,they are big enough to handle juice and small enough to throw around
hi John !
and what “special features” do you design into them , for YOUR waves there , please ?
…is there a certain rocker , or bottom configuration , or fin setup , you favour ?
cheers mate !
ben
Concaves or double concaves, thrusters and a fin system cause living where we do we have to travel. rocker wise I like lots of nose and tail ( can’t say exactly never measured it. )I use a burford 7’3k with the gun rocker. I like a heavy glass job 6 bottom & 6&4 deck the board I ride at the moment is a bit lighter and feels a bit flicky. My six ten is heavy and a joy to ride. It is rounded square and boring. pins and rounded pins are the go. I like speeed fins , they are good to deal with and no rust. the flex and all the other features are there but I go for the stiffer hexalite glass fins. And I like a thick stringer 7.5mm ply . All this taken into consideration I nearly always have to ride 9’2 mal wave size and consistoncy.
Okay …
so , kind of following on from this fairly recent thought-provoking thread of George’s …
http://www.swaylocks.com/…guest=4344550#260433
…what is your favourite board you ride the most ?
And ,
what are the design features that you feel make it work for you in the majority of waves you surf on a regular basis ?
cheers ,
ben
The most popular (as it is most riden) at the moment is my 9’2" longboard.
Mainly because of the condition that most frequant the shores around here. (accept for the last few weeks)
I mainly surf beachies and some tame reef breaks and my longboard seems to be the one I just grab off the racks the most.
Although most of the time, I take my 12 yr old daughter out with me, so surfing in 6-8 ft cowries just doesn’t happen.
Small, tame conditions is the majority of my surfing and the longboard suit these conditions.
Easy paddling, early wave catching, smooth rides and lots of fun.
Occasionally, my daughter and I ride it tandem, what a laugh.
I have posted a thread on the journy of my 7-6 which will be for more solid waves, 4-6 ft, and will be constructing a fish for more fun in smaller waves.
I also have a 6’8", and 7’0" that dont float me any more, a 7’8" funboard, and an 8’0’ mini-mal with more to come.
I intend on building a board to tackle solid Windang Island, but I keep putting it of because it gives me an excuse not to paddle out.
thanks a lot for your reply , Mick !
and when you design “the Windang special” [‘?windspec’?] …
…what size , width , thickness , rocker , tail shape , and fin setup would you be going with , and why ?
I hope that’s not too many questions , mate …
…the reason I ask is , I’m just trying to get my head around what I will design next for a winter thruster for here .
And , also …
I’m just interested to read the thought / design processes people put into their boards for specific waves / conditions , and how those expectations are / aren’t met …(ie: the learning / ? refining ? process , hopefully !)
…cheers ,
ben