I will get you a profile shot of the fins. They are standard Thruster fins.
Thank you.
From the picture I thought the rear fin had a longer base, than the sidefins.
Still waiting for the finplugs.
I was in the mood for some glassing over the weekend. So I did a 5+5 clear deck glassing (both layers full wrap to cutlap).
And the next day a 5oz deckpatch.
Bottomlam will be clear / white. But I´ll wait for the plugs now.
(I know, I could set the plugs post lam and patch over them. Done that a couple of time with tinted lams.)
Well executed color work. Look at my avatar. When you’re ready to make a gun, for that size wave and larger, contact me for detailed information. Don’t rely on ‘‘experts’’, that have not ridden those kind of waves, on a regular basis.
Thank you.
I will come back to this when I´m ready to build a bigger board.
I guess that won´t be long after I got my first a little bit bigger waves on the new boards. Usually it takes only little sparks to set me on fire and plan for new (bigger / better) boards.
Okay, Bill you are generously offering your help.
So I dare to ask for thoughts on the next / bigger board.
That build will be far away (next 3-4 month), but my mind is busy with it. Maybe you are willing to share your thoughts (all of you).
When I´m gettin on your nervs, just tell me…
I know, the size of board I´m aiming at is still smaller what the Guethary locals suggest for Parlementia and such. And of course I believe what you guys tell me.
Let´s say, it´s not solely meant for Parlementia / basque country. But for all kinds waves in the doh size range. And only aiming at not overly steep waves.
(I´ve been surfing similar waves in Ireland, Wales, Spain, Portugal)
Attached is a picture from north devon. This is an example for what will be my limit concernig size and steepness. If the board handles fine up untill this, it´s all good.
Picture taken from here. https://magicseaweed.com/photo/382978/album/6b2e5b51d4637263fa91fba3071516ff/
So I have drawn some outlines for a 8.4x22 board.
I´m 6´4 and 195lbs, I don´t think the width will be an issue for me.
The outlines are the most “gunny” on the left (1 and 2 are a tad under 22 wide) - changing to more longboard style to the right.
I added width in the nose and in the end width in the tail.
The marks 1ft from nose/tail are cm, soory for that. But I think you get the impression.
The widepoint also moves forward from 1 to 6.
So more float, more paddlepower the higher the number.
What dou you think about the outlines ?
On waves like in the picture, when will the wide nose start to hinder me on the one or other way ?
(I usually get in early, not looking for steep and late drops)
I think I tend to something like Nr. 3-5.
(which is very similar to a Christenson C-Bucket and a Bing Alphapin, just for reference)
I like outline 4 or 5, which are neither a gun, nor a log. Somethinh inbetween, don´t know how to call that.
For the rocker I´d aim at something “inbetween” as well.
I am thinking about 4.3/4 nose, 2.1/2 tail. Smooth overall, a little bit of kick in the nose and in the tail. (not to much kick in the nose surely)
Similar to the US blanks 8´4 SP, with the tailrocker reduced from 2.13/16 to 2.1/2. Maybe 2.3/4 in the tail for tighter arcs.
Without having seen this post from you, I had already picked the 4th from the left. My personal experiences in bottom contours would allow me to suggest considering approx. 3/8"-1/2" (12mm-13mm?) of ‘belly’ with the deepest part approx. 1/3 of the way back from nose. It didn’t seem to slow the board down, allowed easier penetration on take-off, and seemed to smooth out chop. Of course, your mileage may vary…
Regarding old school design theory - what is valid, is valid regardless of time frame. That said, I watch Kai Lenny at Jaws on video the other day and found this ride to be astonishing:
The latest bottom design of his boards is unique - slots, concaves and other things…
Yeah they rode 10’—11’ Pigs with fat round rails and fat single fins at Sunset in 1962 on 10 “Hawaiian” sized days. My father drove a Model T too. So what?
Good job on the shaping. I’m sure you will be happy with this board. Lowel
i am not a pro shaper but i make boards for “real” surfer for 25 years. For waves on photo, my young comp surfer neigbour at 80kg would ride is 6’ every day board or is 6’6" step-up depend how much paddle needed. my old friend luc at same weight would ride is 7’6 “mini gun” or if it’s crowded is 9’8"x21"1/2x4" parlementia gun. So ride what you want. As for bottom shape try and find what work for you, every thing is possible. If you ride those waves you are not a debutant, on wave you don’t need so much volume but for take wave it’s an other problem. it’s your fit and how crowded is spot that make you decide. Same problem on smaller days, when there is lot of longboard you can let hp thruster in car…
McDing:
Without a doubt, it´s always the surfer, not the board.
I read a good dose of sarcasm in your post, hope I don´t interpret it wrong.
And I agree. Kind of: Why should I handicap myself with trying to ride a model T as an unexperienced driver.
I think especially for a holiday warrior like me, a board that gives confidence can help a lot.
My taste of boards is usually a mixture of “good old tried and true” but with implementation of modern influences.
Try to keep my eyes open to the past as well as to the future.
Johnmellor:
Thank you for all the input.
The ride from Kai Lenny was insane. I´ve watched it several times.
Didn´t knew the bottom shot of his gun though. A lot of things going on there. Crazy.
Great you would suggest Nr.4, too.
I´m tending towards a bottom style like the one you suggest.
I was looking at boards in the range between stretched out midlength / minigliders like the Christenson C-Bucket, Lovelace Thick Lizzy or Travis Reynolds Stone fruit on the one hand and more gunny models like Christenson Dauntless and such on the other hand.
I´ve found some good bottom shots from 8´0 to 8´6 boards of those mentioned models.
Some are quite “tried and true” belly/vee-bottoms.
And there are those more complex bottom like the dauntless and the Lizzy. Working with different kind of double concaves in the back half of the board. (+chined rails throughout on the lizzy)
I guess it will be easier for a first try in that range of boards to get the belly/vee-bottoms right. Should be a safe bet. More chance to mess things up by not doing it right with those more complex bottoms I guess.
What do you guys think on the rocker ?
Any doubts, that 4.3/4 are to little for an 8´4 ?
I speculate, I won´t need a gun style rocker for those not overly steep waves I´ll be riding.
Lemat:
Great statement, thanks.
I´ve experienced that on a wave without a crowd I can happily ride a wide variety of boards.
That wave on the picture is apr. 2ft (faceheight) bigger than what I´ve ridden till now.
But I could ride those waves with my 6.6 duo, my 7.3 bonzer egg and and my 7.2 pintail singlefin equally well. Just different takeoffs and different lines.
So I think the 8.4 will be a good extension to my quiver for when I need more paddle power (long paddle outs) or if the crowd is an issue.
On my skill level:
Don´t get the wrong impression. I´m not a good surfer and I´m not able to do maneuvers on those waves.
Only fit and confident enough to paddle out when there is a bit more water moving. I can position myself in the right spot and make the takeoff.
Often I just pick a high line from the start und just ride with some mellow arcs up and down.
It´s not skillful surfing, and usually it´s only like 2-3 good waves in a hour or so.
But I´m stoked and that´s all I need. (sometimes even one wave is enough for me and sets me in a good mood for the whole day)
Finishcoat done.
A bit of sanding in a couple of days. I prefer the sanded finish for better grip, especially with thick winter gloves.
And then off to cornwall in a week.
Hope to score some waves there.
Very nice. Great work. Don’t know if I already said that, but it needs to be said again. Excellentl! Good shaping. Super job on the “woodies” at the fin box. Not easy to do. And the color work on that deck is beautiful. Somebody will probably try to buy that board before you get wax on it. You won’t handicap yourself with that board. It would be a rider most anywhere. Cornwall or the North Shore of Oahu. That board would get it’s waves. I can see that board handling a place like Honolua on an overhead day. No sweat. Beautiful!!
Yes - Very nice job!
That is indeed an absolutely beautiful piece of work.
I’ve only made a handful of boards but couldn’t imagine that by the time I got to number 25 I’d be capable of producing something like that.
You have some talent my friend.
Thank you so much guys.
I´ll report when I had the board in the water.
This week cornwall had some massive swell.
(that wave is way out of my reach though)
I had the board out for 3 sessions. One session with a 9inch singlefin and the other two sessions with 7inch centerfin and quad rears as sidefins.
Swell was quite powerless and quite small most of the time. In all of those three session there were some sets in the 1ft overhead region, but mostly rather thick und slow waves. (which means I´d usually ride my modern fish or my minilog in those kind of waves)
My impressions are:
It paddles really well. Good gliding and good momentum, works very good with slow, long and powerful paddlestrokes.
I can duckdive it, not very deep but a little bit.
Getting up and finding a nice stance felt very natural.
Driving it was very different to everything I rode before. The vee-bottom feels so different to all the concave/double concave bottoms I had.
It´s so obvious now, how much lift the other bottoms generate and how deep and connected the vee-bottom feels.
Nice feeling. Felt very safe and confident.
The board needs some juice in the waves (of course, that´s what it was meant for).
With the singlefin, the turns were nice, smooth and drawn out.
I like the 2+1 setup a bit more. Felt easier to generate some speed and the turns were tighter and somehow feeling nicer for me. (blame it on my limited skills)
Most of the time it was quite choppy (always a little windy).
The vee cuts through the chop and gives a very calmed down ride. I liked it very much. So much, that when I switched back to my other boards, the pitching of the lighter boards with all the concaves really felt annoying.
Looking forward to get bigger swell with that board.
Some pictures…
One is my also new asymmetric minilog, which I was riding a lot. Funny little board (6.4x22, rode it as a twin all the time, didn´t try singlefin yet).
All that’s left now is to try it as a standard thruster set-up and more trials. Stoked!