tumak said:
The way it looks to me is that KB'ing is evolving into two 21st century species. In fact, perhaps kneeboarding and spooning are two different species already. Perhaps there's kneeboard surfing and then there's spoon surfing... two distinct forms. One is foamy, too long, and comfy, while the other is bold, brazen, inventive, hard edged, and retro-minded and future-thinking at the same time.
You've got it! 2 different species. Much farther apart than kneeboard surfing -vs- standup surfing.
Think of a piece of wood carved in the shape of a fish floating in the ocean compared to a living, moving, flexible fish swimming along.
Board size:
In my ignorance I must ask a question - what is the advantage of flotation in a kneeboard? And why did they get bigger and bigger?
It seems to me that over the past 25 years that surfboards have gotten smaller and shorter while kneeboards have gotten larger and longer.
Just as football "pants" have gotten shorter and basketball shorts have gotten longer?
Spoon size:
I'll use my racecar analogy. I raced Pro Rally. It was the form of car racing where the driver had the most to do with the outcome. You race your car 1 at a time on an unknown stretch of road with no one to see you do it. It's just you against the road. You select and setup your car to do what you want when you want and according to your particular style - I liked being loose and hanging out the rear end with LOTS of power.
When you set up a car the driver is just so much balast that you must contend with. You don't change the wheelbase for a heavier driver.
So with spoons they were designed for the best COMPROMISE (because everything is a compromise) between speed and manueverability. The flexible nature of spoons(copied from actual living, swimming creatures) means much less compromise. The spoon itself adjusts while you're riding, much like the suspension in a racecar. So when you need to go fast, the bottom is flat for planning and when you need to carve a turn it bends and twists to accomplish the turn(like turning the steering wheel in a car).
The edge board rocker(bottom) will actually go from flat to concave to bent
in a turn to bending flatter(or beyond flat?) by pushing down on the nose.
Oh yeah this was in response to Red.
My Velo board is 22" wide and 5' long. Widest board I've ever had.
Edge board is 19.5 wide by 5' and is a triplane so the bottom planning area is even narrower. People have told me it is too small for me. I never felt that. I do feel that it is too flexible for me and will stiffen it up soon. And remember this edge board does NOT even float. It will sink.
And for sure the edge board is the fastest I have ridden.
So my feeling is that spoons get their planing and lift not from the size but from their variable shape and planning. A flat or concave bottom for speed then a curved,bent and twisted one for turning. Thats why I've posted some of the flex and twist shots - the shape you see on the beach or in the shaping racks is not what you will be riding on a wave.
This fact makes me really appreciate the challanges of shaping a foam and glass kneeboard or surfboard. It would be like the guys who race NASCAR not being allowed to adjust their cars during the race as conditions changed.
All my spoons until this Velo board were at the widest 20.5" and 5' long. And I've weighed between 180 and 200lbs. They worked well in 2-3' beachbreak and 12' Rincon. I never felt lacking.
Hope that answers something. Remember - maybe I just don't know any better - having always/only ridden spoons! Ignorance is bliss.
I addressed a specific topic which no longer exists and find my original input unrelated to this New Topic Heading. Please excuse my small intrusion as a profound analitcal error in my comprehensive reading skills. I guess it's the downside of the aging process.
