Ask the Shaper (or Anyone who wants to answer) (Vol. II)

[ross]

hey wax
ive had three boards from dale with the weird tail.
first one;5'10x 23"
went unreal.if they all went like this one i'd strill be on em.i snapped it twice but its still downstairs.i dont offload boards generally
second one;6'1"x22.5"(midrange board)
still on the fence with this one.doesnt like junky big waves.spent 2 months in fiji with this board.one wave out at cloudbreak,way back in the barrel the foam ball gets under me,turns the board 12 o'clock,board corrects itself and the author gets spat out in the channel scratching his head .
third one;5'10"x23"
i tried to get dale to clone the first one but he tampered with the thickness a little,made it to thick in the tail.i tried to like it but,i'm over it.first board i've sold
another kneelo from around here has recently got one of these screwdriver tails and he's surfing has improved vastly,so the design has some merit for sure.
dale has made me some great boards over the years especially a magic 5'10" i gave to a south african guy and a 6'6"pintail that i've ridden from teahupoo ,shipsterns to huge perfect jbaii.thanks ponsford!!
if i could work out how to put photos on this forum i'd show you guys some of these boards!

[lowrider]

I'd like to see 'em..

I have a couple of old screwdrivers; only ridden one of them
so far.

email pics to me if you like & I'll put them up.

[red]

Aahhh Coopers!

HW
Didn't see a skerrit of swell on 26th. You pulling my leg?

After weeks of onshore it's perfect today. Problem is it's only 1'
Things are getting desperate. Went hiking in the mountains instead.

Here's a question - how do you all think board width affects control off the foam?

[john -]

Red

check the northern bass strait forecast for tuesday

south west swell sising to 2.5 meters with the change

this could be the first chance of offshore waves and swell for a long long time

13th and wooli seem the same at the moment yet today they say rye is up to 3 foot - no matter - im pinning my sanity on tomorrow

good luck

dorje

[red]

Dorje,
I don't rely on the subjective measures - I want to see pics!
Wooly could be 3' today, too if you're from Calif (no disrespect intended guys)

I'd plan to suntan tomorrow. Check out:
http://buoy.ocens.net/wxnav.jsp?region= ... 10&units=e
and the Point Nepean buoy isn't showing any lift:
http://202.53.40.234/wavedata/wavedata_buoyb.asp

It would be very unusual for swell to lift on the 2nd day of a high sitting over us.

[hart]

And with the screwdriver tail, if its too thick then you can't bury that part of the rail where it straightens out (at the tail)?

Andrew

Screwdrivers can't bury their tails because there is not enough area to do so.

That's their trip.

They allow MASSIVE rail to rail (without rail sink or vee) due to the reverse curve in their outline (ie they give rail to rail while remaining flat, with little or no displacement)..and they like to be turned by the torso of their surfer, not by rail entry..just the way Dale surfs (and surfs so well).

As I've mentioned before, I rate Dale Ponsford as the best surfer/shaper that Australia has produced..and PC thought the same..

hart

PS

Screwdrivers are better known by the original expression Skitails..because they resemble the outline of a snow ski and were developed by Rodney Ball who ended up retiring from surfboard shaping to teach a Californian Collegiants (sp) Downhill Racing (Snow Ski)Team. Skitails surfed like snowskis..off their edge, not from displacement..because skis have nothing to displace.

PPS

Rode one of the Bug's (Rodney's) five-sevens at Currumbin Alley (Five-foot Gold Coast) in the late 70's..no other singlefin came close to the top to bottom rollercoaster that that outline produced..the longer the walls but..the better..

[hart]

..by "rail to rail" are you saying they go on the rail while staying flat?
..............

Yeah, it sounds a little contradictory huh?

But imagine Dale's surfing style..similar in a way to Parkes. Upright, centred and the use of the torso/hips and arm movement to trim/turn their boards.

Their upper bodies seem to generate a 'rail to rail' manoeuvre without the board itself displacing or indeed getting vertical.

The extreme reverse curve in the planshapes of Dale's screwdrivers helps eccentuate this style of turning and surfing.

Make sense?

hart

[DrStrange]

Surfer quote full of hooey! Depends on outline curve, rocker curve, fin size number and placement and shape, thickness overall, rail foil etc etc. I've had heaps of stand-up boards MUCH wider at the nose that I couldn't catch rail if I tried. And I did try though not on purpose...


Did I win???

[hart]

Recently I read in a surfer magazine that anything wider than 11 inches at the twelve inch mark (off the nose) risks rail catch (for standups).

Any sugestions on the max width at this point for a kneeboard (rocker and rail being well designed)?

It wouldn't matter what your nose dimension was..providing you then had enough curve (in your planshape) running into your tail..

..(amoung a couple of other simple things)

Crawford could surf a 20" nose (@ the 12" mark) because he had overall outline-curve behind it.

If your outline ran 'straight' into the tail however.. for example, a 20 inch nose would catch.

So just to confuse you totally.. ..please note:

1. rails (in the nose) WILL CATCH if your TAIL is too wide and straight

2. rails (in the nose) WILL CATCH if your CONCAVE is too far forward

3. rails (in the nose) WILL CATCH if your TAIL-LIFT is not adequate for your length

4. rails (in the nose) WILL CATCH if the underside of your rail is lower than your BOTTOM at any point, forward of your knees (allowing for momentum induced Falline)

ad infinitum..

So..catching rails in your nose has less to do with rails..(huh )..

than everything bloody else..

hart



ps

besides..standup noses dont catch because their surfers have a backfoot, irrespective how average the shape may be

pps

kneeboarders will want to grab their rail with their hands if their noses are too wide for the situation (..and please pardon the pun)

ha

[hart]

And the planshape explanation kinda knocks a lot of fish designs in the head ..

.. ie have a fat tail at the expense of a narrow nose.

the slab was, in kind..the antithesis (opposite) of the fish..

how can 2 such different designs, create such a universal (kneeboard)approach to surfing?

traditional Sydney and home-town Ca..

what a potent bloody mix

Opposites will Attract..

hart