Kneeboard Surfing USA Community Forum

I noticed the other day that Mitchell Rae from Outer Island, the aussie flextail legend, has been making boards with two stringers. Each travels from the nose to around the forward fin in an upsidedown "V". he says this gives rigidity to the forward 2/3's and a degree of flex to the rear 1/3.

the idea is that it a cheap and cheerful way to get a flexie without the extreme costs of carbon and labour that the usual approach entails ( and "cheap" is my middle name).

No idea of performance or durability - anyone out there given it a go?

they're not cheap

is this the vee stringer configuration you're mentioning?


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nothin' cheap about flex huh?

Bruce - sort of except the v is more so and exits around the forward fin - presumably giving more flex in the rear. very interesting board by the way - not sure my smal brain could cope with an assymetric board.

AB - "cheap" - I guess its a comparative thing - cheaper than the usual labour-intensive carbon panel and eva foam that is mitchell's other style of flexie.

I got one off him close to 10 years ago - beautiful board - and it cost over $1000 back then - not sure what he is asking now. Mind you, that board has death grip concaves and reef scars but the flex panel is like new. could be an ad for both Mitchell's immaculate construction and the longeivity of carbon fibre. still rides like a porche but seems to have shrunk over the years!!!

sorry - couldn't get my head around posting an image
here's the link to the outer island explanation of the "V2" concept.
http://www.outerislandsurfboards.com/v2.html

Yes, flex does come with a price: he asks an additional $500 for the flex tail on top of the standard price of $800 - $1000 for many of his boards.

Mandala in the US do something similar only without the V configuration.

He uses a single stringer that tapers in thickness from the nose to the fins. The last foot is sometimes stringerless. I'm still not totally convinced about how much real flex this adds and at what expense to strength, but it looks neat.

The version I like most so far is probably crox's carbon kevlar stringerless 6 fin and quad boards (in the archives here). I doubt they're a labour saving or cheap option though

You're a lucky man to have an outer island. Mitchell Rae has to be in the top 10 shapers of all time, doesn't he?

Tom

Tomway, Rich Pavel uses the same disappearing stringer as Manny. I've talked to two guys that had them and both said that they couldn't feel any difference. But they both worried more about breaking them.

you don't need stringers at all if you use the right materials, the natural tendency for a craft like a surfboard is to want to bend and flex, if you try to limit that flex by installing a stiff member [ vertical ply stringer] to stop them snapping then you naturally create a stress in that stringer every time you load it up which creates an inherent weakness that can only take so much before it gives.
Alternatives
You either use a horizontally laminated stringer made of something that has got heaps of flex and strength like say bamboo which has it's own drawbacks like excess weight or
you eliminate the stringer altogether and use materials like carbon cloth that has when laminated full longitudinal flex through the fibres therefore spreading the stress over a greater area allowing the board to load up and release without any adverse affects. And you can notice the flex
The only carbon stringerless boards that i have seen snap are the ones that are only using the carbon on the rails..... they just wont last AB
My take on how a flextail should be for a kneeboard i'll be taking this one to PI
http://nativekneeboards.com/nativekneeb ... XTAIL.html

what you say makes sense AB and Tomway - particularly as we of the knees can't stomp on the back foot like the stand-ups. seems to me that a flex kneeboard needs a much longer flex panel than stand-ups.

"You're a lucky man to have an outer island. Mitchell Rae has to be in the top 10 shapers of all time, doesn't he?"
I think it was Albie Falzon who said he didn't have superannuation, he just bought Mitchell's boards instead!!!

Albie lives in Bali so I reckon I'm just as lucky to have a Flashie and a Parkes for those days that aren't the 6ft clean and hollow that the Outer Island loves....roughly four times a year here on the sunshine hoax!!! :lol:

Interesting Bruce Hart/Flashpoint flextail for sale on Ebay. Looks to have a stringer right through the tail so I wonder how much the tail would flex.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Kneeboard-Flex-T ... 2eb34e7ec4

Any thoughts?

Herby

An interesting foam flextail on this page:

http://pointconceptsurfboards.com/kneeboards

Herby

man that hart flexy would tombstone like a bitchh with that leggy plug so far up the board but a very nice board just the same but hey i love flextails