The flex spoon is similar in concept. It must be delivered into the turn and then allow the flex of the board to return back to its original state.
If you try and drive it through the turn it will stall and die because you will have surfed passed the flex-return opportunity, thus overriding it. As with a graphite golf club, if you swing to aggressively the club face will always be left open and cause a shot that is blocked to the right or a major slice.
One of the neatest explanations I've ever seen.
Thanks.
Something like out of Karate Kid - push ...and release, push ...and release
That is interesting....makes me realise just how passive a spoon flex is.
My comments were regarding flex in general & you can build the right sort of flex into a board that will drive through turns.....however I will leave it at that as this thread is about flex spoons & I don't want to go off topic!
Only made 20 or so of the flex spoons ... But a few quick comments ... Yes a different rider style is required to normal knee boards....
I much preferred riding Glass spoons because of the flex as I found the carbon version lighter but stiffer.
With the glass spoons you can feel the dynamic interaction of the spoon with the wave... Combined with a greenough fin 9" which held the spoon exactly where it was pointed ... The flex in the body and tail combined with the body weight enabled me to "feel" the spoon flex and drive ... Like a type of kinetic energy
Learn to ride the spoon look at GG position on the spoon (velo and flex) ... Very important to understand why he sat the way he did ... Also GG weighs 65kgs and is quite flexible .... Oh of course ... The edges are absolutely vital in providing the force co-ordinates from the rider's weight and position, the flex in the body and tail of the spoon, the depth of the fin ... Which can be as flexible as you wish ...
In the case of the flex spoon it was built to get up on top of the water and skim over it .... Yep just like a boat ... Note the similarities in shape ...
Only made 20 or so of the flex spoons ... But a few quick comments ... Yes a different rider style is required to normal knee boards....
I much preferred riding Glass spoons because of the flex as I found the carbon version lighter but stiffer.
With the glass spoons you can feel the dynamic interaction of the spoon with the wave... Combined with a greenough fin 9" which held the spoon exactly where it was pointed ... The flex in the body and tail combined with the body weight enabled me to "feel" the spoon flex and drive ... Like a type of kinetic energy
Learn to ride the spoon look at GG position on the spoon (velo and flex) ... Very important to understand why he sat the way he did ... Also GG weighs 65kgs and is quite flexible .... Oh of course ... The edges are absolutely vital in providing the force co-ordinates from the rider's weight and position, the flex in the body and tail of the spoon, the depth of the fin ... Which can be as flexible as you wish ...
In the case of the flex spoon it was built to get up on top of the water and skim over it .... Yep just like a boat ... Note the similarities in shape ...
Spoon builds look great ... Good luck damo
Thanks Damien.
Great insights. you have raised some very valid points. I would love to see some of your boards. Is that possible?
Also, how do you size the spoon for different heights and weights of riders. I am 5'11" and about 13stone. I have picked 22 1/2" x 5' 1".
regards
max
crox wrote:That is interesting....makes me realise just how passive a spoon flex is.
My comments were regarding flex in general & you can build the right sort of flex into a board that will drive through turns.....however I will leave it at that as this thread is about flex spoons & I don't want to go off topic!
Thanks Crox. I thought your earlier comments were profound. If you think that some general discussion on flex is relevant or helpful to flex spoons, I would welcome it, as this is a discussion forum.
Regards
max
These are very different in design to the flex spoons that I made. Paul told me that GG designed these Flex spoons for pure speed ... So they can be quite twitchy.
As CaptKneemo pointed out the Velos are similar to displacement hulls... In fact GG has built and designed a boat in the past few years and the hull would be very familiar to all velo riders.
I hope your project goes well ... You will need to fiddle with the dimensions because they all interact .... Build it then tweak it ... Sorry to say it took me 11-12 spoons before I sort of understood the relationship between fin flexibility, fex in the tail and building the rails:) no short cuts but lots of fun .... Cheers damo
Gorgeous board and craftsmanship. I love your bottom contours (talking about the board, now )
Question & suggestion...
Given the width of the tail, will the fin hold in the way you want it to? It has pretty much of an edgeboard profile.
And... as you use carbon and reduce weight, less foam is needed. An excellent place to start shaving it off is at the tail corners. It is awesome to have that last foot or more of rail responsive, as long as your deck material back there has the required rigidity/snap, meaning pure carbon.
Man O' War wrote:Gorgeous board and craftsmanship. I love your bottom contours (talking about the board, now )
Question & suggestion...
Given the width of the tail, will the fin hold in the way you want it to? It has pretty much of an edgeboard profile.
And... as you use carbon and reduce weight, less foam is needed. An excellent place to start shaving it off is at the tail corners. It is awesome to have that last foot or more of rail responsive, as long as your deck material back there has the required rigidity/snap, meaning pure carbon.
Looking fwd to your first test rides.....
Thanks MOW. I left the foam in on the tail to remove any week point from cutting it back. On dry land, it doesn't appear to impact on any flex or torque, but I will let you know once it finds it way to the ocean.
To Mark (Man O War) and loftusm...you two are LEGENDS in my mind. Building a spoon takes countless hours. Furthermore, they are prone to snapping! But you two put the time in and then shred them. RESPECT!
And THANK YOU Mark & Tony from Oz for getting me started in kneeboarding...I'm knee surfing my buddy's 6'6 x 3" thick "Great Lakes shortboard" at the moment. It was a board shaped in, yes, Michigan, for riding as a shortboard on the Great Lakes! I saw him kneel on it one day (when the surf was relatively flat) as a joke, and he was SCREAMING down the line on it. So I asked if I could borrow it and experiment with it as a kneeboard. For carving, it's a big guy's dream! Snappy off-the-tops are another story. But for classic on-rail, down-the-line flow, it's a BLAST! I just rode it up in nearly-crowd-less surf up in Palos Verdes today. I got a few fun ones, though I still need to get my rebounds wired better when cutting back on quick, more-poweful waves. The Blue Bottle went well in critical surf, but this board is 3/4" of an inch thicker (and has a classic, less-maneuverable template, alongside a fins-back configuration, compared to the Blue Bottle's high-performance fins-forward template) and works better in mushier stuff. However, I've put big MR side fins on it, and it will still ride in heftier stuff. It just needs to be carefully put on-rail when the surf gets faster and/or more hollow. Too little pressure and one drifts into the flats. Too much pressure and the rail pops out like a cork!
I've got to fix up all the dings properly on the Blue Bottle so it's good-to-go again. Then, if I can buy the Great Lakes Shortboard/Kneeboard from my buddy, I'll be giving the Blue Bottle to a local grom who shreds on his dad's hand-shaped kneeboards. I think the Blue Bottle will be an eye-opener for him!
