Lis style fish kneeboard

[Marky V]

I am planning to build myself a Lis style fish. I am 6'1" and 85 kg riding mainly beachbreaks 3 to 6 ft. Any of you informed kneelos help me with dimensions? I was thinking of 5'8" x 22" to start, what blank would be the best rocker? should I stick with twin keels or put inserts/boxes in to allow twin/ quad set up? Anyone got any accurate measurements for Nose, Tail, fin placement, rails etc. I have posted similar question on Swaylocks, but would like some more input, as I do not have a board to measure, only loads of photos. This board is for me and not for sale, purely because I love to ride my own equipment. Am I barking up the wrong tree and should I just order a Flashpoint and go surfing!
Any comments would be appreciated!!
Cheers
Marky

[W.G. Facenda]

I think you will have ALOT more response and interest about the FISH design from standup surfers today than kneeriders. Seems kinda ironic to me :?: . I think (in my opinion) it's because kneeriding today is focused on going more vertical and maneuvers than high speed banking .I think current kneeriding is - a contest focused style. To answer your question if you don't want to make your own fish I don't follow your logic in going to an aussie tri instead of say-a Blast fish?? They are both fantastic shapers just different style designs!!

[albert]

I think current kneeriding is - a contest focused style

Are you sure about that??? Do you mean contests now or 20 years ago???
I think you should post this as a separate topic before we go on this tangent. What do you say?

Mark, As far as the lis fish, I believe you should ask yourself what kind of surfing do you want to do on it prior to deciding some dimentions.

Albert

[Beeline2.0]

..

[W.G. Facenda]

Beeline- I know what you mean about the wait!!!hahahah I won't go into it here but yea-- I waited too :) He was,is, a very hard core surfer and well..... you know how we are sometimes, He seems to be doing great now living with family on Kauai !!! He just flat out makes a killer fish and we ALL waited. His wife runs the business end now and things are more "2004 business", it seems.They are both really cool to deal with! Every shaper has their variation on the Lis fish most have been making them for 30 yrs.

[W.G. Facenda]

I forgot to add- Lis has changed his fish also. He has progressed just like everyone else.Seems strange to me how everone assumes he is making the same board he was making 25 yrs ago.Just like everone else he has refined his boards and actually rides all quads and five fin and has for some time. Another thing i thought is that post about , "Can a standup shaper make a good kneeboard?" Would this include Rich Pavel and Steve Lis??? :wink:

[Flexman]

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[Marky V]

Albert
I like the sound of speed cruising! I have a 5'9" aussie tri by Chris Diplock at the moment, and this has really got me back into kneeriding, I have a copy of no help kneeded for inspiration!! when it's flat. But at nearly 43 yrs have no chance of some of the vertical moves you guys manage! I just want to ride something very different to my present board. I hope that the speed will help me around sections that at present I dont make.
Cheers
Mark

[hart]

Marky V,

Don't give up on verticality..not if you don't want to.

The Lis fish outlines and rockers that I've seen look very parallel and quick. Certainly will want to move out..but not necessarily up..particularly in the waves I've seen and looked at from your neck of the woods.

I reckon that kneeboards can be built to boh get 'around' sections (as you describe) and also get vert..

It just depends on your desire to surf that way.

hart.

PS The Wax..

Midget wasn't selling any of the blanks blown from his kneeboard plug..so he infilled the bottom half with plywood and blew foam aimed at the surfboard market..as a 'new' fish blank.

Now, thickness is not necessarily the issue here. If there is inadequate thickness in a blank full stop..a shaper will not have enough foam to even shape his bottom the way he wants to..the shaper wll therefore have to rely on the curves the blank designer gives him..

Not a good start for a professional shaper..and even worse for any surfer around 90kgs (200lbs) or more.

[red]

Marky,

I'm pushing 45 and live 200kms from the ocean. Only really learnt to kneeboard in the last 2 years. Have seen huge improvements in the last 6 months. This is a combination of excellent boards, wave knowledge (I've KS for 30 years), studying videos of myself and the best KS and standups and surfing with people who encourage and analyse what i do.

My mate Chickenman (Neil Owen) is 47 and has really started blowing away the top of waves in the last year or so. Headwax is similar age and is turning it on, too, with a similar story. There are a few top dogs who should be breathing a sigh of relief that these oldies aren't getting to Tahiti.

So don't give up on the vertical approach. Anything is possible with the right equipment and mental approach.

Of course it takes us a bit longer to paddle back out and to recover from a session!

[W.G. Facenda]

That pic is of some my boards.That template is from 1975 and quite abit different than the boards in the photo they were made in 2002. Steve Lis was in aus/nz for 2 1/2 months recently and I quess it wasn't just surf trip.Rich Pavel has spent a ton of time in Australia and made many fishes there for Rasta, Derek Hynd etc. I would really like to make a trip there you guys sound like really classic characters!!!

[surfhorn]

And I'm 51 and can still whack the lip off of any wave. Its just that I have to do a bit of land training and stretching daily now. Also, with many years of experience under our belts, many of us older KBers have the wave knowledge to out position many of the youngsters in the water. Life is good!

[DrStrange]

to paraphrase: Old age and skill generally beats youth and agility.