Figuring out the "new" Flashpoint

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hankj
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Figuring out the "new" Flashpoint

Post by hankj »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61HGWHCF ... e=youtu.be

6'-8' faces, offshore, and warm in a 3/2 - gotta love September up north.

It's been an adjustment but getting the hang of the used Flashpoint I bought off the forum a few months. If I could just get it to stall for a barrel w/o sliding out - this board likes to be on a rail all the time. :?

If you know where this Pac NW spot is PLEASE DON'T POST ABOUT IT - locals are really decent guys but advertising can earn you a punch in the nose and obviously they'll know who I am (and I'm ugly enough already :)

Ride on 1/2 sized soldiers!
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K-man
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Post by K-man »

Seattle...Spent some time up there working with NW fisheries doing marine mammal surveys on a research vessel.
Looks like the board works fine.I've had at least 7 flashies..Sound like maybe drag your back arm?That'll slow ya down.What I do is that,and I'll drop my outboard leg as a counter balance for stability.We just got a decent NW..probably the one you all been riding

cheers
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Post by Shelfbreak »

Hi Hank

Got a custom Flashpoint several years ago. It paddled in well, turned beautifully etc but it side slipped going along steep walls sometimes.

I know it's not a design fault having watched Simon, Gavin and Ross ride them harder than me but they consistently lean forward.

I don't lean forward much (despite thinking I do) and your clip suggests your stance is upright.

I decided against putting in big fins as I seem to recall Bruce suggesting that it wasn't consistent with the overall design (bit hazy on this).

Great trying different boards and through all this I found that quads with fins set back a bit suited me.
Shelfbreak
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eqKneelo
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Post by eqKneelo »

Hey hank!

Cool vid!!! 8) Looks like you're board got popped in the nose... hope that wasn't an angry local. :wink:

You see how you get way forward around 01:00 to pull into little barrels... try a couple waves where you keep that position the whole wave.

Take off, stay low, and look "through your turns".
The board will go the way you are looking. Will "follow your head" much like a motorcycle will.

Leaning back makes you turn off the tail, but since the fins are so forward, you just slide out. (Bigger fins will allow you to lean back, but you'll be fighting them on other parts of the wave... they gett hung up if they are too big. And that board is almost a pin tail.)

Take a look at this style clinic, and play around.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dAPpbilakQ
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Post by eqKneelo »

Oh... and by "bigger fins" i mean TWIN FIN templates.

A solid set of Al Merricks (AMs... not AM2s) or other LARGE FCS fin sets should work great.
I'd recommend the cheaper "composite" fins with a bit more flex.

http://surffcs.com/shop/surf-thrusters/g-am-tri-set
hankj
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Post by hankj »

thanks for the advice

already got some new fins, FCS G8's with a glass-like flex, about like the ones you pointed out. They've helped quite a bit - wash out way less easily than the similarly sized very light composites it had previous. As for my upright style I've had it for over 30 years so I'm afraid I'm probably stuck with it but'll try to get more forward if the old back tolerates it.

The board is a lot of fun and loves to zoom around on a rail. My style is a little bit more of the pocket-snapper/barrel-staller, and this board is most stable when it's going fast. I'd love to ride it at a place where you get tubed by charging fast forward like the wave in the video.

All in all I'm happy but will someday pick up another Romanosky - I like how you can slip or snap-stall them nearly to a dead stop in a bowling section and they'll bite hard and move forward again like they're on a rail the second you think it. But definitely having a good time on the Flashpoint for the time being.

Thanks again to everyone for the feedback.
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Post by southpeakbrad »

Hey there :D
I like to tell of my first ride on my first Flashpoint. It was HH-OH, good swell running, and I got up, turned and side slipped very briefly but caught it. Turned again...side slip! But I caught it again and was then at the bottom of the wave. It all happened quite quickly but I remember thinking "Whoooaa!, what is this???" So, at the bottom I just gently leaned into the bottom turn and carefully got the board going down the line. If felt loose and quick, and fast. The wave was closing out ahead of me and since there was a swell my first inclination was to just kick out and avoid getting caught inside. But I remembered that "I got this board to hit sections like this!!" So at the last minute I just leaned and drove for the top and the board was lightning quick to just go vert and come back around as I made the hit and landed it :!: I was so stoked to pull that that I'll never forget the feeling 8)

Coming from a quad, and a twin-fin fish before that it took a while to get used to it. I mean I surfed it well from the start but something Bruce said really stuck. Something like "Oh Mate! You're so used to turning hard off the tail, all you have to do is lean into it and you'll be off" Now that I've been on thrusters for a few years I don't even think about it (the bottom turns) except to enjoy where I hope to go after completing it :D
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eqKneelo
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Post by eqKneelo »

G8's! Perfect. Want to get those.

Take that board to Indo and it will change your life. 8)
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Post by Lefty »

you look young enough to change your ways and lean forward.

i switched from a single fin slab to a flashpoint rounded pin about 5 years ago. the day i leaned forward everything changed. and not just leaning forward a little, but keeping my body pretty much parallel to the board.

it feels as if my flashpoint knows more about surfing than i do. even stand-ups compliment the board and offer to buy it.
it's a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll
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Post by eqKneelo »

Lefty wrote: it feels as if my flashpoint knows more about surfing than i do.
:lol:
I know the feeling. Every time I blow a wave or a turn and the boys raise an eyebrow I just shake my head and say "Pilot Error".
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Post by Headwax. »

hey great vid, more vids like that will attract more surfers to kneeboarding, kneeboarding looks like a lot of fun

just a suggestion, if the board is drifting try getting your outside shoulder over your inside knee when you turn

that way you'll lock in the rail more, get your weight forward and still maintain a more powerful turn while keeping a little of the weight off the tail

never ridden a flashpoint, hart's reverse vees or whatever they are called (can't remember what he calls them, assuming he still does them) maybe they help "bleed"/draw/ push more water off the tail rail than you are used to?

compared to eg a traditional single to double concave with a tail vee
?
tail drift in the barrel helps you pick a finer line, as long as you can control the drift I guess, so sometimes it's a good thing

talkin through my hat :)
hankj
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Post by hankj »

Thanks for the tips. And for saying I look young enough to change. I'm 47 but my degenerative discs feel more like 87 :)

Got back out on a nearly identical day at the same spot and tried a more forward posture. it was fun - like posted like riding a motorcycle or something, or like a rollercoaster sort of feeling. Even was able to grab my rail on a big cutback - never tried that before. I'm sure I look better riding with a forward stance too, although I'll say that since we're already down on our knees moving more toward "all fours" makes me feel like a surfing dog or something.

I'll probably still get back on a Romanosky or the like because I prefer the way it feels to smash the lip with shorter-radius power snaps. To me it feels better to push as hard as I can with compact violence than to rail powerful swoops. This Flashpoint is a nice board though - will be in SoCal in early November and might try to sell it then if I can find a replacement.

One thing I'll say for the is that Flashpoint seems like it would work really well above the lip because of the way it can hold/increase speed through an extended railed turn - seems like it would set up well to bring speed to the exit ramp. Haven't had much chance to test this out but have popped a couple of little ones semi-accidentally so that's a good sign. And on smaller waves it makes disproportionately big moves -- it'll snap big fans and flick long floaters on wave that otherwise wouldn't seem to have the juice to support big tricks. Not that juice is an issue up here - basically always head high at least, just gotta hit it when the (nearly perpetual) gale isn't blowing.
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Bill E.
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Post by Bill E. »

Here is a good y-tube for you Hank of the lean forward action.....

Australian Kneeboard Championship 2012 3rd Round Kiama NSW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO_DyQBr ... 3sU1VwoGnA

That board is a very nice stick and I almost had it a few back, so I think it would be best if you leave it with me when you head down south.

I really should surf with you soon since you are up here, but not out here!!
Fall is here and it is starting to look good with the La Nada, neutral pattern.
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Scott
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Post by Scott »

I recommend skipping ahead to about 14:45 to the end of this video to see the best examples of surfing in this style.
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Post by MJ »

There's a few more examples here. The Final's at 14:10.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tex-OLZOlB0
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