Kneeboard Surfing USA Community Forum

javascript:emoticon(':D') greetings, joel5150photo here; on the subject of kneeboard shapers i learned this the hard way...do not let a "Stand up " shaper make you a board!!!iv tried 5 different stand up shapers ,,, with only 1 exception they all failed!!!!!! badley to the tune of 3-500 $$ for a board, i left spacific instructions ( and in most cases the board i wanted copied!!!!)mostly the nose..they ALL pulied it it!! (narrower) on my boards i like a full nose they just dont get it!! stick with a kneeboard shaper!!Romanosky, Flashpoint, cleary, sholkoff,buddy mac.= Blast,of hawaii, parkes,K-58...etc..Mo better ..Aug 6 th. at river jetties is gonna be FUN !!! i hope to see you all there, thank you to Joe and Amanda for putting this together!! be sure to stop by The Frog House ( last years Surf shop sponcer at H,B,event) T.K. Mikey and the crew are cool, and there "Knee-board friendly"see you on the 6th. ..kneeboards RULE !!! joel5150photo**
( in the kneeboard groove sinse...1968!! )

Joel
Most likely standup shapers don't have templates for the kind of outlines used for kneeboards. Many will use their curves they have confidence in to pull lines between measurement points. That's why the noses are often pulled. To be fair, the shapers probably sweated to make you what you wanted, but simply had not had the exposure to enough "real" kneeboards. The moral of the story remains the same.

And the fin placement ... lets not forget the fin placement ... did we mention the fin placement ... very important that fin placement stuff.

I know of a handful of standup shapers here in the land that is girt by sea that have the knowledge and nous to shape a kneeboard ... mostly old hands.

I've had a couple of well known and respected shortboard shapers cast an eye over the old frier tuck or two ... and although they can see and nod their heads in agreement with the majestic lines of the outline ... rocker etc ... the fin placement seems to do their collective heads in ...

When i ordered my last board here in Durban the shaper had to call in some favours and borrow a kneeboard nose template and i had to be hands on for all dimensions , the next board i just gave him some pointers and let him get on with it , what a disaster !
I think the chance of getting a dud through a non kneeboard shaper is very high and probably not worth the risk.
Looking at all the boards in the Album section of KSUSA you can pick out very easily the boards shaped by guys that dont have much experience in shaping kneeboards , the lines are just very ugly.
Now Buds boards Bruce Harts and Dave Parkes boards to name the more prominent kneeboard shapers just have such excellent lines.
I am most likely for my my next board to import one to South Africa, unless i am forced by finances to order on here.

beauty is in the eye of the...............................
sometimes photos don't do a board justice,
so i think you have to actually see , feel and surf a board before you can call into question the skills of it's creator. Don't judge a book and so forth

AB ... beauty is not in the eye of a thousand fullstops ...

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder ...

And you're right about the photo thing ... photo's distort reality ... in Old Crazies case thats merely distorting the distorted so to speak.

AB your boards are beautiful too , thats the problem with naming a few people others get left out , sorry.
But i hear what you are saying being a photog myself.

Terence I'd recommend Glen D'Arcy if you go for a local board next time.. He is essentially a stand-up shaper but has been shaping since the 70's and definitely has a handle on the different dynamics of kneeboarding.. I've had 3 boards from him and all have been killer! My 4th one from him is on it's way.. I would have loved to have been able to order a board from one of the specialist shapers on Oz but the price for us starts becoming a bit prohibitive when you factor exchange rates and shipping into it..

BTW I met a dude called Gus in the water at Kelso a month or 2 back who reckons he knows you.. there are so few of us in the water here these days the stand-up guys automatically assume we all know each other

Hey Tim I'm in Oz and I have ordered 2 off Glen in the past, my 2 favourite boards. Would be nice to see pics of the newie.

Hey Austo, I'll do that for sure.. You actually put me onto Glen a few years back and haven't looked back.. iou1

T, i don't even know it but i'm writing in subtext

Glen learnt to shape under Peter Maisch (wedge Surfboards ) when they were in Warner Beach (South of Durban)where i learnt to surf 38 years ago.
I have to have a shaper that makes good wide tailed boards , i have never had any luck with pins.

Two of my boards from Glen have had wide squash tails, this next one I'm going for a slightly more rounded tail but still wide... I surf with a board mounted shark pod so always go for a wider tail for more volume to float the extra bit of weight..

Tim do you have any pics of your squash tails ?
More importantly do the shark pods work ? i heard the guy taken in Chintsa last week was surfing with another two guys at the time and one of them had a shark pod ?
Yes Tim i know Gus we surfed together for many years at Winklespruit in our youth.

I'll take some pics of the tails for you, they're pretty old school looking but they really go well..

Bit off topic but I swear by my pod.. 50% of my sessions I'm by myself and the pod gives me a sense of security.. When Denver was attacked last week his buddy had a pod on and paddled towards him when he was being attacked and the shark swam off pretty quick. He had been bitten 3 times by then so the fact that it left when so much blood was in the water was pretty incredible.. There are some naysayers when it comes to whether they work or not and everyone's entitled to their opinion but around here they are the go.. At one spot I surf in the Kei I've been in the water with five or six mates and everyone has a pod.. not worth taking the chance when you're 3 hours drive from a decent hospital..