Friar Tuck & Peter Ware

Peter Ware · Post by **Peter Ware** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 3:30 pm

just put a picture of an early FT by John. This board was with a fin called a whiptail. The idea of the fin was to give you more drive off the bottom turn. This design was just before the twin fin. Kneeboarders were starting to push the limits and finding new directions as the sport was growing. I will try and download the article on the fin by John which was in Tracks Mag.

crox · Post by **crox** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 11:15 pm

Link to the above -

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Post by **joe** » Thu Aug 08, 2013 12:49 pm

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Bryn · Post by **Bryn** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 1:52 am

Stunning board! I have a 1977 twin with fluted wings shapes by John that I ride quite regularly and what amazed me most when I got it is just how contemporary it actually is particularly in the foil through the tail. Same with this board, that foil through the back is just beautiful!

Fantastic to see you on here Peter, look forward to seeing and hearing more!

Peter Ware · Post by **Peter Ware** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 5:24 am

Picture of John driving of the bottom at Little Avalon. John was a great free surfer who never enjoyed contests. He was a great designer and inventor. He was a perfectionist in everything he did. His first love was photography and cinematography. He designed aquaware water housings for camera's movie and still and was always in the water with his cameras. He worked at Henri surfboards in the early seventies while I was assistant manager at Barry Bennetts. He was a spray artist spraying murals on boards. He made a few kneeboards with the Henri logo before I opened up FT.

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Post by **joe** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 7:01 am

Great conversation. Love all of the history. Thanks for sharing.

FYI: You can embedded images from the album in your posts using the following code.

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crox · Post by **crox** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 7:58 am

Bryn wrote:Stunning board! I have a 1977 twin with fluted wings shapes by John that I ride quite regularly and what amazed me most when I got it is just how contemporary it actually is particularly in the foil through the tail. Same with this board, that foil through the back is just beautiful!

And that is a contemporary bottom turn too!

Keep digging out the photos Peter and more history please

Peter Ware · Post by **Peter Ware** » Sat Aug 10, 2013 3:27 am

Contemporary bottom turn ???????

The board was 5' 6" rounded diamond tail single fin with a whiptail fin for drive. The bottom turn was off the front rail with full drive and power. the centre of gravity was low and the torque was driven by John's body. leaning into the wave and using your hand as a pivot instead of your fins. On a surfboard Larry Burtleman did the same with his lay back cut backs using his hand as a pivot.
Todays surfer - kneeboarder pivots off the tail and breaks away on the turn losing power.
Twin fins give you rail to rail turns A thruster gives you a pivot point of the tail to turn without the drive off the rail, allows for more margin of error. A four fin gives you rail to rail turn and with the fin at the back gives you less slide in your turns. A four fin with the small fin in front on the rail give you a pivot to excelerate your turn and less margin of error. Their is a fine line between maximum performance and bogging your rail.
Their was always a point on a four with the small fin in front on the rail where the board excelerated and the rider berried a rail. The board was faster than the riders ability to handle it but the feeling was unbelievable.
Todays four has the small fin behind and is easy to handle. I am at present riding one that David shaped me. It is a great board but very safe. I miss the unexpected feeling that I always had with the small fin in front. At 63 it is time that I played it safe.

crox · Post by **crox** » Sat Aug 10, 2013 4:31 am

Quote -

"The bottom turn was off the front rail with full drive and power. the centre of gravity was low and the torque was driven by John's body"

Perhaps then, I should say timeless....because the description you give is as relevant today as it was back then....and if you look at a SF bottom turn that is it! Simply the benchmark of good power surfing....it is only by keeping low & engaging the front rail that you can drive through a turn. Perhaps as much to do with the approach of the rider as the style of board.

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My comment was more to say, that the years have passed & that good style, form & function [shown in that shot of John] still looks a good now as it did back then.

Do you still own boards from the 70s?

Peter Ware · Post by **Peter Ware** » Sat Aug 10, 2013 6:54 am

Of the front rail is the difference. Today's turns of of thrusters are a stall with the rider pivoting of the back of the board in a stall. The angle of the board is facing up stalling your turn. Simon's bottom turn is not in a full arc.
To gain maximum speed your board has to be flat.
The widest point on todays boards are behind half way with riders riding further back over their fins. The old era was using your fins behind you driving off the front rail with the widest point forward of half way.
I personally do not have any boards from the 70's. David has them in the FT factory.
Great shot of Simon. He is a unbelievable surfer.

Peter Ware · Post by **Peter Ware** » Sat Aug 10, 2013 7:04 am

Whiptail article and outline of two mid 70's boards & first twin fin board made at FT's in Surfing World add

crox · Post by **crox** » Sat Aug 10, 2013 9:07 am

I must get a go on Bryn's board to refresh my memory of how they rode. What you describe is a fast sweeping bottom turn, with lots of run...was it the desire to surf more vertically that shifted the wide point behind center & increased rockers? Did you go down that route at all? Do you feel that those early designs were better than today's shapes or just superior at certain things?
What year was that first twin fin advert?
Great Whiptail article....would love to try something like that.

Peter Ware · Post by **Peter Ware** » Sat Aug 10, 2013 5:58 pm

Their is no write or wrong design. Each surfer surfs a board to his or her requirements. a good shaper can do that. I shaped boards for people all over the world. Beach breaks - reef - long walls - tubes - big - small waves - lightweight - heavy young - fit - unfit - full on surfer - recreational surfer etc.
The early designs were based on carving a wave. Clean lines no breakaway. off the bottom of the top rail to rail. Not contest orientated.
The first twin fin add was 1976. Turning of the front rail. Rail to rail surfing. Your weight was further forward knees apart transferring rail to rail turns to pick up speed for your re-entry. The more speed the more vertical the re-entry.
I surfed in Newcastle when I used to deliver FT"s to the shop with a great mate Sam Egan. Luke Egans dad. Their were two main surf shops in Newcastle. Egans and Richards. A hawian by the name of Ben Apia who was sponsored by Bennetts came to Australia with a 6' surfboard bullnose, nose riding twin fin in the early seventies. I was working at Barry Bennetts and had the pleasure of meeting him there and talking designs. A young surfer from Newcastle who's dad was a mate of Barry Bennett started to ride the twin fin and the rest was history. His name Mark Richards. The son of Ray Richards who owned the surf shop in Newcastle. The wounded seagull.

analbirth · Post by **analbirth** » Sat Aug 10, 2013 7:08 pm

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Peter, here's one of mine very similar to the FT i got it shaped by Don Cooke around 79/80 bagged by Peter Burford, same WP forward D/F/Pin. 5'6 x 22 3/4 i love this board but haven't surfed it for a while. Last time i tried it felt so foreign i kept ploughing the nose on my bottom turns, took a while to change back into a single fin mind set that your talking about

Post by **joe** » Sat Aug 10, 2013 9:20 pm

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