stemple wrote:P.S. I found that some width in nose is really helpful at getting into waves and prevents pearling. Quadfin's board is interesting but I think I would have abit of trouble riding it.
Hell..I have trouble riding it Stemple! The board is very close to Hart's 2 stage I think. With over 3" of nose lift it is almost imposible to pearl. Locked into the concave well near the rear of the board you simply can not put enough forward lean into the board to sink the nose under normal condtions. My flat section is very small and goes right into the tail kick where the rear fins don't come into play much until I kick back on them. Again, I don't ride it like I did conventional boards. More speed pumps down the line and release/unrelease. It sure wants to follow the tail on steep drops as well but I have learned to compensate and enjoy that little quirk.
Headed to PR in a couple of weeks and will hook up with Ivandill and hopefully try his Parkes.
Stemple and Ler my boards will be at the Nov. event and are there to be ridden, minor deposit and wavor release of course.
Hart I can't see going back to any twin fin configuration based exactly on your explanation of drive through the rail versus flat twisty turning. My philosophy has always been if you can feel the board underneath you it's too big. I'm 5' 11'' at 190, the boards I described earlier are simular in bottom design and plan shape, but the small wave board is a tad thicker and has a boxier rail design. The bolder rail pops out of the turn sooner which is good on weaker flatter waves. For hallow and steep I prefer a sharper rail that cuts into the turn a little deeper and sets a good edge in the face. Liston to me I sound like I'm out there every day, what a kook. Jon
The bottom shot looks great..concaves don't have to jump out at you to work..they just have to be there..I like the rail-roll of the bottom too, nice and forgiving.
I gotta say though that I think the gunny nose (planshape) is a result of the fin-placement..the centre fin seems only inches off its tail. Stand-up thrusters in Sydney position the trailing edge of the centre fin 3.25" up..but they have a thumping big back foot that they can plant at any time to get a reaction..whereas we kneeboarders don't.
I think the reason we surf longer boards in OZ (and I'm concious of Ler's post here) is that our fins are certainly way further forward..we can "afford" more length. If you went longer without adjusting your fins, perhaps it would all feel too tight..I don't know.
One last thing about length also..Length is proportionate to curve. The curves that I surfed with as a kid on my 5'7"s do not exist any more..the bottoms were so straight! Modern bottom curves allow more length without penalty..I don't want to "feel" my board either.
Consider this: A 5'7" straight bottom is standing vertically upright..Its true length (minus the curve) means it stands only (say) 5'5"-5'6" off the ground. I know stand my 6 footer next to it. Given the radical differences of 30 years of bottom curve, the arithmetic difference between the true lengths of both boards WILL NOT BE 6'0" MINUS 5'7"..IT WILL BE LESS..It will be proportionate to curve and therefore almost impossible to compare one with the other..but I know this, my 6 footer will not stand foot tall.
Having said all that, I don't wear flippers (not too many guys on the Northern Beaches do) and perhaps I'm searching for a little extra paddle in there somewhere too!
Hi Hart, I think you made a really good point. I were fins, if I didn't I would have a bigger board, maybe even a 6 footer. Theres no way to say a board that big doesn't work. The best kneelo's in the world are destroying waves on the bigger boards. I live were the waves very rarely get big, so I really like a smaller board, kinda small waves means small board theory. Also I get a board about every 2 years, so I'm very scared to stuck with a new design I may not like. Hope all is well on your side of the world. Later.
Hows it going mate? You know all the guys you refer to all have at least one dedicated shortboard. Nov just got a 5' 8" and he's the size of Stempo.
Simon has a 5' 9" Swallow (5" pod) but also has a seven-o.
You spoke of guys riding Pipe on 5' 7"s...all the early guys only rode one board hey? I saw Crawford surf easy 10-12 foot DY Point on his 5' 6'' Slab..awesome to see. (and I gotta mention Roy Lentz..Gecko was out as well).
I think its simply a modern approach to our equipment that lets us tune our boards to the waves we ride..and its all good!
John I used to work at Freeline in a limited nature. And John and I will both tell you that are boards are way different from one another. But having said that I have no dought that our shapes influenced one another. Jon
Jury is still out!! I just got my blast stubb vector quad today. I have a tri, but can't say I have been super impressed with it. I tend not surf top to bottom all that much so quads seem better for me now but I will let you know as get to ride my tri more often this fall. I have only had about four sessions on it and most of those have been less than optimal conditions for it. It supposed to really crank this weekend 10'@ 14-17 seconds with a 1200 mile fetch. OB be will have serious surf, easily in the DOH zone and that is starting to push my limits for that break. check this cam sat or sun if your interested;
How do you describe a stubb vector? (Pardon the OZ ignorance).
You say you don't surf top to bottom..that suits quads hey? You might be honing in on that Holy Grail.
Thanks for the link..this thing never ceases to amaze me..it is literally only my first month or so on the internet and it has stolen my interest..just ask my wife!
Thanks for the link..this thing never ceases to amaze me..it is literally only my first month or so on the internet and it has stolen my interest..just ask my wife!
Regards, quickly from OZ
Tread lightly, hart, and don't forget to spend plenty of quality time with the missus. There's way too much information on the internet than can be absorbed in one lifetime, and many distractions that become intoxicatingly addictive to neophytes! LOL! Many a broken marriage because of the damn thing.
can't live with it, can't live without it (so it seems sometimes!)
dm
The stubb is 5'11 24" wide lots of foam with a squash tail. Looks kinda like me. Check the blast web site for some photos in his design section. Couldn't ride it today was about 8 foot slightly lumpy. there were some odd ball 10' sets as well. Currents were a bit stiff. I was riding my parkes 6'0" quad. Mixed bag got a few good ones, got worked a few times as well.
Stemple, what a description..of the board I mean..and I'll check his site
DarcyM, you sent me to the dictionary..but the girls in my life know my greatest weeknesses..just mention the word kneesomething and listen for the collective sighs..oops there it is again, did you hear it?
