To flex tail it or not flex tail it?

[analbirth]

Just about to glass this board [ carbon /innegra/ epoxy] who reckons i should put an 8" flex tail on it? i'm 75% for it. AB

album_showpage.php?pic_id=22599

[RMcKnee]

Looks fine as it is AB. Flextail would be an afterthought. Design one from scratch and your volume distribution will be pretty different, no?

Nice looking piece of work as it is.

[womble]

AB … nice shape … not sure about putting a flextail on that tail plan … are you going to bring it up around the tail and into the hip section … if so wouldn't that neutralise the whole pulled in swallow tail outline … my first kneeboard was of PC's old Crozier flextails … it was a weapon … can't believe I ever sold it … go the flex … but maybe not on this one.

[RMcKnee]

AB, I'm with Womble on this. My last flextail was 15" corner to corner. Unreal board, but a weapon indeed.

Make yourself some Kevlar shinguards at the same time.

[DYdamo]

Make yourself some Kevlar shinguards at the same time.

I'll back up Mcknee on that
got the scars to prove it........
also a nice one on my forearm(protecting my head) bout 15 stitches worth..........fantastic ride, but there's a price to pay........sometimes....

[analbirth]

Been there, had a flex tail in the 70's i think it was, late any way the thing with flex tails is most people think of them as a square tail or similar they don't have to have heaps of area to work i was looking at a pin flex stand up the other day single fin too probably worth a small fortune. Went like a rocket so he said. Also the blank i'm using is eps and no stringer so it would just be an additional extension of the flex in the board which is a 6' er as well made for medium to larger point waves and i left a bit extra meat in it to compensate for the loss of foam in the tail. My gut feeling is it would work.

AB

[mark ricketts]

I'm with the others that flex is a great tool but you can go a flatter tail rocker - keeps the speed and reach but then you get the change in rail line when you lean back or the water up the face twists some torque into it.

by the way, flextails don't have to be dangerous. Mitchell Rae (Outer Island) - the master of flex - has been laminating some closed cell foam on the top of the carbon flex panels for a decade. it maintains the rail foil and flotation but also blunts the flex "blade". check out his website.

My Outer Island is a decade old and the flextail is still in perfect condition which is more than I can say for the rest of the board.

Mitchell doesn't go the old wide flex panel but simply incorporates it into his standard outlines, including pintails.

the idea of a semi-flexy epoxy seque-ing into a flextail is just wicked. if they weren't so bloody expensive, i wouldn't ride anything else over 4 ft.

so AB - sort out the quirks and i'll be in line.

[analbirth]

Mark, your dead right about those outer islands, another kneelo Ken Horton from sydney was living up the goldy a while back he used to surf outer island flex tails they were 6' ish x around 20" if i remember correctly he pretty much only surfed reef breaks o/s loved em. It's weird you mention that about keeping some foam in the flex area as i was planning to do something similar. I'll let you know how i get on and the cost is only going to be about $50 more than my std's AB

[Damien o]

I got Mitchell to build me a kneeboard a couple of years ago before i started building spoons. It is a great board ... sensational over 4'. sned me a pm with your email address and I will send some pics cheers Damien

[RMcKnee]

I can't remember who said "those who refuse to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it", but OK, I'll take notice after reading Mark's comments.
Mitchell Rae's approach definitely makes a lot of sense.
Will this board be available for trials by any chance?

[womble]

So once again I will digress
and cause the loonies some distress
no flippers here or length of board
no living dead or zombie horde
but digging up the dead we are
with this flextail repertoire
now PC was the man for sure
with that business shirt he wore
underneath the old wetsuit
and on the flex he was astute
he rode that board with a flextail
and DY point the man did nail
so leaving PC ... with great respect
a man who lived with no regrets
we move on now to Mitchell Rae
a shaper who its said they say
is equal to the best around
even though he's underground
and flex he do and flex he does
to those in the know it is a buzz
long live the men who stand apart
and experiment in the fine arts
look to the future for more to come
who march to the beat of their own drum.

[ss54]

AMEN. . . .Womble
Very well put. . . .

[KenM]

I can't remember who said "those who refuse to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it"

George Santayana, who also said "Wisdom comes by disillusionment."

[analbirth]

It's interesting how i'm getting a few of poo poo's about this.
To me this is a logical progression of the longitudinal flex of these boards and they do flex which explains their durability and longevity as well as their speed so to build a bit extra in the tail can't fugging hurt can it. And as one nay sayer convert put it, "will this board be available for trials?" well It could be available for sale then you can trial it all you want, but only after i've had a turn

[ss54]

AB,
I'd shape a board from the get-go with a flex tail in mind.
Looking at the shape of the tail of that board,I'd avoid a flex tail for 2 reasons.

1.the curved outline wouldn't be required as the bending of the tail in a turn would give you the manouverability you're after with that curve in your "solid" board.Plus a wider/straighter outline would give you more drive.

2.the amount of tail rocker in a flex tail should be a lot less than a "solid" board.My spoons have NIL tail rocker for 36",up the board.The flex creates the rocker.(the harder you turn,the more rocker you create)