I had this blank machine cut 5 years ago. Cut it when I thought I could cut it in bigger waves. Not so sure now.
Got around to having it finished by my friend Stump. Tested some new lam techniques. Stringerless 7'0" bamboo top and bottom, 2x6oz top and bottom, diagonal cloth layup, epoxy bagged. 7lb
It's 23.5" wide, 2.5" thick. There are no straight edges in rail or rocker. 16.5" nose and tail.
It's a blade. The rails are 1" thick at 1" in. This is a design feature from my 6'0" boards. It makes the boards harder to learn to ride, especially when the lip is smashing on the inside rail, but more solid once you have rail finesse
The tail is as thin as I could make it and still have foam. This facilitates stall turns, late drops and general control.
Rode the board in some small waves and could actually turn it and have fun. Made my short boards feel finless when I swapped back.
Rode this joint on the Shipwreck Coast on Sunday. These were the first waves of consequence I've surfed in some time, so I was verrry careful (nothing to do with the size and power, shallow reef, waves crashing over the ledge, etc!). I had four waves in the hour I had available, which was about the same as the local out there. The waves were in the 8-10' range (those cliffs are 10m (35ft) high, to help with scale). Board was fast, got into waves early enough to fade back in take off, and generally gave me confidence in the design principles (i'e' no weird hangups, difficult paddling into waves, rail catches or stalls). A better (or more foolhardy) surfer would have taken it on with a 5'10" or something (props to Bob), like I used to in the 70's, but I think there's something to be learned for short kneeboards by riding long ones in appropriate conditions.
In the foreground (to the right of the white rock) is the staircase I climbed to get out after paddling into the bay
A 7'0" is not everyone's cup of tea, but they are thin on the ground, so I thought I'd share this one.
The last 2 i made were 6'7" x 23" and maui's was 3" thick cause he's 95-100kg and he surfed his in Hawaii a couple of weeks back in 3m surf and absolutely loved it. 
