Kneeboard Surfing USA Community Forum

Just picked up a new board, a modified version of the every day 5'10 I desperately love. This one is also 5'10, but tweaked in a number of ways to suit more radical surfing in tighter spaces. It's not really set up to be a plank for sloppy waves, rather quicker and able to turn tighter on smaller waves.

First pic is the old board, orange board is new. My hope its that the new one surfs similarly to the first one but more turny/whippy/loose because all changes are incremental (the first board turns very nicely btw, not tight, and is a really fast board, more of a power board though that wants more face than waist high surf can offer) But maybe those incremental changes all add up to a very different board - we shall see ...

Also forgot to mention the shaper, Gaelen Fletcher in Olympia, has glassed thousands of Pearson Arrow's so he's run his hands over a lot of really functional boards. This is his third kneeboard.

Both are 5'10's

Differences:

new 17 1/4 x 22 3/4 x 16 5/8; old 17 3/4 x 23 1/8 x 16 1/2

new 2 5/8 thick; old 2 3/4

new wide point 2 inches behind center; old wide point 2 inches in front of center

new entire fin cluster set 1" farther forward, and space between lead and trailing fins reduced by 1/2"

new single concave through out, 3/8's nose and tail 1/4 center; old 1/4 nose then 3'8's+ through tail.

similar rocker profiles - new board has 2 inch tail rocker, old had 1.25. This gain is tail rocker is all in the last foot of the tail except for 1/8 inch. 1/2 inch more nose rocker, all in the tip flip.

Same 6, 6, 4 ounce patch glass

new tail built a little more for turning, old for flying down the line




New board is symmetrical - just didn't hold the camera quite right

Let us know how it surfs

The new board surfs very well. It paddles fast - equal or maybe better than my other boards, and doesn't push water at all paddling or surfing. Catches waves like crazy and gets down the line very nicely -- hasn't lost the drivey aspect of the previous boards. It's looser and quicker to rail than my other boards but very stable, predictable and neutral, sort of a meat and potatoes ride that anyone could jump on an feel at home. The others I ride as tri's, but this one I think a liked better, or at least as well, as a quad - probably linked to the fins being a little more forward (though it's not radically fins forward).

Day in and day out though it's redundant with my magic board - the magic board is a little tougher to whip around in tighter spaces but it's (for me) magic in ways that are hard to articulate. The new one is a better back up to my favorite but isn't so different that I anticipate preferring it in most conditions. It's a little less board though than my usual (only a little bit in volume more in how it surfs) so looking forward to letting a few of the locals guys catch a few waves on it and get some other impressions.