this is something when compsand was just starting out
been digging around the archives
heres his posts in quote
its funny im a bit between two places on this one
as i really wanted to go a lot more different
but i have to retain something to compare with
the board is similar to another so i have some reference
but im driven by the fact that unless you go right away from what is standard
what you do get will allways be like standard
for a long time ive given time to thinking
what if what we are riding is not the best option
i mean a surfboard is a compromize between paddeling and riding
look at the flowrider boards way different
any way this one is linked to the present standard
if this works the next will break the link
which is really where i want to go
Mike
i think that most of you have seen the post on sways by my backward version of myself
that confirmed my fears that even the interested general boardbuilding work fear any thing different
were as most of you here are embracing of the comcepts
i feel this is because you guys know that you are not limited by structural shape limitations
Well it had its first outing yesterday
conditions 2-3 foot on shore 15 to 20 knots puss crumblie fat rubbish in all not the best conditions
paddle out
straight away super comfortable with the concave deck
duck dive real easy
speed seemed ok no one else out to compare to
in general i would rate paddleing as above normal for the size of board
sitting out the back
again comfortable
your bum fits i the concave hard rail edges dont dig in anywhere
feels different to a normal board
spining round to take off
feels different to a normal board
slightly wider nose means that you need to put a bit more pressure on the front
easy to get used to
paddeling into a wave good considaring the waves
inital stand up on small fat waves
fell of the back three times
ah its different
ok next few waves once again fat puss
but getting the hang of it now
does not have any tendency to dig the rails or track
if anything it feels way looser than i thourght it would be
all these rides so far were short take off and turn run out of wave
ok next wave small face maybe two foot but went for 70 meters with six or seven little cut backs
kicked of at the end laughing this is fun
invigorated paddle back out
ive tasted it and want more
conditions are shit
wait wait
a wave comes through
face shoulder high
late take off
wooo lots speed lay into a big bottom turn
sweet straight up
crumbly foam on the lip
straight up and over that off the top back down and another big bottom turn
hay this things got four wheel drive 180 degree cut back
quick on the spot turn and back out on to the wall which has now died
turn of
cant stop laughing
had two more waves like that in the next half hour
conditions getting worse as the tide fills in
conclusion its early but this thing could be a winner
its not like riding a normal board though
definet learning curve
seems to go best when you try not to think of what you want the board to do but just consentrate on where you want to go on the wave
the best bit it sure as hell ant no dog
the next best bit
two guys in the carpark as i climb the hill
should have seen the look on there faces when they saw the board
what the
HANGING FOR THE NEXT TEST RIDE
mIKE
had another ride onit yesterday
cleaner super sucky but very short rides
full on fog,glassie i was the only one out could not see the beach or cliff at all
just mid chest to head high lumps
needless to say it was interesting
the board worked well
had about five real good waves where one again it would really light up
still cant belive how you can do foam climbs on it
on the initial drop it maybe feels like it a bit slow then its like a after burner kicksin and stays on
i mean thats the only time it feels at all slow
and considaring both times ive been out there has been no one else out
its hard to know if it is just the conditions making it feel that way
conditions yesterday made it super hard to tell where you were!!!
went down this morning
offshore glassie and about twenty five foot!!!
one thing the bay does not handle
breaking about 1 1/2 miles offshore
so we wait
iching to get it on a nice wall
Mike
no end grain
just lots of squares i did a while back
acting silly making patterns
the deck however has a perimeter panel so that no end grain is exposed to the rail edge
doing this helps with durability
yep thats the theory
had another ride on it on monday
big powerful and a bit out of control surf
had the h2 fins on
these with the increased cant and toe in seemed to make take offs hard
did a fare few faceplants
changed boards after a while
had just as many problems
conditions were hard
every one was having trouble paddeling into them
seemed that you would hang at the top then get pitched with the lip
had about five waves that felt ok on the board
may be it was a combo of me and the conditions
after all it took a full 30 mins just to get out through the shore break
Mike
Another update on this board
As i said before on the last surf i used the h2 fins
now one thing ive found with this board is that it had flashes of brilliance
but i seemed to be not making a lot of take offs i would get to the bottom them do a face plant
even though i did not seem to have diped the nose in
the other day with the h2 it was worse
at the time i put it down to the very powerfull waves and sucky conditions
now yesterday i tried some different fins
and noticed the same thing kind but not as bad , like the board was hanging up at some stage
if you got passed it the rest of the ride felt quite good
i went home and had a big think about it
the fins are mounted a lot closer to the rail than normal but with the normal 3mm toe in
i suddenly dawned on me that the fins are dragging during the drop
the inside fin is getting a negitive angle of attack
this is causing drag
which is just enough to send you over the nose because at that stage you are ready for an increase of speed
so i got another pair of fins and added 2.5mm to the front tab on the inside and sanded of the same amount on the outside
so now the fins have just under 1.8mm of toe in
took it out today in head high waves
did not do one face plant
the board had no flashes of brilliance
it was just full on brilliance
so nice off the bottom straight up and off the lip felt like my surfing had just improved ten fold
the last few days while i was trying to work out what was going on i figured that i had fully become a kook
you know the feeling one wave it all feels good the next it all goes paiir shaped
so after the first surf i went home much incoraged had lunch and went back for another
the conditions were cleaner than before and much the same size
the board felt even better
so much so that i think i can now say its a winner
i havnt enjoyed a couple of surfs that much in some time
cant wait to get it out again tomorrow
Mike
Hi Pete
I did a lot of work on fins and toe in a couple of years ago
I even developed a fully adjustable system which i made for my boards
this was posted on sways
it worked quite well and i learnt a lot doing it
I tend not to bother with it now because i belived i knew all the answers
However on this board i moved the fins a lot further outboard this changes things
It also shows that the water does flow out towards the rails under the board ,but then it flow allong the rails at the rails
so I now think that in the more standard fin position my standard setup works well
but with this board every thing is a litle different
Im just absolutly rapt that it is now going as well as it is
it now gives me the backing to go on to the next steps that i feel will also work
as Scotty would say "its a surfboard Jim, but not as we know it"
Mike
