Mega Platter Redux

[skiff]

BG, No, these are all about the same as far as thickness..........maybe 3.0 to 3.25"..? In the riding of these things, I'm not sure the thickness is much of a ride-determinant? In the end, it seems to all come back to the width; with that 29" width, everything else (design wise...) seems to fall in place. That really is the key to this design and what kind of sets it apart. All of the last 8 or so boards ( over maybe 7 years.... ) have had the same width. That isn't a dimension that I've begun playing with just yet................................but who knows, maybe down the road.

[bgreen]

Skiff,

Thanks. I'm sure there are a lot of factors at play. I thought your earlier boards might have been thinner - looks like they just wider.

Regards

Bob

[skiff]

Bob, No, I think all the last group of boards were all very similar in thickness, and all had the same 6-3 x 29" template. The biggest thing I've been playing around with lately is fins. And though I came to love my big Greenough paddle fin for what it would do, and my more traditional Lis-fish twin rudders for their attributes, I'm convinced at this stage that all forward progress will be made with quad fins, so that's the current direction I'll be exploring...

[John Mellor]

Just for reference I tried one of Skiff's old 6'3" X 29" models recently. I'm 58, weigh about 210 lbs and am 6' tall. It did feel like a lot of board but it made for dreamy wave catching ability and ability to make it over flat spots in the wave, etc. With twin keels mounted back near the corners, it had plenty of hold on any of the waves I caught including one or two where I was caught under the falling lip. The same fin setup admittedly made for some stiffness when trying to cutback. Unfortunately, they are glassed on so adjustements are not possible without some major surgery.

I've shaped a number of boards for me and my friends and duckdiving has never been a design consideration. Ever. With a bigger board, the mobility factor kicks in and makes it easier to maneuver around in the lineup. On an occasion or two when waves broke outside of me I simply turned turtle like I do when riding my longboard. I rode the bellyboard all day and wore a leash but never needed it. Has I been on a bellyboard of conventional dimensions, I likely would have been caught inside a lot more and been forced to make use of limited flotation to perform many of the eagerly anticipated 'duckdive maneuvers.' HAHA - not really.

After the first couple of waves I rode, it was easy to see the validity of the basic design. I'm not saying it's for everybody nor do I recommend any other specific design details to anyone. In all honesty, the Boogie board designs are not a bad place to start if one isn't sure of general size and volume. For someone with lots of experience and who has done some experimenting, the answer is obvious... ride what you like.

Not happy with volume? Go bigger. Go smaller. Whatever floats YOUR boat!

Another option for a guy wanting some float beyond what's generally available... Bully Boards by Wahoo. Those are 32" wide, mega thick and designed to support the biggest of the big! The local beachboys at Makaha can't be too far off.

[bgreen]

I had a bit of time to reflect on this as I was getting hammered trying to unsuccessfully paddle out at at a solid pointbreak recently. I scrapped out on the second attempt, but it is clear a board with more float would have got me out when there were brief lulls, quicker. However, I was also pleased I had a lower volume board when getting through some sneaker sets. Guys on standup boards do breeze by when there is escalator strength currents and the soapy leftovers can be hard to get traction in. However, the other side of the coin is that it can be handy, especially when crowded to put yourself more into the impact zone to pick up waves the more bouyant would cop a hammering from. It also depends on what the consequences of getting caught inside are. Some waves are better dealt with through duckdiving. As I was getting worked, I regretted not having my less bouyant nofin. It's all a trade-off and relative to the waves you are surfing. I look forward to seeing more about where Jeff's designs are heading.

Bob

P1100873 (500 x 375) (300 x 225).jpg (15.4 KiB) Viewed 4344 times

[skiff]

For sure, everybody has a different kind of scene that they're participating in, their skill level, where they surf, what kinds of waves do they normally ride? All of that and more will determine what type of surf craft seems to work best, or barring that, what seems to be the most fun (*no matter how it's working...). I'm probably kind of 'stalled out' on this design iteration for a bit; it's just working too well for what I need/desire to want to make any additional changes at this point?

Here's a few shots from two days ago.

[rodndtube]

Jeff, thanks for the photo content. Great! Positive commentary as well

[bgreen]

Skipp,

I look forward to more photos of your boards in action. Stalled dsign or happy where you are. I'm still on a quest.

Bob

[skiff]

More fun times from the land of width, double concaves, and rolled bottoms!

[skiff]

All good, Summertime stuff. More souths on the way, it's been a stellar Spring and Summer is off to a strong start...

[skiff]

Thought I'd add on to this existing thread.............Just took delivery of a new L41 quad bellyboard/paipo/prone surfing tool; same basic genre as my previous efforts. The designer of these boards uses a computer so it's very easy to continue to progress along a chosen design paradigm.........with the computer you know that what you WANT to get changed will, but the rest of it will stay the same.

The basic board is 6'3" long, 29" wide, with a Futures Fin system being used and the fins being 'Vernors'. It's all EPS foam with epoxy glassing by the Stretch glass factory in Santa Cruz, California. I hate wax so have had Kneelo Cove (*Costa Mesa, CA) fashion up a custom rubber traction pad for the deck. KC builds a lot of the pads for the world wide kneelo crowd, and I love getting the traction without having to smear the petrochemical goo on the deck to achieve it.

On this board, I requested the following changes- Make the two huge concaves a bit deeper (*to hopefully rev up the 'engine' that drives this board...), take out half the tail rocker (*to try and increase straight line trim speed...), move the fin cluster forward (*to loosen the board up), and increase the vee in the middle of the board, which is actually the 'ridge' between the two big concaves (*to make going 'rail to rail' easier on this 29" wide board...).

It's all pretty brand new for me? I got some great waves the first session on it, and it's running good, but it'll be a bit until I can really suss it out. But with these changes being relatively 'small' in nature, I expect it'll ride 'mostly' the same, which is always a confidence builder.

Some photos-

[skiff]

A few more photos-

[skiff]

First session...

[bgreen]

Skiff,

What is happening in the top (bigger) of the three photos - are you in the flats riding this wave or about to get hammered? If you are about to get hit by this wave (though it could be someone else) what's the strategy with your wide board?

Good to see that the experimentation continues.

Bob

[skiff]

Bob,

Well, that isn't me in that first photo, but yes, that swing-wide set caught ALL of us inside, and yes, I did get hammered. Remember that at 75 liters of floatation, this thing has a lot more float than even your typical 9-0 longboard, so one of the aspects of riding it is that you are NOT going to duck-dive it in surf much over 5'? But no matter, that's what God invented leashes for, so it's not a big deal. Even though it IS so floaty..............for some reason it pulls through waves (when ditched) much, much easier than any longboard I ever used to have? It may have something to do with the reduction in length..?

At any rate, Merry Christmas to all and here's to a fantastic New Year's...!

[bgreen]

Skiff,

Thanks. Nice looking waves. I see Rod has posted an addendum (to your interview) featuring your latest photos and text.
I'm looking forward to 2014 and more waves, including some in your part of the world. All the best for 2014.

Bob

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