my fin tinkerings

I just thought I would put them all together , on one thread ....

 

Dr. Jekyll, in the lab

zreshockeysticks12.jpg

zreshockeysticks21.jpg

zreshockeysticks36.jpg

 

 I rode this setup today , in head high lefts . Everyone else was catching the rights further down the beach , so ....

hi Tom !!

 

yep ,  but of course I jinxed it , posting those ...

 

 today ??

 

it's strong onshore , raining , cold ...

 

  a week more of this is forecast , too

 

  [....well, it IS WINTER , after all, just in case we thought spring had er  'sprung' ,  early ??]

 

  cheers !

 

  ben

Pretty hard to comlain about that aye. All these photos seem to make WA seem like a good place to visit.

 

http://s161.photobucket.com/albums/t207/chippy61/test%20rides/?action=view&current=vidaugust10th2012ROfromfronton.mp4

 

 

...and... 

 

today  [saturday 11th august ] ....

 

"

 
  • Effective from: Sat 11 Aug 07:11AM
  • Surf: clean 2-3ft
  • Wind: calm E
  • Weather: mild
  • Swell Direction: WSW
  • Tides: Low 04:10PM High 05:17AM
  • Rating: 6/10

Light east winds making for almost glassy like conditions. The swell is slightly more west today and we have 2 foot waves with the odd bigger set around. 10 or so guys out at Scarborough at this early stage "

 

 

.....it could be 'okay', too , hopefully ?  There are some slightly less 'straight' banks , 'up the beach', a bit ...

 

:)

 

fun fun FUN !!

 

http://s161.photobucket.com/albums/t207/chippy61/test%20rides/?action=view&current=vidaugust10th2012ROMAKESONETUBEDSORTA.mp4

Firstly , a bit about the 'Bushfire Fish " board...

16 1/2" n x 5'7 [deck , 5'8 bottom measurement] x 21 1/2" [yes , it WAS a stripped and reshaped WIDE kneeboard!] x c. 2 1/2" x 17 1/2" [!!] tail . 9" pod , 3" 'butt crack'

fins ...

          sideys... M 7 type sideys ,  at 11" up ...4 1/2" base x 4 3/4" depth , c. 2" rake

          back fin....at 6 1/4" up [!] ..4" base x 4 7/8" depth , c 1 1/2" rake

 [from rear of side fins to front of back fin = 1/2" ?!]

 

Rowan ...

5'8 x 65 kilograms [multiply by 2.2 , to get 'lbs' ]

... low centre of gravity , wide stance , brought up on thrusters , 'front foot' surfer [if there IS such a thing , really ? ]

  He said that today's fin setup was his favourite , so far .

' IF 'it gets bigger and more hollow than today , although he is also light , we think we will try the slightly larger Occy template , for all THREE fins , to hold in such a wide tail [he is keen to jam it off the bottom and hit the lip quite square ...we shall see , eh ?]. Bigger swell is forecast this week , we will just wait for the winds to be favourable with / after it !

 GOPR6141.jpg

   today's testing ground ...waist to chest high , with the 'occassional bigger one' ...

zresaugust10th201228.jpg

peaky , fun !! 

 A beautiful , glassy day ...5 knots of wind , maximum , all day .

 

....A REALLY nice winter's day !  [I had a fun surf this morning , on the high tide , on my 9'4 'Cooloola' mal , with the 'gull wing' back fin , and two smallish homemade sideys . The gullwing fin has now been returned to Ross / 'P-Co' !]

Rowan is putting the 'Bushfire Fish' to good use , so I'm STOKED !!

zresroaugust10th20122.jpg

a frother ...[like him !]

zresroaugust10th20121.jpg

 however , MOST were like THIS ....

zresroaugust10th2012.jpg

 

  ....to be continued ....

 

 

                                                                          

...not ridden with all FOUR yet , but hopefully soon . Just waiting  / need the wind / swell / tide / crowd factor [lack of !] to co-operate , and we're on  !

 (I still want to ride the Walden 'CD4's setup pictured in the post above , at some stage , too ... )

august2012hockeys14.jpg

august2012hockeys77.jpg

august2012hockeys17.jpg

august2012hockeys11.jpg

" ....hockey 1 , hockey 2 , hockey 3 , hockey FOUR ! ...."

 

 These were inspired by Josh Dowling [aka: "speedneedle" here ]....he sent me the templates for these , following his recent templating of the two "resin swirl " panels I had sent him ? a year or more ? ago ...

zreswalden2.jpg

zreswalden5.jpg

walden6.jpg

walden11.jpg

walden9.jpg

walden11.jpg

you're WELCOME , huck !

 

  hope it motivates OTHERS to make some and post photos !

 

  cheers

 

  ben

nice pictures, interesting fin work, thanks for sharing!

again , he also took out his Colin Earle 'truster' , with the swirled side fins that I gave him , last year ....

august3rd2012roscamera26.jpg

august3rd2012roscamera24-1.jpg

august3rd2012roscamera7.jpg

august3rd2012roscameraro5-1.jpg

august3rd2012roscamera32.jpg

august3rd2012roscamera33.jpg

august3rd2012roscamera34.jpg

august3rd2012roscameraro9-1.jpg

august3rd2012roswcamera29-2.jpg

ha !  Probably worth TRYING , though ...why NOT, eh ?  "speeeed to burrrrnnnn , maaaan ! "  :)

august3rd2012roswcameraro9-1.jpg

 

  I reckon he might have to try this board with a 'widowmaker'-type  setup next , as he also doesn't ride single fins much at all ....

 cheers !

   ben

friday , august 3rd , pm / evening session . The 'Bushfire Fish' , with large 'hockey sticks' back SIDE fins , and smaller conventional front side fins [all carbon fibre inlay , also ]

This was the first time Rowan has ever ridden a quad !

august3rd2012roscameraro6.jpg

august3rd2012roswcamera126.jpg

august3rd2012roswcameraro5.jpg

" paddled okay for a small board , it felt very buoyant ! "  was his first impression , today and the other day....

august3rd2012roscameraresro4.jpg

he sat on the fatter [but empty !] inside section for a while , just to get a feel for what the four fins would do ...

 august3rd2012roswcameraresro0.jpg

august3rd2012roscamerabushfirefishseq1.jpg

august3rd2012bushfirefishseq2.jpg

before venturing 'out the back'...

the temptation to attempt a noseride on a wide-nosed board is always there  ! ... [glad it's not just ME , after all ?]

http://s161.photobucket.com/albums/t207/chippy61/test%20rides/?action=view&current=vidaugust3rd2012ROWAN2BUSHFIREFISHNOSETRIMREO.mp4

 

....And , a  fullish left [backhand] ....

http://s161.photobucket.com/albums/t207/chippy61/test%20rides/?action=view&current=vidaugust3rd2012ROWAN1BUSHFIREFISHLEFT.mp4

I have ten different templates of hockey stick fins to try out , so far.

 

  Previous ones I tried [which I still have ] ,

 

were the fcs G10 material M7 template , which I modified into a small hockey stick like tip.

 

I couldn't feel MUCH difference , compared to the 'normal' template , so the next lot have larger hockey stick 'heads?' on them , inspired by 'speedneedle's templates , that he very kindly sent me [THANKS , Josh , cheers mate !! * ]

 

  I'm figuring I may be able to feel more 'grab' / 'bite' , when turning these larger 'headed' ones . I was watching some dvd footage recently of young dan thompson , riding his homemade  carbon fibre [ with huuge twinnies !] twin fin , in some quality vicco , and also , lennox surf [his home break , poor lad ! :) ]

He also rides them as quads , and as thrusters [yes , I DO  have a couple of [small] double-foiled BACK hockeys [again , they are cutdowns ...this time from glasson thruster side fins]

 

.....  the tinkering , to be continued ...

 

* Josh calls them mini "hatchet "  fins , which I guess they ARE a kinda similar template , come to think of it

 

  cheers !

 

  ben

carbon fibre quad setup ....

zresbushfirefishwithcfhockeysaug1st201221.jpg

zresbushfirefishwithcfhockeysaug1st201215.jpg

zresbushfirefishwithcfhockeysaug1st201216.jpg

zresbushfirefishwithcfhockeysaug1st201218.jpg

 

rowan has never surfed a quad . Neither has big Daz , so if I can't paddle the bushfire any more [?  not sure ...only one way to find out , I guess ...] , another mate , Mike  [33 years younger than me ]  might have to give it a go , I reckon ! I've seen photos of him standing up on a boogie board [yes!] , so I know he could do it !

 

Also , I wasn't 100 % happy with the carbon fibre hockeys , first post on this thread , so I further modified them ...

before , and after [left , and right ] ....

zresjuly30and31st20124.jpg

 

It 'could' be interesting to try these as a quad setup , combined with the large orangey red / carbon hockeys ...probably in the 6'6 walden , though, as I feel these would be too much fin area on the 5'8 bushy ... (it's only a li'l feller , after all !!)

 

  cheers ! 

   ben

 From about  ? June 2006 ? , when I first rode the "Bushfire Fish"  , as a FIVE finner ...

72427_1662874533135_1275361682_31819585_2393624_n.jpg

Afamilyshots1975to70.jpg

I'm keen to revisit it [hopefully] soon , as a thruster-type setup...

zresbushfirefishjuly20126.jpg

zresbushfirefishjuly201227.jpg

zresbushfirefishjuly201222.jpg

zresbushfirefishjuly201219.jpg

zresbushfirefishjuly201228.jpg

zresbushfirefishjuly20120.jpg

 

I'd like my mate Daz to give it a go , sometime , as he is currently riding one of those little stubby thruster things , the JS 'pier pony' model , that seem to be all the rage at the moment since the days when kelly did the curren [riding short fat boards in bigger waves]....

 

 Over the last six years , the 'Bushy' has also been ridden as ....

a quad , a twin fin , a twin keel , a single fin , an inline single fin , a widowmaker , twinny with trailer , and 5 +1 setup.

 

For those wondering .... the finbox is so enormous , because this board was made from a stripped 1970s Tony Hardy kneeboard , a slab. [THAT is the original finbox that was in the kneelo, in other words ]

  cheers !

   ben

I rode this setup today , in head high lefts . Everyone else was catching the rights further down the beach , so …

 

fools  hahaha

1986 ....

too much fin , too little board .....and , NO shaping skills whatsoever !

1986maybe.jpg

hi Tom !

 

  well , part of me wanted to tell them

 

" hey guys , it's much better over here !"

 

 ..but , you know how it goes , though , eh ?! .....

 

  :)

 

 " serious business "   hahahaha

2012february4th.jpg

feb19201211r.jpg

 

These are 'glo' [in the dark]  twinnys , and a 'nubster' [?] rear stabiliser , from 'Nocean's templates he sent me ,  to make him the same [only his were brown fabric inlay , he also sent the fabric , thanks , Noe !]

waldensetsoffinssetups3.jpg

[this setup I REALLY enjoyed , just enough back finlet to help the fat arse tail hold in a bit ....a fun small wave summer alternative to my mal ]

 

whereas ...

 

THIS thing ?

 

  hmmm.... Definately not my greatest moment in history  ha

 

  It was made at hicksy's shed , c. 2005 ... and , snapped after only three waves ....

 

  stringerless. [yep ,  that line was drawn on ?!]

The "board" was spraypainted by his three daughters , who were  about ? 7 years old or so , at the time ....

vomitbenzerboard1_NEW.jpg

 This is a frame grab of video I shot of Shane , the irish coloured side fins I made him are just visible . He now lives near noosa ...

boardsandfinsirishh2s.jpg

BLOG5793.jpg

my brother , pointing to his  board [the middle girl's] , and my fins [the closest girl's . I had walked past this poster for probably about a year . When Simon visited , he pointed the fins out to me.

 Ted Grambeau  took the shot. .Simon  assists him sometimes , if Ted calls him up for the yearly Rip Curl photo shoots.

simonsjunetrip20115.jpg

 Frank's 1970s "Comet" swallowtail...

FranksComet2.jpg

FrankandtheComet3.jpg

FrankandtheComet4.jpg