OK, cool, thank you. I like the look and description, I'd be willing to try it if I can swing it budget wise, cost is a bit of an issue with this stuff.
Since a lot of my customers are 50+, I've built a lot of non-traditional shapes. This one is an 8-0 x 22-3/4" x 3" semi-fish tail, but more like a swallow tail egg. EPS/epoxy construction. The owner is a regular at Church in San O, and raves about this board's performance. Action shot was taken a couple of weeks ago,
woohoo, thanks tomas! That happens to be a pretty favored stretch of coast for me, great to see it in your pics, and nice "outside the box" boards. The turn on that 8 footer is awesome, very fish-y! Congrats on all counts.
Finally done, but...there were some "issues". Blank seemed to absorb resin and swell in spots. Blew some bubbles into the lamination which had to be "fixed" with pinlines on the bottom. Stringer has a "shadow" and I'm not sure why. But I really like the shape, and the weight and volume seems about what I was looking for. Could be a real wave-catcher...Finished dims: 8'0" 14" x 22-3/8" x 14-5/8" 3-1/4" 63L 11lbs. Triple 4oz deck + double 4oz bottom.
BTW Huck, I think your photo-stand palm tree was taken by the last swell!!
It sure is a beauty, love the understated color scheme, classy! When you said creme, right away I thought red pin line, so stoked to see you went with red! Its got a lean mean wave catching machine look to it, hope it follows through in performance, feel pretty confident it will. Following ride report, I may have to make the Huck version! Really like the pulled in nose. How much rocker?
absorb resin I could live with, but swelling is a definite problem, weird! If the other problem could be fixed with pin lines, couldn'ta been too bad, and kudos for creative coverup, I would never suspect!
I saw those trees in the news pics, wow what a mess. How is the harbor / breakwater holding up? Not really a good spot for a harbor, but its there now! Expensive to keep it up I imagine, dredging etc.
I've gone the shorter-fuller route before. Now I'm trying longer-thicker-narrower. At 22-3/8" its not a skinny outline but pulled-in nose and tail give it that appearance. NR=5.5" TR=2.7" Most of the NR is in the last 24". Hoping that will forgive my slower pop-up. I plan to take it out Tues, after the water cleans-up a little and the wind dies down.
Finally done, but...there were some "issues". Blank seemed to absorb resin and swell in spots. Blew some bubbles into the lamination which had to be "fixed" with pinlines on the bottom. Stringer has a "shadow" and I'm not sure why.
Oy, don't like the sound of that swelling, especially if happens inconsistently across the blank when resin's applied to it.
And the fact the blank blew bubbles would indicate there's some gaps between the iFoam cells, so if a ding penetrates to the core, there'll be at least some degree of water getting in there.
Did the bubbles somehow manage to come up through the sealer coat, or were they just in the sealer coat itself?
You think you'll use iFoam (although perhaps it deserves the nickname of "iFuzz") again?
Mind you, there's still how the board rides and how well it stands up to some solid use left to be determined yet, so perhaps the durability and performance of the core might end up outweighing the downsides you'd mentioned (especially if you find a way to get around those downsides).
Nice looking shape and finish/graphics. Sharp, clean and sleek.
You come up with a name for it yet?
After all the problems you'd had with getting rid of the "fleece", names like "The iFuzz", or just plain old "The Fuzz" were popping into my head.
Maybe even "The Hairball", or "The Fuzzball", or possibly even "The Shaved Ape" if you decide you don't particularly like it :)
But it's a nice, classy looking board so I think it deserves something more complimentary to it than that.
"The Big Widget" springs to mind.
Anyway, will be interested to hear how it goes for you when you end up getting it into the water. Bring on the ride report! :)
No, I won't be going down the iFoam road again. Too much trouble, bottomline.
I call this model the "HYB" because, well, its a hybrid. The center (or close to center) wide-point favors paddling over turning. A dead giveaway to the ID of the targeted customer. I've done them as small as 6-10 and as big as 8-6, with just about every fin combination imaginable.
Thanks for the compliments. I really like how the shape came out. There are definitely some Rusty influences to be seen, e.g. Desert Island, Big Cat. Its always cool when a shape comes together and exceeds the shaper's expectations.
No ear pain, just normal age-related hearing loss...haven't heard my wife for years, or so she says. I've been pretty much a LBer/Mid-length guy, so I've been spared the "surfer's ear" that comes from duck-diving in cold waters. My problem is more my knee and hip joints. I played a lot of sports in my life, even as an adult, and I have the surgical scars on my knees to prove it. Some days, if there is a long lull, and I've been sitting in one position on my board, my knees simply refuse to straighten-out when I go to pop-up, and I totally kook-out. I've taken to getting off my board and running in place in the water just to keep my knees flexible. Oh, and it takes me a long time to warm-up, especially if I haven't surfed for a day or two. And early mornings are the worse...half asleep, still stiff and sore from the session the day before, icy cold wind, damp wetsuit...only an addict would go through that, that and the fear that one day soon it will no longer be possible.
I've taken to shaping and riding prone boards as the anecdote to the aging surfer syndrome. Nowadays, I almost always do a double session, first a couple of hours on a stand-up board and then a couple on my prone-board. I always get a much higher wave-count on my prone-board. Today was a case in point, I went out on the new 8-0 in 3'-4' surf, and probably got 3-4 waves in 2 hrs, largely becuase it was more of a weak longboard day. But after I switched to my prone-board I got at least a dozen waves in an hour. Cut the session short only because high-tide was making exit difficult. The thng I like the most about prone-boards is that you can take off as late as you want and still make the wave. That alone will double your wave count. I still enjoy my stand-up boards, but the prone-board holds my future in surfing.
Now there's a can of worms -> have seen people argue that one back and forth.
Any surfcraft you ride the wave on in a prone position would probably be the best accepted definition of the term? E.g. this includes bellyboards, paipo's, surfmats, bodyboards, handboards, and I've even some "longboard" length surfcraft get ridden prone.
In nomastomas' case, he's been making foam and fibreglass bellyboards with fins since about 2010 (called the "T-Belly" line). And they're good 'uns too by the sound of it!
And that's about all I know about that, so I'll let Thomas take it from here... over to you Thomas!
Nowadays, I almost always do a double session, first a couple of hours on a stand-up board and then a couple on my prone-board.
:) Yep, me too.
Only difference in my case is that I'll ride my stand-up shortboard until the arms start getting a bit noodly, and then I'll come in, swap over to the kneeboard and cruise back out again with the flippers for round 2!
In this way, and if I pace myself, those 6 hour session days that I used to pull off back when I was a teenager are still a possibility.
When you're young at heart, it doesn't matter what your age is. In the movie "Step Into Liquid" Steve Pezman (Surfer's Journal Publisher) said,"As I've gotten older my (surfing) performance has diminished, but the pure joy that riding waves brings me goes undiminidshed."
I started building the T-Belly at a customer's request in 2009 and published it on my website. Before long surfers from as far away as Germany were asking me to build them one. The dsign has gone through progressive iterations. Photos are of the first T-Belly, The Generation 2, the Gen 3 and the Gen 4. The 5th generation is a prone-board designed to ride HH or bigger waves, and I have been referring to it as the TBX. I pick it up from the glasser tomorrow.
Thanks Matty! No reason to let all the good waves go to the young'uns.The board with the green fade is my daily driver. Its 48", stringeless eps/epoxy. Weighs a mere 5lbs at 23L. I've ridden that board in everything from chin-high (p-board rider term) to 6'-7' faces (courtesey Hurricane Linda). That session revealed the max-speed problem of the G4 and led to the development of a step-up p-board.
The TBX (soon to be called the "Manta") is 52"long, a tad narrower and 26L. I'm hoping that the extra length and the extra volume will give me a little extra speed. It has a multi-plane bottom, with belly in the nose, tri-plane panels in the middle, and V-panel out the tail. The outboard panels and the V-panels have just a smidgen of concave. I could tell you that the carbon fiber offers extraordinary strength to weight ratio, and blah, blah, blah, but honestly, it just looks bad ass! I set the quad fins using the McKee formula, and will be using either 50/50 foiled rears or 60/40. That should give me the hold and predictability this old man needs in waves of consequence. The cut-away nose allows me to have the same reach as my 48" G4, without needing to grab the rails (knucles and elbows in the wave face create drag) and give it the look of its namesake, the Manta Ray.
The tri-plane hull or TPH was one of Greenough's ideas (maybe others as well?). Marc Andrieni built some hull-ish boards with this feature and passed the idea to Mani Caro (Mandala). I read a post by JP St. Pierre (son of Pete StPierre, Moonlight Glassing) regarding his trial of Mani's TPH Stubbie, which features the tri-plane to panel-V. JP stated how the board really liked to make smooth carves in the upper-third of the wave, exactly what I was looking for to surf big C St. So, the design is not new per se, but certainly new/untested in a prone-board.
Yes, I got the idea for the nose shape from LaLa's Gemini, although for different functional reasons. I remember seeing a couple of LaLa's boards at my glasser's several years ago, and the design was tucked away in the board-research-locker in my brain. On a p-board, the main source of "form drag" are the legs hanging off the tail of the board. While you need to have your legs in the water to effectively kick-paddle, once in the wave the rider has to consciously raise their legs to prevent drag. Having a longer board allows the rider to slide forward just enough so that the tailblock hits about mid-thigh, making it easier to keep the legs out of the water. Now, I like to have both hands gripping the nose when I take-off, and for my height, a board 48" long is as long as I can go, and both grip the nose (and not the rail) and kick effectively. I was struggling to figure out a way to add length, but keep a hands-on-the-nose capability, and then I remembered the Gemini--bingo! The resulting shape is very unconventional (some would say "goofy"), but functional as hell. For me, form follows function...
Picked it up from the glasser yesterday. Took it out today in lumpy 2-3 leftover groundswell. Bottom makes for fluid, buttery smooth turns, but needs deeper fins to get some traction. Started with 4" front and 3.8" 50/50 foiled rears, but finished with 4.7" fronts and same rears. I think the "smoothness" will payoff in bigger waves.
During my last go out, I was struggling with my pop-up. Not the getting-to-my-feet part, but the actual standing-up part. I've also been having trouble with my repaired ACL knee wanting to dislocate. I've concluded the both are symptoms of the same problem; poor quad strength. Rx: Start regime of wall sits, squats and burpees. The kick-paddling involved in prone-board riding is a great cross-training for the leg strength required for good stand-up surfing.
Expect you'll turn a lot of heads amongst the bodyboarders out in the lineup while you're cruising around on that thing.... and probably quite a few amongst the footboarders too.
It's shape (and colour) in the deck-shot (minus the horns) reminds me a fair bit of the 1991 Morey Boogie Mike Stewart signature model Mach 7-7 (e.g.: http://www.vintagebodyboards.com/item.asp?ID=056 ).
One of my surf-buddies had one of them. He fairly quickly went through a fair number of bodyboards until he got that one and then he just stuck with it. And I can understand why. It felt just right. A "magic" board.
A few weeks ago when I was reading about your T-belly boards, you'd mentioned your current bodyboard was the 7-7. You still riding it along with the T-Belly's? And is it that '91 Mike Stewart model?
A couple of years ago I bought myself a bodyboard specifically to ride a local reef break that (even though it's only a short ride, and even though it only works every now and then under just the right conditions), when it's on, it's REALLY on. Just a total barrel machine. Hollow, dredging and a thick lip.
I'd tried tackling it on my standup shortboard and kneeboard, but the reef is super-shallow if you goof up and find yourself out on the flats, and it taxes a lot of fins, and a few foam 'n fibreglass boards too.
So I decided to get a bodyboard just for that one break; it's just too irresistible not to ride it.
Plus I've found that having a bodyboard's a very good idea to have in the car when you're off prospecting/scouting out a new break with no idea what it'll be like when you actually get out there; they duck-dive really well, can handle a wide range of swell sizes and super-late takeoffs, and can skate safely over the top of reef, kelp and boulders that are only just under the surface when you unexpectedly come upon them when riding a break for the first time. Very handy and a good way to safely explore new breaks and the lines to take on them.
Anyway, to get back to the 7-7, I was trying to find a board that matched that '91 7-7 as closely as possible. Morey Boogie boards aren't stocked much by my local shops and (from what I gather) the blowing agent used in the PE cores changed in (I think) the mid-to-late 90's (I believe it was due to CFC's being banned for use as blowing agents) so that the modern PE core boards just aren't nearly as good nowadays.
I took a punt anyway and got a PE cored board (as my local water temps are fairly cold) that appeared to match as closely as possible (similiar shape, core material and mesh in the skin) that "magic" 7-7 my friend had owned.
Sadly, my board (an NMD Evolution Contour II) just doesn't feel as good as how I remember my friends old 7-7. The rail just feels kind of soft and squirmy as you're trimming along the face.
But it's done the job at that one break I bought it for; got barrelled out of my gourd in the very first session out there on it :) :) .... I still remember the feeling of coming out of the coolness of the barrel and feeling the sun suddenly warm on my shoulders as I came out from under the lip and onto the face.... I was so stoked I stopped paying attention to what I was doing, half-caught the outside edge and almost fell off the board. Imagine that; how the heck do you manage to fall off a bodyboard! :) :) :)
So how do you find the T-Belly's compared to your 7-7? What have you found the upsides and downsides to them to be compared to a bodyboard?
Hope you get to try that TBX out in the conditions you built it for soon! -> I wanna hear the ride report! And do you think you could do a side-by-side comparo of it with your 7-7 in the same big conditions?
Anyway, wishing a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all, & Cheers!
Biggest complaint that I, as well as others, have about finless body boards is that they fall out of steeper wave faces and lack solid projection out of bottom turns. The TBs, when finned correctly, don't have this problem. There is no sliding down the face or spin-out in turns unless the rider allows it. Read the "myPaipo" forum for arguments ad nausem about this topic.
Thanks Huck...p-boards are just another tool in the box for the OTHG. I'm so happy with the feel of this multi-plane bottom that you know I'm gonna have to try it on a larger scale. I have been intrigued with Boehne's deep-V Aussie '68 LB and Fowler's Stoker-V. Mani Caro builds his TPH up to 8-6. Multi-plane bottoms are just sooooo smooothe...befitting a more refined style of surfing that comes from having nothing to prove, and every wave to enjoy.
Biggest complaint that I, as well as others, have about finless body boards is that they fall out of steeper wave faces and lack solid projection out of bottom turns. The TBs, when finned correctly, don't have this problem. There is no sliding down the face or spin-out in turns unless the rider allows it. Read the "myPaipo" forum for arguments ad nausem about this topic.
:) Thanks Thomas.
Any chance of you being able to post some footage of you riding some of your T-Belly's (particularly the TBX)? People can argue the relative merits of bodyboards verus bellyboards back and forth 'til the end of time,..... but the camera don't lie.
So I had a look look around for footage of people riding finned belly-boards. Heaps of non-finned paipo footage, but almost none of finned ones.
Looks like it could be a fast board (keeps well ahead of the wave until the last few seconds), but it's hard to get a solid idea of how much faster it is (or not) compared to a shortboard or bodyboard from the clip without any footage of them in the same waves for comparison.
Am particlularly interested to see just how much in the way of extra projection you can get out of turns with the fins on it; it's one of the things I really miss while riding my bodyboard in comparison to my finned kneeboard & shortboard.
James is riding one of my early Larry Goddard-style TB. That board had good speed but wasn't near as fast or reponsive as the TBG4. No video yet. You'd have to ride one yourself at this point.
No video yet. You'd have to ride one yourself at this point.
:( Bummer.
'Still, you never know what might happen in the future; e.g. if you and Huck and/or Matt manage to get together for that surf session you were talking about here recently, and one of you had a camera with you, some footage of a modern TB might get captured after all.
After reading about Matt's Hulk, the Mi Gordita and your TBG4 and TBX around here, it'd be great to see them actually in action.
As for me getting to ride a TB, well, there's some leftover 6oz and epoxy down in the shed right now - have been intending to turn it into some fins. But if there's still enough remaining once I've got the fin sets I need out of it, I just might have to scrounge up some EPS and see if I can knock together a belly board to try it out for myself.
I wouldn't hold your breath on that one though - plenty of other stuff to get done before that happens.
Hey Matty I saw your recent post, then when I looked again it took a long time to find on this cursed I-phone.
Quote:
"you nailed it"
Today was blown out and with the combination of wind waves and swell
just madness, I opt'd out.
"Boy" Asked to try the "Hulk", eh why knot?
Found a spot outta the wind, lots of sun.
So in my chair to watch.
First wave, "like he had been riding it a long time"
drop, bottom turn and snap, the wave walled up WOW.
Trimmed up the board just hauled ass!
The summary
@170# Boy can "almost" duck dive it"
Paddles very well
Catches wave EZ
turns quite well
responsive
stable
fast.
Boy stayed out almost 3 hours..
A sure sign he liked it.
As Dustin sat it down at the car he had a big smile,
Winner Popz....
"Your gonna rule "
Excellent good news on the board! No small accomplishment that, give yourself a well deserved pat on the back.
This firms up a few things in my mind. First and foremost, that these 'over-volumed big boy boards' can actually be ridden by smaller lighter guys (i.e. 170-175 lbs).
Normally it takes some transition time, but your son is skilled enough and has the right attitude to pick it up without missing a beat. Which also tells me that you could go bigger (volume) yet, a good thing to keep in mind for next time, if you should desire to add a bit more for yourself.
I paddled out into the shifty bumpy waves down here on my banana boat, and had a blast. They were tricky 'tho, lotta guys on shortboards not getting waves. So even down here the Hulk would have been a good call.
Can't wait to hear your version, but his take was worth hearing , especially that he stayed out 3 hrs! And then came in with thumbs up verbal report! I see what you mean about surprising which boards he chooses, hah. Was really curious to hear his reaction to seeing it, but riding it - and liking it! - tops all my expectations.
This thread has been quiet for awhile, hope everyone's gears are turning and some new stuff will be forthcoming! Maybe even some further (and more detailed) ride reports of the boards that have come out of this thread.
Seems to me the "old guy" performance board is still a field ripe for exploration. Don't know how "mainstream" these boards will become, but there is a definite niche for them! Rusty Big Cat and Monsta Chief and all the others mentioned earlier in the thread show that. And I still run into lots of older guys (and younger guys too) not really getting waves and enjoying themselves.
I started off making my own boards about 6 years ago, back when I was just getting back in the water. I didn't know what to make, or what I liked, so I just randomly picked shapes and tried to make them. Some of those boards were pretty fun, some were a complete bust, but it wasn't until I rode a longboard for the first time that things started clicking for me in the water. Meaning, more than anything, wave count.
But once I got the hang of getting waves, even in a crowd of younger guys, I started missing the old short(er) board feeling. I'm not a great longboarder, I catch lots of waves, but I can't really cross step gracefully, and walk the board constantly, and hang 10, or even 5, and do all that stuff that really good longboarders do. So I could work on that stuff, as a means to enhance my enjoyment, but what I really find myself wanting to do is bust some turns and maybe do a few floaters, and maybe pump a little down the line. So that's kinda been my goal, and the focus of where I want my "custom" home built surfboards to go, as a personalized wave tool made just for me and the way I surf.
As a backyarder, making just a few boards a year for myself, I don't have the feedback and constant progression of a pro shaper with a crew, so I pay lots of attention to what those guys say, and what they shape. Anytime I find a video showing a walkaround view of a board in side light, I'm on it like a hobo on a ham sandwich!
I try to find certain things I can utilize in my high volume shapes, and take note of the guys who are shaping higher volume boards, and how they incorporate the volume - stuff like Stretch's rail channels for example, which he combines with bumped decks and deck concaves. Good stuff! He didn't invent the rail channels or the deck bumps (step decks) or deck concaves, but he has surely had a part in bringing these once esoteric design features to a wider audience.
Today I picked up my high performance longboard in trade for my stubby, and got to see some of Mattwho's work firsthand - wow! The shaping shed is awesome, very neat and organized, and I saw the Incredible Hulk in person, and its way better than the photos. Just beautifully foiled and shaped. And now I own a Mattwho handshaped original, how cool is that!
Anyway, hope y'all are getting plenty of waves, having a blast, and keeping the faith. I managed to paddle out into some small but really fun peelers this morning, freezing cold wind and pretty cold water, but only a handful of guys out, beautiful offshore winter day. Surfing is the gift that keeps on giving, and as Tomas has said, no point letting the youngsters have all the fun!
Yeah buddy I'm stoked, had the fins in and leash on before the day was over, next week I should get the opportunity for some face time, haha
different horses for different courses, I just hope you get the right course for the hulk horse, cuz it really looks to me like it could be a heck of a race horse, work horse, and war horse, all in one.
Great trade, had the 8-8 out for the first time in some really good surf, thing flies! Need more time to give a more detailed review, but so far very happy / impressed with the board. Unfortunatey dinged it first time out, getting out of water, high surf high tide, got slammed into rocks during a moment of inattention, ouch! Not bad 'tho, just punched a small hole in the bottom, sore knees, and I'll probably be on KookSlam haha!
Yeah, Huck, those hide-tide, big wave days are hard on us members of the OTHG. Hard to keep your dignity when you're crab-walking up the berm. Took a solid blow to the shin from a submerged boulder trying to exit at the top of the point. Never saw it, but felt it right away...More favorable tides start tomorrow. I have a customer that mainly surfs 8-0 to 9-2 boards. He just ordered an 8-8 "big fish" which was delevered today. Looks a lot like your 8-8 with a swallow tail.
Just a brief observation from today's session: I saw this old guy (i.e., my age) on a fairly short wide fat simmons type board. He was kinda slow getting up, at first it looked like maybe a beginner, but no, once up, he rode with style and grace, a real pleasure to watch, big old-guy belly and all. It was an inspiration to me, to see another old phart out there having fun, and doing it with style!
1) Was he riding better than you (I assume you were on the Mi Gordita at the time)?
2) If he was, did you paddle up to him to offer him a few waves on the Mi Gordita to see what he thought of it? -> depending on the outcome of this, asking him for the dimensions of his board could well be worthwhile...
... maybe even a starting point for Mi Gordita Mk.II :)
Geez,.... you've barely broken in Mi Gordita Mk I and here I am already getting you thinking about what the next version could be like.
Just plain incorrigible :)
Don't listen to me; just go and enjoy Mi Gordita for a good few months. Sounds like you've done well with it, so really savour that for a bit and really get to know the board....
how's the knee responding to the workouts (hope it's come good for you by now), and have you managed to get the TBX/Manta out in the HH and over waves you designed it for yet?
L.I.T. - I would love it if he wanted to take Mi Gordita out for a spin. His board was very similar to my Stubbie, which I traded because it was hard for me to catch waves with. He said the same about his board, fun to ride, but a little difficult to get in with, he commented on how many waves I was getting on the Gordita, said he noticed I was able to get in with just a few strokes. Like you, I'm already thinking ahead to my next shape, but I'm thinking more along the lines of Proctor's Monsta Chief. I really love the look of that thing.
I also have been thinking of stepping away from shaping for a bit, to focus on fins for awhile, and fine-tuning the many boards I have by trying some different fins and fin setups, and maybe adding some rail channels retrofit style to a couple boards. Not sure which direction I'll go, but either way I have plenty to focus my creative energy on.
Love to hear from NomasTomas also, I know Ventura has had some epic surf lately. I paddled out at Stables last week, the set waves were scary! (to me). The playing field there is just so much bigger and spread out than the L.A. spot I normally surf lately. I have been thinking about that awesome (green) longboard he posted awhile back, a few times I would have loved to had that thing out.
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update (rather than start a new post following my own post): I made a comment in Mattwho's thread about his outside the box Incredible Hulk. To be outside the box is often to be rejected by the mainstream, which is why a lot of that stuff does better over here in the underground, IMO. The surfing world is very trend and fashion conscious, the powers that be have a lot invested in the status quo, their minions are quick to attack or ignore the heretical, and they are the majority.
I have come to appreciate fatter rails, uncommonly high volume, and midlength planshapes for example, but my shapes are just too outside the box for most people to appreciate, so I kinda have to forge my own way, find what works for me, and not worry about the negativity I might encounter from those who follow the trends and status quo. I think that its a decision you have to make early on, if you're really gonna pursue creative design that isn't dependent on group approval. Nice to be an independent backyarder with no one to please but yourself, in this regard.
I know a lot of people think my boards are weird, and a lot of people at the beach comment that I get a lot of waves with them, but its all fun for me, and I'm no ripper. I don't really get a lot of waves, but it seems that way when I consistently get waves in a crowd, which is what my boards are designed to do. If I get three or four decent waves in a morning session, I'm good to go for the day.
To me the essence of this thread is pursuing design goals that are outside the box, with shapes that are also. I have no need or desire to force anyone to accept my design ideas, if they work for me then that's good enough. I appreciate the support and positivity of the small band of posters on this thread, 'tho, and that little bit of stoke goes a long way. So thanks for that, guys!
Oh yeah, and also wanted to add that I took the 8-8 Matty high performance longboard out again, and am continually impressed by how FAST that thing is!
I'm thinking more along the lines of Proctor's Monsta Chief. I really love the look of that thing.
It sure is a friendly looking board isn't it? :)
'Came across this earlier today and thought you might be interested in it, particularly if you're thinking of the next board being in the 6'something range: Simon Anderson talking about his favourite board the 6'4" "Early Bird".
Simon's 60 now and weighs 105 kg/231 lbs so there's more volume in the board than looks might indicate - apparently Simon had a bit of a "senior's moment" during the clip and the volume of the board is actually 36.8 liters rather than the 26.8 stated.
Mind you, it looks like a pretty lean board for an older guy, while you do like 'em nice and thick; so bear in mind he is an ex world-champ and he did say this is a board he can only really ride when he's physically in good shape.
So I'd agree with you in making something more Monsta Chief style for the M.G. II - if that one comes off and you're wanting to see just how far you can push the envelope in the shortboard-for-older-surfers stakes, then the dimensions of Simon Anderson's Early Bird could be a place to start in terms of what's technically possible.
From the sound of it though, that's a fair way off into the future - bring on da fins! Was hunting around for some fin core materials myself today, so hopefully I'll have something to show off as well soonish (fingers crossed).
I made a comment in Mattwho's thread about his outside the box Incredible Hulk. To be outside the box is often to be rejected by the mainstream, which is why a lot of that stuff does better over here in the underground, IMO. The surfing world is very trend and fashion conscious, the powers that be have a lot invested in the status quo, their minions are quick to attack or ignore the heretical, and they are the majority.
Thanks! I suppose, that being a revolution survivor
Hey I never surrendered!
I still expect changes.
And have not abandoned the search for advancement of surfboard design...
Huck also wrote:
Oh yeah, and also wanted to add that I took the 8-8 Matty high performance longboard out again, and am continually impressed by how FAST that thing is!
This is a trill!
Very few acknowledge my work.
Report in on Paddling, turning and entry?
Ha! Takes a while to trust that rocker, yeah?
Quid pro quo as soon as the surf clams down, (stubby)
Todd is a successful out of the box thinker...
The "Monsta Chief" Volume and design...
Hold that thought....
I'm making a "Gun" for Dustin to replace last year’s 3 stringer job.
Same outline as the new "Lit'l Sis" only stretched.
OK, cool, thank you. I like the look and description, I'd be willing to try it if I can swing it budget wise, cost is a bit of an issue with this stuff.
"Like to see some beach pics of GG if you bring your camera next session too." -Huck
Here's a couple from last week, The blue board is my daily driver 9-8 x 23" x 3-1/4" 2+1, set up as twin with trailer.
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Since a lot of my customers are 50+, I've built a lot of non-traditional shapes. This one is an 8-0 x 22-3/4" x 3" semi-fish tail, but more like a swallow tail egg. EPS/epoxy construction. The owner is a regular at Church in San O, and raves about this board's performance. Action shot was taken a couple of weeks ago,
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woohoo, thanks tomas! That happens to be a pretty favored stretch of coast for me, great to see it in your pics, and nice "outside the box" boards. The turn on that 8 footer is awesome, very fish-y! Congrats on all counts.
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Finally done, but...there were some "issues". Blank seemed to absorb resin and swell in spots. Blew some bubbles into the lamination which had to be "fixed" with pinlines on the bottom. Stringer has a "shadow" and I'm not sure why. But I really like the shape, and the weight and volume seems about what I was looking for. Could be a real wave-catcher...Finished dims: 8'0" 14" x 22-3/8" x 14-5/8" 3-1/4" 63L 11lbs. Triple 4oz deck + double 4oz bottom.
BTW Huck, I think your photo-stand palm tree was taken by the last swell!!
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It sure is a beauty, love the understated color scheme, classy! When you said creme, right away I thought red pin line, so stoked to see you went with red! Its got a lean mean wave catching machine look to it, hope it follows through in performance, feel pretty confident it will. Following ride report, I may have to make the Huck version! Really like the pulled in nose. How much rocker?
absorb resin I could live with, but swelling is a definite problem, weird! If the other problem could be fixed with pin lines, couldn'ta been too bad, and kudos for creative coverup, I would never suspect!
I saw those trees in the news pics, wow what a mess. How is the harbor / breakwater holding up? Not really a good spot for a harbor, but its there now! Expensive to keep it up I imagine, dredging etc.
I've gone the shorter-fuller route before. Now I'm trying longer-thicker-narrower. At 22-3/8" its not a skinny outline but pulled-in nose and tail give it that appearance. NR=5.5" TR=2.7" Most of the NR is in the last 24". Hoping that will forgive my slower pop-up. I plan to take it out Tues, after the water cleans-up a little and the wind dies down.
Oy, don't like the sound of that swelling, especially if happens inconsistently across the blank when resin's applied to it.
And the fact the blank blew bubbles would indicate there's some gaps between the iFoam cells, so if a ding penetrates to the core, there'll be at least some degree of water getting in there.
Did the bubbles somehow manage to come up through the sealer coat, or were they just in the sealer coat itself?
You think you'll use iFoam (although perhaps it deserves the nickname of "iFuzz") again?
Mind you, there's still how the board rides and how well it stands up to some solid use left to be determined yet, so perhaps the durability and performance of the core might end up outweighing the downsides you'd mentioned (especially if you find a way to get around those downsides).
Nice looking shape and finish/graphics. Sharp, clean and sleek.
You come up with a name for it yet?
After all the problems you'd had with getting rid of the "fleece", names like "The iFuzz", or just plain old "The Fuzz" were popping into my head.
Maybe even "The Hairball", or "The Fuzzball", or possibly even "The Shaved Ape" if you decide you don't particularly like it :)
But it's a nice, classy looking board so I think it deserves something more complimentary to it than that.
"The Big Widget" springs to mind.
Anyway, will be interested to hear how it goes for you when you end up getting it into the water. Bring on the ride report! :)
Cheers all.
No, I won't be going down the iFoam road again. Too much trouble, bottomline.
I call this model the "HYB" because, well, its a hybrid. The center (or close to center) wide-point favors paddling over turning. A dead giveaway to the ID of the targeted customer. I've done them as small as 6-10 and as big as 8-6, with just about every fin combination imaginable.
Thanks for the compliments. I really like how the shape came out. There are definitely some Rusty influences to be seen, e.g. Desert Island, Big Cat. Its always cool when a shape comes together and exceeds the shaper's expectations.
@ nomas...
Very nice work!!!
EH!!!
Just one "Over The Hill" question?
'Owe's yer ears???
I just turned 64 and have foregone any surgery.
My ears have been fucked up since my late 20's
It is a daily ordeal to regain some order
Ah, as to hearing.
Eh, you da oldest...
I shower with ear plugs!
How you hangin'?
I would rather be someone's shot of whiskey, than everyone's cup of tea.
www.mattysurfboards.com
Eh? Whatyousay?
No ear pain, just normal age-related hearing loss...haven't heard my wife for years, or so she says. I've been pretty much a LBer/Mid-length guy, so I've been spared the "surfer's ear" that comes from duck-diving in cold waters. My problem is more my knee and hip joints. I played a lot of sports in my life, even as an adult, and I have the surgical scars on my knees to prove it. Some days, if there is a long lull, and I've been sitting in one position on my board, my knees simply refuse to straighten-out when I go to pop-up, and I totally kook-out. I've taken to getting off my board and running in place in the water just to keep my knees flexible. Oh, and it takes me a long time to warm-up, especially if I haven't surfed for a day or two. And early mornings are the worse...half asleep, still stiff and sore from the session the day before, icy cold wind, damp wetsuit...only an addict would go through that, that and the fear that one day soon it will no longer be possible.
I've taken to shaping and riding prone boards as the anecdote to the aging surfer syndrome. Nowadays, I almost always do a double session, first a couple of hours on a stand-up board and then a couple on my prone-board. I always get a much higher wave-count on my prone-board. Today was a case in point, I went out on the new 8-0 in 3'-4' surf, and probably got 3-4 waves in 2 hrs, largely becuase it was more of a weak longboard day. But after I switched to my prone-board I got at least a dozen waves in an hour. Cut the session short only because high-tide was making exit difficult. The thng I like the most about prone-boards is that you can take off as late as you want and still make the wave. That alone will double your wave count. I still enjoy my stand-up boards, but the prone-board holds my future in surfing.
What exactly is a prone board - got any pics?
Now there's a can of worms -> have seen people argue that one back and forth.
Any surfcraft you ride the wave on in a prone position would probably be the best accepted definition of the term? E.g. this includes bellyboards, paipo's, surfmats, bodyboards, handboards, and I've even some "longboard" length surfcraft get ridden prone.
In nomastomas' case, he's been making foam and fibreglass bellyboards with fins since about 2010 (called the "T-Belly" line). And they're good 'uns too by the sound of it!
And that's about all I know about that, so I'll let Thomas take it from here... over to you Thomas!
:) Yep, me too.
Only difference in my case is that I'll ride my stand-up shortboard until the arms start getting a bit noodly, and then I'll come in, swap over to the kneeboard and cruise back out again with the flippers for round 2!
In this way, and if I pace myself, those 6 hour session days that I used to pull off back when I was a teenager are still a possibility.
As you get older, you gotta surf smarter.
Jus' 4 fun!
Eh!
Over the Hill Gang...
Just in from the "Home"
Lol!!!
I would rather be someone's shot of whiskey, than everyone's cup of tea.
www.mattysurfboards.com
When you're young at heart, it doesn't matter what your age is. In the movie "Step Into Liquid" Steve Pezman (Surfer's Journal Publisher) said,"As I've gotten older my (surfing) performance has diminished, but the pure joy that riding waves brings me goes undiminidshed."
I started building the T-Belly at a customer's request in 2009 and published it on my website. Before long surfers from as far away as Germany were asking me to build them one. The dsign has gone through progressive iterations. Photos are of the first T-Belly, The Generation 2, the Gen 3 and the Gen 4. The 5th generation is a prone-board designed to ride HH or bigger waves, and I have been referring to it as the TBX. I pick it up from the glasser tomorrow.
tb3.jpg
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Flippin' Bad Ass!!!
And a "flash back" the dark days... i.e. the "Rogue" (Mr. C... not me)
Thomas you have renewed my surfing sprit!
been using a kneeboard for the last 3 years
as the "go to" when it is just too much for stand up.
Your stuff is so wicked....
I am turnin' on my "older Buds"!
Me? Damn stoked!!!
Eh, thanks, yeah?
transit.jpg
Rogues.jpg
I would rather be someone's shot of whiskey, than everyone's cup of tea.
www.mattysurfboards.com
Thanks Matty! No reason to let all the good waves go to the young'uns.The board with the green fade is my daily driver. Its 48", stringeless eps/epoxy. Weighs a mere 5lbs at 23L. I've ridden that board in everything from chin-high (p-board rider term) to 6'-7' faces (courtesey Hurricane Linda). That session revealed the max-speed problem of the G4 and led to the development of a step-up p-board.
The TBX (soon to be called the "Manta") is 52"long, a tad narrower and 26L. I'm hoping that the extra length and the extra volume will give me a little extra speed. It has a multi-plane bottom, with belly in the nose, tri-plane panels in the middle, and V-panel out the tail. The outboard panels and the V-panels have just a smidgen of concave. I could tell you that the carbon fiber offers extraordinary strength to weight ratio, and blah, blah, blah, but honestly, it just looks bad ass! I set the quad fins using the McKee formula, and will be using either 50/50 foiled rears or 60/40. That should give me the hold and predictability this old man needs in waves of consequence. The cut-away nose allows me to have the same reach as my 48" G4, without needing to grab the rails (knucles and elbows in the wave face create drag) and give it the look of its namesake, the Manta Ray.
TBX_BotCon.jpg
OMG...
Brother Thomas you
simply slay me...
And by that I mean
Your ideas rock the house.
Just forgive my "Old Phart" observations...
The "Manta" is way cool....
??? Tri surface, tested yet???
Again "flashback" !
The Gemini...
A giant step...
gem3.jpg
I would rather be someone's shot of whiskey, than everyone's cup of tea.
www.mattysurfboards.com
The tri-plane hull or TPH was one of Greenough's ideas (maybe others as well?). Marc Andrieni built some hull-ish boards with this feature and passed the idea to Mani Caro (Mandala). I read a post by JP St. Pierre (son of Pete StPierre, Moonlight Glassing) regarding his trial of Mani's TPH Stubbie, which features the tri-plane to panel-V. JP stated how the board really liked to make smooth carves in the upper-third of the wave, exactly what I was looking for to surf big C St. So, the design is not new per se, but certainly new/untested in a prone-board.
Yes, I got the idea for the nose shape from LaLa's Gemini, although for different functional reasons. I remember seeing a couple of LaLa's boards at my glasser's several years ago, and the design was tucked away in the board-research-locker in my brain. On a p-board, the main source of "form drag" are the legs hanging off the tail of the board. While you need to have your legs in the water to effectively kick-paddle, once in the wave the rider has to consciously raise their legs to prevent drag. Having a longer board allows the rider to slide forward just enough so that the tailblock hits about mid-thigh, making it easier to keep the legs out of the water. Now, I like to have both hands gripping the nose when I take-off, and for my height, a board 48" long is as long as I can go, and both grip the nose (and not the rail) and kick effectively. I was struggling to figure out a way to add length, but keep a hands-on-the-nose capability, and then I remembered the Gemini--bingo! The resulting shape is very unconventional (some would say "goofy"), but functional as hell. For me, form follows function...
Picked it up from the glasser yesterday. Took it out today in lumpy 2-3 leftover groundswell. Bottom makes for fluid, buttery smooth turns, but needs deeper fins to get some traction. Started with 4" front and 3.8" 50/50 foiled rears, but finished with 4.7" fronts and same rears. I think the "smoothness" will payoff in bigger waves.
During my last go out, I was struggling with my pop-up. Not the getting-to-my-feet part, but the actual standing-up part. I've also been having trouble with my repaired ACL knee wanting to dislocate. I've concluded the both are symptoms of the same problem; poor quad strength. Rx: Start regime of wall sits, squats and burpees. The kick-paddling involved in prone-board riding is a great cross-training for the leg strength required for good stand-up surfing.
TB52Manta_Deck04.JPG
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Ooooff. That things a beast.
Niiiiice :)
Expect you'll turn a lot of heads amongst the bodyboarders out in the lineup while you're cruising around on that thing.... and probably quite a few amongst the footboarders too.
It's shape (and colour) in the deck-shot (minus the horns) reminds me a fair bit of the 1991 Morey Boogie Mike Stewart signature model Mach 7-7 (e.g.: http://www.vintagebodyboards.com/item.asp?ID=056 ).
One of my surf-buddies had one of them. He fairly quickly went through a fair number of bodyboards until he got that one and then he just stuck with it. And I can understand why. It felt just right. A "magic" board.
A few weeks ago when I was reading about your T-belly boards, you'd mentioned your current bodyboard was the 7-7. You still riding it along with the T-Belly's? And is it that '91 Mike Stewart model?
A couple of years ago I bought myself a bodyboard specifically to ride a local reef break that (even though it's only a short ride, and even though it only works every now and then under just the right conditions), when it's on, it's REALLY on. Just a total barrel machine. Hollow, dredging and a thick lip.
I'd tried tackling it on my standup shortboard and kneeboard, but the reef is super-shallow if you goof up and find yourself out on the flats, and it taxes a lot of fins, and a few foam 'n fibreglass boards too.
So I decided to get a bodyboard just for that one break; it's just too irresistible not to ride it.
Plus I've found that having a bodyboard's a very good idea to have in the car when you're off prospecting/scouting out a new break with no idea what it'll be like when you actually get out there; they duck-dive really well, can handle a wide range of swell sizes and super-late takeoffs, and can skate safely over the top of reef, kelp and boulders that are only just under the surface when you unexpectedly come upon them when riding a break for the first time. Very handy and a good way to safely explore new breaks and the lines to take on them.
Anyway, to get back to the 7-7, I was trying to find a board that matched that '91 7-7 as closely as possible. Morey Boogie boards aren't stocked much by my local shops and (from what I gather) the blowing agent used in the PE cores changed in (I think) the mid-to-late 90's (I believe it was due to CFC's being banned for use as blowing agents) so that the modern PE core boards just aren't nearly as good nowadays.
I took a punt anyway and got a PE cored board (as my local water temps are fairly cold) that appeared to match as closely as possible (similiar shape, core material and mesh in the skin) that "magic" 7-7 my friend had owned.
Sadly, my board (an NMD Evolution Contour II) just doesn't feel as good as how I remember my friends old 7-7. The rail just feels kind of soft and squirmy as you're trimming along the face.
But it's done the job at that one break I bought it for; got barrelled out of my gourd in the very first session out there on it :) :) .... I still remember the feeling of coming out of the coolness of the barrel and feeling the sun suddenly warm on my shoulders as I came out from under the lip and onto the face.... I was so stoked I stopped paying attention to what I was doing, half-caught the outside edge and almost fell off the board. Imagine that; how the heck do you manage to fall off a bodyboard! :) :) :)
So how do you find the T-Belly's compared to your 7-7? What have you found the upsides and downsides to them to be compared to a bodyboard?
Hope you get to try that TBX out in the conditions you built it for soon! -> I wanna hear the ride report! And do you think you could do a side-by-side comparo of it with your 7-7 in the same big conditions?
Anyway, wishing a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all, & Cheers!
Thing needs a speeding ticket...
I would rather be someone's shot of whiskey, than everyone's cup of tea.
www.mattysurfboards.com
Yeah... but to do that, the surf-police have got to be able to catch up to him on it first.
... Good luck with that! :)
Biggest complaint that I, as well as others, have about finless body boards is that they fall out of steeper wave faces and lack solid projection out of bottom turns. The TBs, when finned correctly, don't have this problem. There is no sliding down the face or spin-out in turns unless the rider allows it. Read the "myPaipo" forum for arguments ad nausem about this topic.
really nice tomas!
Thanks Huck...p-boards are just another tool in the box for the OTHG. I'm so happy with the feel of this multi-plane bottom that you know I'm gonna have to try it on a larger scale. I have been intrigued with Boehne's deep-V Aussie '68 LB and Fowler's Stoker-V. Mani Caro builds his TPH up to 8-6. Multi-plane bottoms are just sooooo smooothe...befitting a more refined style of surfing that comes from having nothing to prove, and every wave to enjoy.
:) Thanks Thomas.
Any chance of you being able to post some footage of you riding some of your T-Belly's (particularly the TBX)? People can argue the relative merits of bodyboards verus bellyboards back and forth 'til the end of time,..... but the camera don't lie.
So I had a look look around for footage of people riding finned belly-boards. Heaps of non-finned paipo footage, but almost none of finned ones.
Best I could turn up was James Whittlesey's POV footage of him surfing one of your T-Belly's at Chicama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGU-bjJmYUY
Looks like it could be a fast board (keeps well ahead of the wave until the last few seconds), but it's hard to get a solid idea of how much faster it is (or not) compared to a shortboard or bodyboard from the clip without any footage of them in the same waves for comparison.
Am particlularly interested to see just how much in the way of extra projection you can get out of turns with the fins on it; it's one of the things I really miss while riding my bodyboard in comparison to my finned kneeboard & shortboard.
Cheers :)
James is riding one of my early Larry Goddard-style TB. That board had good speed but wasn't near as fast or reponsive as the TBG4. No video yet. You'd have to ride one yourself at this point.
:( Bummer.
'Still, you never know what might happen in the future; e.g. if you and Huck and/or Matt manage to get together for that surf session you were talking about here recently, and one of you had a camera with you, some footage of a modern TB might get captured after all.
After reading about Matt's Hulk, the Mi Gordita and your TBG4 and TBX around here, it'd be great to see them actually in action.
As for me getting to ride a TB, well, there's some leftover 6oz and epoxy down in the shed right now - have been intending to turn it into some fins. But if there's still enough remaining once I've got the fin sets I need out of it, I just might have to scrounge up some EPS and see if I can knock together a belly board to try it out for myself.
I wouldn't hold your breath on that one though - plenty of other stuff to get done before that happens.
Cheers!
Hey Matty I saw your recent post, then when I looked again it took a long time to find on this cursed I-phone.
Excellent good news on the board! No small accomplishment that, give yourself a well deserved pat on the back.
This firms up a few things in my mind. First and foremost, that these 'over-volumed big boy boards' can actually be ridden by smaller lighter guys (i.e. 170-175 lbs).
Normally it takes some transition time, but your son is skilled enough and has the right attitude to pick it up without missing a beat. Which also tells me that you could go bigger (volume) yet, a good thing to keep in mind for next time, if you should desire to add a bit more for yourself.
I paddled out into the shifty bumpy waves down here on my banana boat, and had a blast. They were tricky 'tho, lotta guys on shortboards not getting waves. So even down here the Hulk would have been a good call.
Can't wait to hear your version, but his take was worth hearing , especially that he stayed out 3 hrs! And then came in with thumbs up verbal report! I see what you mean about surprising which boards he chooses, hah. Was really curious to hear his reaction to seeing it, but riding it - and liking it! - tops all my expectations.
Thanks for sharing.
This thread has been quiet for awhile, hope everyone's gears are turning and some new stuff will be forthcoming! Maybe even some further (and more detailed) ride reports of the boards that have come out of this thread.
Seems to me the "old guy" performance board is still a field ripe for exploration. Don't know how "mainstream" these boards will become, but there is a definite niche for them! Rusty Big Cat and Monsta Chief and all the others mentioned earlier in the thread show that. And I still run into lots of older guys (and younger guys too) not really getting waves and enjoying themselves.
I started off making my own boards about 6 years ago, back when I was just getting back in the water. I didn't know what to make, or what I liked, so I just randomly picked shapes and tried to make them. Some of those boards were pretty fun, some were a complete bust, but it wasn't until I rode a longboard for the first time that things started clicking for me in the water. Meaning, more than anything, wave count.
But once I got the hang of getting waves, even in a crowd of younger guys, I started missing the old short(er) board feeling. I'm not a great longboarder, I catch lots of waves, but I can't really cross step gracefully, and walk the board constantly, and hang 10, or even 5, and do all that stuff that really good longboarders do. So I could work on that stuff, as a means to enhance my enjoyment, but what I really find myself wanting to do is bust some turns and maybe do a few floaters, and maybe pump a little down the line. So that's kinda been my goal, and the focus of where I want my "custom" home built surfboards to go, as a personalized wave tool made just for me and the way I surf.
As a backyarder, making just a few boards a year for myself, I don't have the feedback and constant progression of a pro shaper with a crew, so I pay lots of attention to what those guys say, and what they shape. Anytime I find a video showing a walkaround view of a board in side light, I'm on it like a hobo on a ham sandwich!
I try to find certain things I can utilize in my high volume shapes, and take note of the guys who are shaping higher volume boards, and how they incorporate the volume - stuff like Stretch's rail channels for example, which he combines with bumped decks and deck concaves. Good stuff! He didn't invent the rail channels or the deck bumps (step decks) or deck concaves, but he has surely had a part in bringing these once esoteric design features to a wider audience.
Today I picked up my high performance longboard in trade for my stubby, and got to see some of Mattwho's work firsthand - wow! The shaping shed is awesome, very neat and organized, and I saw the Incredible Hulk in person, and its way better than the photos. Just beautifully foiled and shaped. And now I own a Mattwho handshaped original, how cool is that!
Anyway, hope y'all are getting plenty of waves, having a blast, and keeping the faith. I managed to paddle out into some small but really fun peelers this morning, freezing cold wind and pretty cold water, but only a handful of guys out, beautiful offshore winter day. Surfing is the gift that keeps on giving, and as Tomas has said, no point letting the youngsters have all the fun!
...
No kidding!!!
Love your humor....
I would rather be someone's shot of whiskey, than everyone's cup of tea.
www.mattysurfboards.com
"All Quiet on the Western Front"
Well I'll chime in.....
Very Happy to see you...
A great visit...
But the best?
Seeing the STOKE you had for the 8-8 !!!
Gonna hit it in the morning.
10-2, Hulk NO kneelo...
Just need to "redeem myself".
Oh, finished the lam job...
deck nose.jpg
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I would rather be someone's shot of whiskey, than everyone's cup of tea.
www.mattysurfboards.com
Looking very clean and mean my friend!
Yeah buddy I'm stoked, had the fins in and leash on before the day was over, next week I should get the opportunity for some face time, haha
different horses for different courses, I just hope you get the right course for the hulk horse, cuz it really looks to me like it could be a heck of a race horse, work horse, and war horse, all in one.
Welp!
Got shut out!
Had tide and wind wired, on swell, oh well...
Dustin braved the shorebreak with his go pro.
Oh, for a laff....
Dustin's "Boy" Asher shoppin' w/ pop (Bra Zombie).
LOL all...
Mtty shut out.jpg
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Bra zombie.jpg
I would rather be someone's shot of whiskey, than everyone's cup of tea.
www.mattysurfboards.com
That shorebreak tube shot is epic - calendar shot!
Great trade, had the 8-8 out for the first time in some really good surf, thing flies! Need more time to give a more detailed review, but so far very happy / impressed with the board. Unfortunatey dinged it first time out, getting out of water, high surf high tide, got slammed into rocks during a moment of inattention, ouch! Not bad 'tho, just punched a small hole in the bottom, sore knees, and I'll probably be on KookSlam haha!
Puka, Puka
Glad to hear the stoke!
Yeah, it (the stoke) goes both ways.
I would rather be someone's shot of whiskey, than everyone's cup of tea.
www.mattysurfboards.com
Yeah, Huck, those hide-tide, big wave days are hard on us members of the OTHG. Hard to keep your dignity when you're crab-walking up the berm. Took a solid blow to the shin from a submerged boulder trying to exit at the top of the point. Never saw it, but felt it right away...More favorable tides start tomorrow. I have a customer that mainly surfs 8-0 to 9-2 boards. He just ordered an 8-8 "big fish" which was delevered today. Looks a lot like your 8-8 with a swallow tail.
By the way, any of you guys catch this clip in Huck's playlist?:
FANTASTIC little clip, eh!
Just goes to show what can be accomplished with a digital camera, a blue yoga mat, a white bedsheet, some kiddie toys....
.... and most of all, your imagination.
Something else to play with on one of those "no-surf" days.
Cheers :)
Sometimes exiting the water is the hardest part!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUEbE7bG3Y8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc_lyRzDpAg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceQ62qe2-7Y
and one more.... fuck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWcvwYKX8Cs
Ha!
Funny we time the paddle out.
I would rather be someone's shot of whiskey, than everyone's cup of tea.
www.mattysurfboards.com
Just a brief observation from today's session: I saw this old guy (i.e., my age) on a fairly short wide fat simmons type board. He was kinda slow getting up, at first it looked like maybe a beginner, but no, once up, he rode with style and grace, a real pleasure to watch, big old-guy belly and all. It was an inspiration to me, to see another old phart out there having fun, and doing it with style!
2 questions:
1) Was he riding better than you (I assume you were on the Mi Gordita at the time)?
2) If he was, did you paddle up to him to offer him a few waves on the Mi Gordita to see what he thought of it? -> depending on the outcome of this, asking him for the dimensions of his board could well be worthwhile...
... maybe even a starting point for Mi Gordita Mk.II :)
Geez,.... you've barely broken in Mi Gordita Mk I and here I am already getting you thinking about what the next version could be like.
Just plain incorrigible :)
Don't listen to me; just go and enjoy Mi Gordita for a good few months. Sounds like you've done well with it, so really savour that for a bit and really get to know the board....
..... and then... :) :)
By the way NomasTomas,
how's the knee responding to the workouts (hope it's come good for you by now), and have you managed to get the TBX/Manta out in the HH and over waves you designed it for yet?
Cheers :)
L.I.T. - I would love it if he wanted to take Mi Gordita out for a spin. His board was very similar to my Stubbie, which I traded because it was hard for me to catch waves with. He said the same about his board, fun to ride, but a little difficult to get in with, he commented on how many waves I was getting on the Gordita, said he noticed I was able to get in with just a few strokes. Like you, I'm already thinking ahead to my next shape, but I'm thinking more along the lines of Proctor's Monsta Chief. I really love the look of that thing.
I also have been thinking of stepping away from shaping for a bit, to focus on fins for awhile, and fine-tuning the many boards I have by trying some different fins and fin setups, and maybe adding some rail channels retrofit style to a couple boards. Not sure which direction I'll go, but either way I have plenty to focus my creative energy on.
Love to hear from NomasTomas also, I know Ventura has had some epic surf lately. I paddled out at Stables last week, the set waves were scary! (to me). The playing field there is just so much bigger and spread out than the L.A. spot I normally surf lately. I have been thinking about that awesome (green) longboard he posted awhile back, a few times I would have loved to had that thing out.
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update (rather than start a new post following my own post): I made a comment in Mattwho's thread about his outside the box Incredible Hulk. To be outside the box is often to be rejected by the mainstream, which is why a lot of that stuff does better over here in the underground, IMO. The surfing world is very trend and fashion conscious, the powers that be have a lot invested in the status quo, their minions are quick to attack or ignore the heretical, and they are the majority.
I have come to appreciate fatter rails, uncommonly high volume, and midlength planshapes for example, but my shapes are just too outside the box for most people to appreciate, so I kinda have to forge my own way, find what works for me, and not worry about the negativity I might encounter from those who follow the trends and status quo. I think that its a decision you have to make early on, if you're really gonna pursue creative design that isn't dependent on group approval. Nice to be an independent backyarder with no one to please but yourself, in this regard.
I know a lot of people think my boards are weird, and a lot of people at the beach comment that I get a lot of waves with them, but its all fun for me, and I'm no ripper. I don't really get a lot of waves, but it seems that way when I consistently get waves in a crowd, which is what my boards are designed to do. If I get three or four decent waves in a morning session, I'm good to go for the day.
To me the essence of this thread is pursuing design goals that are outside the box, with shapes that are also. I have no need or desire to force anyone to accept my design ideas, if they work for me then that's good enough. I appreciate the support and positivity of the small band of posters on this thread, 'tho, and that little bit of stoke goes a long way. So thanks for that, guys!
Oh yeah, and also wanted to add that I took the 8-8 Matty high performance longboard out again, and am continually impressed by how FAST that thing is!
It sure is a friendly looking board isn't it? :)
'Came across this earlier today and thought you might be interested in it, particularly if you're thinking of the next board being in the 6'something range: Simon Anderson talking about his favourite board the 6'4" "Early Bird".
Simon's 60 now and weighs 105 kg/231 lbs so there's more volume in the board than looks might indicate - apparently Simon had a bit of a "senior's moment" during the clip and the volume of the board is actually 36.8 liters rather than the 26.8 stated.
Mind you, it looks like a pretty lean board for an older guy, while you do like 'em nice and thick; so bear in mind he is an ex world-champ and he did say this is a board he can only really ride when he's physically in good shape.
So I'd agree with you in making something more Monsta Chief style for the M.G. II - if that one comes off and you're wanting to see just how far you can push the envelope in the shortboard-for-older-surfers stakes, then the dimensions of Simon Anderson's Early Bird could be a place to start in terms of what's technically possible.
From the sound of it though, that's a fair way off into the future - bring on da fins! Was hunting around for some fin core materials myself today, so hopefully I'll have something to show off as well soonish (fingers crossed).
Cheers :)
Huck wrote:
Thanks! I suppose, that being a revolution survivor
Hey I never surrendered!
I still expect changes.
And have not abandoned the search for advancement of surfboard design...
Huck also wrote:
This is a trill!
Very few acknowledge my work.
Report in on Paddling, turning and entry?
Ha! Takes a while to trust that rocker, yeah?
Quid pro quo as soon as the surf clams down, (stubby)
Todd is a successful out of the box thinker...
The "Monsta Chief" Volume and design...
Hold that thought....
I'm making a "Gun" for Dustin to replace last year’s 3 stringer job.
Same outline as the new "Lit'l Sis" only stretched.
Volume?
Oh yeah....
Maintain the stoke...
Big Sis 1.jpg
BIG & LIT'L SIS.jpg
BIG SIS NOSE.jpg
BIG SIS OUTLINE.jpg
BIG SIS ROCKER.jpg
I would rather be someone's shot of whiskey, than everyone's cup of tea.
www.mattysurfboards.com
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