well , it has now beeen 'launched' . Yesterday .
At Lancelin [an hour and a bit Kombi drive from 'Hicksy's] .We were in the water around 6.30am.
I surfed it in waist high peaks up and down the beach . Pretty empty , and offshore .... woohoo !
Paddling out , I noticed the difference ! [ having ridden my 9' mal for the last few weeks. ]
But , duckdiving was JOY !! [Could really SINK it under !]
5'8" [just!] x 21 1/2 x 2 1/2" feels fun , actually ! [kind of like my wide skateboard , with loose trucks ]. Especially since I rode it as a single fin setup [7 1/2" deep fin] first.
Got 5 lefts kneeboarding .
5 lying down [as per Amby's example].
Then , 10 or so standing up ...mostly lefts !
The slightly concave deck , and the decent amount of nose rocker , felt nicer than my 'prawn' , which sometimes bogs the inside nose rail in sucky lefts' takeoffs.
Backhand , it felt really nice off the top ...reminded me of the Nedlands bowl on my wide skateboard ...glidey, fast , highline speed .
It will be interesting to try this as a twin fin . And also as a twin keel .
Yesterday, I mainly wanted to feel out the holding power of the single fin , and the rails , and the difference with the nose rocker.
Later , (unfortunately just as the sideshore Northerly blew in [around 9 / 9.30am ish ?] ), I tried it with these bonzer runner-type side fins , but the waves were by then a bit mushy to really tell .
....Anyway ,
I'm STOKED with how it went , so far !!
I can't wait to get it in some bigger waves , and try the two-fin setups , maybe that's what I will do with this board ...work my way from one to five fins , and report back here from time to time.
...to be continued....
ben
Hicksy , Lavz and I mainly just surfed for the first hour or more [as you do when you see a fairly empty beach with peaks !!] So , we didn't really get any photos for a while......
As we brought a few boards with us , I also rode a 7'6 funboard of Lavz's [ and got a couple of fun waves on that !!] , had one wave on the 'moonrocket' [before the leash loop pulled off !] , and also rode a 6'8 thruster on a couple ...
oh...and did I mention ? ...it was 40.2 degrees C . [104.5 degrees F]
Wed, 2006-02-22 03:25
#1
Hey Ben!
Thanks for the report. I'd be all enthusiastic if I weren't so jealous (got a bad case of "the flats" at the moment).
Look forward to hearing your updates - I'm hoping to build something fairly similar in the not too distant future.
thanks for the REPLY , Doug !
it's always nice when the moment of truth arrives ...paddling out on a board made by our own hands , and finding that it works to our liking eh ?
It will be interesting to see if less or more paddles will need to be taken with this size board once the surf gets shoulder to head high. [I rember Simon saying , with his 5'5 at L.A. that he would basically get pitched with [under] the lip and pull in. He is a better surfer than me , though ...I'd probably get flogged attempting the same thing !]
I'm thinking deeper twinnies or quads than I've used in the past on my "prawn" , too , to hold in the wider tail. It will be interesting to compare them , as my back side plugs are a LOT further back on the "bushfire/ fireball" , than they were on the 'prawn'.
'Research' to look forward to , I guess ?!
cheers mate !
ben
i'm stoked for you!
was the 6'8" thruster the banksy? how'd it go?
nup , it belonged to the girl who "reshaped" the mal's blank ....
rode it with this setup today ....
the backwash was making it difficult , but on two lefts , the drive off the bottom [backhand ] AND off the top felt nice .
The rights were not co-operating today , unfortunately , so I got to surf it backhand for an hour or so.
It was nice to give a new fin setup a go , anyway ! [ and to have scarborough to myself again] . Marginal conditions , but hopefully the forecast swell increase and offshore winds may eventuate tomorrow , then I can have another crack at it !
cheers !
ben
1015429_a ben\'s homemade quiver2006.jpg
1015430_a ben\'s homemade quiver2006 2.jpg
Great reports, Ben. There is NOTHING like riding a board you made with your own hands and the thing WORKS. WAHOOOOOOO! Mike
cheers Mike !
I rode it in some rights today , for three hours .
Good to get it going ....
Bottom turns felt smooth , top turns very short radius .
Didn't seem to want to slide out at all , which is good.
It was setup with the canard quad setup again this morning ....
ben
Well, I rode it as a single fin today .
My favourite set up so far.
That may just be because I have always enjoyed and had single fins . ( I think the test will be in a month or so , hopefully , when our autumn swells and banks 'should' really be established .....)
ben
[autumn = "fall" , I think ?]
i'm stoked for you chipper! single fins are ofcourse the best possible fin setup ever....
haha !
I hope you don't come across Simon Anderson surfing Avoca Point one day , Josh ...
Pages