Board #3 Started and #2 Almost Done

Board #2 (my board) with deck lamination done. Carbon deck is reinforced with scraps from doing bottom. Board was going to be yellow, but that was scrapped. Now it will be painted white like a pop out. Thanks go out to Blane for helping me avoid some mistakes. Blane's a regular on the shapers forum.



Board #3 (Jacky's Board) with carbon bottom laminated

All CARBON

All carbon bottom and rails on this one.

I did my first downwinder in HIGH wind this afternoon. The wind was SW 35-40 mph.
Now I get it. I was catching runners and surfing swell 1 mile offshore. I was falling constantly. It was super challenging, and definitely the next big thrill in stand up.

My board worked fine. I'm glad I didn't get that XP Vortice. I don't think I could handle the narrow width of that board in today's conditions. My next board, with 1/2" extra width in the middle, and a wider tail, should be ideal for today's conditions.

It took 20 minutes to go 2 miles. Normally that run takes one hour on my sub vector.

C4 Microsoft Video with Jacky

Jacky made the final cut. Look for her at the 3:07 mark, behind Brian. This is the video Todd invited us to join during our vacation in Oahu. It's amazing how slick the final product is.


C4 Waterman Rides the Wave to Success, Use Technology to Double Business

Race Boards 2 and 3 Shaped

Shaping is done for boards 2 and 3. Shown here just after applying spackle. Fine sanding tomorrow.

Race Boards Number 2 and 3

Jacky and my race boards are hot wired and ready for shaping tomorrow. These two boards are the REAL ones.

The first one I built was just for practice and testing. It will likely be sold for the cost of materials.

These FINAL boards will be clear lamination's, with all carbon bottom and rails, with color in the deck. Carbon will be inlaid under the paddle stance spot too.

Jacky's has a narrow tail, with overall width at 27 1/4". Mine is 27 3/4 wide with wider tail for extra stability. Thickness was reduced to 4 3/4 from 5" on the first one.

I'm Glad the Finbox is Strong

I took the raceboard for a downwinder today. The wind was blowing hard, then died 5 minutes into my run. Crap! I need wind to catch runners!

Anyway, when I finally came ashore, I caught a tiny piece of swell (not a breaking wave) and it took off like a missile. I was going so fast, I figured I had no chance to stop gracefully. I ripped my leash off while screaming toward the beach and bailed. The board flew up the beach without me. My need to spaz out was prompted by the urgency to get in while I could. The sets were huge today. I came ashore during a brief break in the sets.

Brad and I paddled out CB inlet this morning for a downwinder. BAD IDEA!

The wind in our faces combined with the relentless swell coming in the inlet made it an endless nightmare of waves. It would have been way smarter to paddle out straight off the beach and be free of the waves quickly.

I turned around once we made it to the buoys and downwinded back down the inlet. I was able to catch swell and get rides pretty easy. The board is FAST and GLIDES. But it also pearls big time. It's definitely a better flat water racer. I need to make some design changes for the next one.

Kiting was great though!

Race Board Photos

It's almost done. After these photos were taken, I sanded it one more time. It will get repainted tomorrow evening for the final time, I hope!



The deck pads are NOT stuck down yet

New Blogs to Me

Here are some blogs worth checking out.

http://carolinabeachsup.blogspot.com/ A new blog from one of the CB surf crew.

http://lifeamphibious.blogspot.com/ A fellow kitesurfer and SUP surfer. Some interesting stuff on this one.

My Board Design Details

Below is the Bill Foote designed 14 ft race board. This is a board everyone who tries it, loves it. Including Stoneaxe, who participated in the Kenalu Raceboard Showcase. This is Rand's board from the standupzone. He had this one built after one demo on a similar board. Rand's prior boards were the XP Vortice, and several custom SIC race boards. So it was high praise coming from a guy with that extensive quiver history, to say he had to have this Foote board. That was my first clue to go with a windsurf rocker. Foote is an old windsurf board builder, so I assumed the rocker had some windsurf knowledge in it.


Another photo of the Foote, in process of being built.


My template was copied from this photo. This is the new F-14 production board. Considered one of the hot new fast boards for the coming racing season. It was very easy to print this photo, determine the scale, then take dimensions right off the photo. I wanted to use the F-14 template instead of Foote's wide tail template, but still wanted the clean release square tail, so my tail is square, but only a few inches wide at the back. It was my belief the narrow tail would make my board faster in non planing conditions, than Foote's wide tail.


My rocker was created by measuring a windsurfer. The windsurfer I measured was shorter than 14ft, so I had to project that rocker out farther to see where it ended up. Once I had that info, I compared it to this standard blank available from American Blanks. The rockers matched from mid point back. The nose rocker on the windsurfer was way more. Therefore I added 2" of nose rocker to this blank. Width was reduced to match what the top production race boards are doing. Between 26 1/2 and 27 wide.

Next I looked into prone paddleboard rockers to see how flat they were. These are the boards made for California racing. They use 1 1/2" of tail rocker. I didn't want to go that flat, because my board was designed for swell chasing. This just confirmed I was where I wanted to be with 2" of total tail rocker from the mid point (7 ft up).



This is how I created it. I'm stoked it turned out fast as hell.

Water Test of the 14 ft Race Board

It's FAST

The board has exceeded my wildest expectations.

This was definitely worth the effort.

It felt fast upwind too. Amazing, because until today, upwind always felt like torture.

Sorry about the iphone photos. I was in a rush to get on the water.

Here is Brad coming down the waterway.


Here is Brad passing by.


Here is Brad trying to stop. You actually have to throw on the brakes with this board. It glides fast.


Next step is to actually finish the board.

It still has round soft rails in the back, and the bottom still hasn't been sanded perfectly flat. So it's going to get FASTER.

FYI, the sharp rails in the back of a board are built up using tape and resin. That will be done later this week. Then it needs some paint and a deck pad.

This was the quick and dirty test, just to see if this was a waste of time. I'm thrilled to know it's not. Now I'll order fiberglass for board number 2 and start shaping that one next week.

Stability and volume feel perfect in the flat water. I'll do an ocean downwinder tomorrow evening to confirm everything is OK for rough water.

The board is 26 3/4 wide.

I saw a huge school of sharks tonight circling in the eddy currents where Snows Cut meets the Intercoastal. Needless to say, I didn't paddle at that spot.

Done Sanding

Daylight Savings could not have come at a better time.

After sanding, I fixed the few places I sanded through. If I don't find any places I missed tomorrow, I just may water test it.

I'd like to make a test run while we've got the SW winds blowing.

Later in the week I'll paint and deck it. For tomorrows test, I'll rely on booties for deck traction.



The neighbors were staring at the redneck sanding in his driveway.


Finished weight is 29 lbs.

Garage Built 14' SUP Update

Sand coat curing now. Sand tomorrow. Water test next weekend.

My New Board Brand

This logo will be on my new board

Why I'm Building a Downwind Board

http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=48247&whichpage=3

40 knots at your six and no land in sight. Just you and a few buds swell chasing the perfect storm.

Follow the link and read the story of these Aussie swell chasers. Be sure to read page 2 and page 3 of the post.

New Rocker Jig Design

This rocker jig is built from gas spring parts. A gas spring is what holds the hatch open on your car.


The white channel is from the shelving found in your bedroom closet. The bungee adds stability prior to tightening the wing nuts.


Click this photo for details on the exact parts to buy and the cost. I used www.mcmaster.com to get my gas spring parts.


http://ncpaddlesurfer.blogspot.com/2007/12/rocker-jig.html Here is my old rocker jig based on a popular design found on the web. It's OK for goofing around, but is useless for serious work.

My new rocker jig locks down secure and precise. I can map the exact profile of a rocker.

Our Future

Get on board or get out of the way because SUP is taking over.

Day 3 - Garage Built 14' Race SUP

Shaping is done. A big thanks go to my surfing bud Igor for lending me his F2 windsurfer. The shape is windsurf inspired, not surfboard.

What a mess it made of the garage!


The final shape, ready for spackle