Download this iPhone App

http://www.uquery.com/apps/327041514

 

A wonderful app from Swell Info.

 

I loaded Carolina Beach, Wrightsville Beach, and Holden Beach.

Vacuum Bagging Magic

Here is a video that shows how amazingly tough a board is when vacuum bagged.

Some conclusions drawn from two practice runs with vacuum bagging:

1) Thin vacuum bags work better than thick.

2) Be neat with the masking tape. It becomes your enemy when sliding the bag over the board.

3) I love pre-wetting the cloth on a table. Much neater and less wasteful of resin.

4) A vacuum regulator is much nicer to use than just venting with a needle valve. Safer too, for the board.

SE SUP Championship

Here are the finish times of the top racers.

Jeremy Riggs of Maui won.

Local boy Chris Hill came very close to winning. He lead most of the race on his newly acquired Holoholo, against some very tricked out custom displacement hulls. The top 3 stayed lined up drafting each other for much of the race. Jeremy spotted a boat wake and used his mastery of down winding to catch a runner and pull ahead by 100 feet, and that was the difference.

Coastal Urge put on another first class event. If you missed it, you missed another fun event.

The winner of each class.

Jeremy Riggs with his huge trophy. I wonder how that will travel on the plane home to Maui!

Lets Make a Deal

We'll be racing both these boards at Saturdays race. Let's make a deal. If you're curious, just ask and you can try either one. We're there for fun only. I've got no problem jumping off mid race and swapping boards. Or just ask after the race for a demo paddle. You won't find a cheaper way to get into down-wind racing. In case you're wondering why 14 feet, 14 feet is generally considered the minimum length for fun ocean down wind runs. At 12'6 you just don't get the glides or speed. Anything over 14 feet requires a rudder. 14 is the magic length for coastal off shore cruising.

Generally this is how to pick your race board:

1) Displacement (round bottom) hulls beat planing (flat bottom) hulls in flat water circuit races.

2) Longer boards are faster than shorter boards

3) Planing (flat bottom) hulls beat displacement (round bottom) hulls where planing is possible. Planing is only possible with wind or swell at your back. You cannot put a board on a plane with human power alone

So choose your style of fun. These boards are planing hulls designed for ocean down-winding.

Jacky's Board Gets a Workout - Again

Jacky on Jacky's board

Dwight on Jacky's board

The Race is this Weekend

 

Vacuum Bagging Practice

Trial run of my vacuum bagging setup. Some scrap foam and glass with a fake rocker jig inside the bag. When it happens for real, the rocker jig will be inside the bag. This locks down the rocker. My rocker jig has a 2" wide aluminum ruler screwed to the edge, creating a stable platform and smooth, precise rocker.

Busy Day Board Building

Rocker hot wired

Laying out template. Designed using AKU shaper software

Hot wire cutting template

Template cut done

Hanging tarp so I can make a huge mess

Shaping done, mess made

Finished shape

Why Quads Rule

I have been a quad fan since getting my first Stretch quad 2 years ago. I read the shapers forum daily and recently found some fascinating info from one of the grandfathers of quad. There are 2 or 3 shapers who are considered the grandfathers of quad by the industry. These guys are often used as the benchmark when another shaper jumps on the quad revival bandwagon. No joke, I know two stories about shapers who tried to copy Stretch boards and improve on them. The following quote from the shapers forum is not from Stretch, but another of the grandfathers sharing his knowledge of quads.

POST BELOW

Mr Champ KS (Kelly Slater) though, has been dabbling enthusiastically, open to info, is ripping and loves them. Funny how it will take a competition win to make the skeptics murmur their amazement and willingness to try one.. but which fin set up? Maybe the same as KSs (Kelly Slater) and where is that found...?

If you have a Thruster with an average sized set of fins... and you add an extra back fin of the same size to make a four fin..where does the sketchiness come from?
It can only come from incorrect fin placement.

Due to many shapers making quads with fin positioning as in 'the good old days' where the rear fins were close to the rail, certain problems arise. To counteract rail-grabbing when using larger fins, they reduce fin size which means the board feels OK when on a rail but when flattened off it has a skatey insecure feel. Toeing the fins in more also helps to counteract the rail grabbing but accentuates the twin-fin 'throw the board from one side to the other' feel as opposed to a smooth rail to rail transition.

Positioning the fins away from the rail at the correct proportion to the tail width at 12" up means that larger rear fins can be used, the board will recenter itself between turns in a more 'Thrusterish' manner but will have all the added benefits of increased drive and holding power. Have the back fins closer also allows for a greater pivotal feel as when the board in forced in a flatter pivotal turn, the back fins help each other to move laterally. Too close together and you lose drive. Too far apart in relation to tail width, too much hold and twin-fin effect. Due to the long standing negativity towards quads of the past, there has been a tendency to try to fit them into the fishy retro market.

Quads are though, logically a better choice for wider shapes, (Sub Vector) the true set-up for full on power surfing. No need to nurse bottom turns and always ready for slamming a full railed gouge.

With correct fin positioning all the same maneuvers you do on your Thruster can be performed on your quad and more.

Unfortunately for the established shaping elite's hierarchal order it's all a bit of a shake up and in some cases with the inquisitional members, a bit of an unwanted embarrassment.

Generally through the 'Thruster' era, having a large quiver of 'Thrusters' was a way to ensure that you had the adequate board for the size of the waves you were riding. To handle the high speeds of big wave riding, a narrower tail is needed to bring the center fin closer to the surface level of the water. You will no doubt remember, thundering through the bowl section light on a rail and feel your tail fin dropping out of the wave, your board drift and roll over and you eat shite.. Maybe it happened in a bottom turn when you didn't weigh the tail down enough to submerge the tail fin. Commonly occurs with standard short-boards of normal width and wider and even with guns. Are you double setting and nursing your bottom turns on large waves or 'two- wooding'?!. Tail fins too close too each other in relation to tail width are no good because they cancel each other out on a heavily back-footed turn and lack drive. Just as is the tail fin of a 'Thruster' no good too far back or forward or of the wrong type, creating a too loose or a too stiff or whatever board.

* Quads are faster due to having all fins driving through turns, or even just running across a wave face. All fins are propelling the board forward much like sails or propeller blades. This is because a board in these situations, is in a constant lateral drift and the water passing under the board, divides between the fins to pass out both sides of the tail while redirecting off the fins, rearward, to form thrust.

* The back fin of a thruster generally sits in the dividing line of this displaced water so provides no added speed but gives direction and control with a dragging effect....

With a Quad you can have looser but more secure guns as you can move the cluster further up the board in relation to the sweet spot. This is not possible with Thrusters as much because the tail fin will move further away from the rail line and will give the insecurity when it leaves the water. Often longer tail fins are used to compensate.

We compensate for the flaws of 'Thrusters' and only after riding a correctly made and correctly finned quad do we realize how limited we were with our three finned equipment. The limits with a quad will be your ability, and leg strength. You will drop into the wave late and with confidence and you will slam the bottom turn, either forward on the board or off the tail with security and added drive.

Like anything made, take your shiny BMW for example, if that wheel alignment is out and the tyres are wrong, it may as well be a shopping trolley. It has taken many years to suss out the nitty gritty, and there are so many variables with quads.

14 ft Race Board FOR SALE

Our all carbon race boards are up for sale. To be sold at my actual cost of materials. I'm allowing one to be taken now, and the other in about 4-6 weeks. Once one is sold, the other is off the market until I finish building the board I'm currently shaping. I don't care which board sells first, Jacky's or mine. If interested call or email. Contact info in my profile.

Cost of this board:

$175 foam

$200 epoxy resin

$250 carbon fiber

$50 E glass

$10 fin box

$16 Gore-tex vent

$110 pad

$49 fin

$16 cabosil

$20 Divinycell inserts for box and plugs

$896 total cost of materials

Race Board Progress Update

I used AKU shaper software to plot a new rocker template. I printed the template full size yesterday on an engineering drawing printer. I liked this rocker better than the one I created using the old school technique of plotting the curve with nails and a stick, so I remade all my templates today. Hotwire and rocker jig for vacuum bagging.

EPS block arrived today

Enough foam for 3 boards. Advertised density 1 lb, actual 7/8 lb. Typical of general construction grade EPS to come in with actual density at the low tolerance limit. High dollar surfboard grade EPS, from top US makers comes in at true densities. The cheap light stuff is perfect for light race boards made from all carbon.

Supplies shown below-

Carbon Fiber

E glass

Breather Fabric

Peel Ply

Vacuum Bag

Vacuum Pump

Epoxy

Plan View Template Changes

Here is the new race board template laying on my current race board. I trimmed some fat from the hips, and fattened up the forward area.

Everybody Surfs Jacky's Board

Z surfs Jacky's board

Dwight surfs Jacky's board

Brian Autry surfs Jacky's board

Dwight surfs Jacky's board

Nice!

Face plant

Join Me

Lets put together an order for custom sub vectors at Surf House. So we can avoid shipping cost. Shipping multiple boards is the same cost as shipping one board. Multi board shipments allow shops to spread cost out and not have to pass it on to their customers.

Jacky's board is so sweet, I need one, otherwise she'll never get to surf hers.

I'm going for the 9'6 Sub Vector using the stock width and thickness of 28 3/4 wide x 3 11/16 thick. The slight increase in length over my 9'3 will help when surfing the huge mushy inlet waves and the crazy light weight will allow it to still out perform my heavy 9'3 in smaller steep beach break surf.

If you'd like to see, feel, and hold Jacky's amazing board, just let me know and I'll drop it at the Surf House for afternoon viewing.

New Photos

Desperate man sneaking a ride on Jacky's board at the Cove

Oops, not looking to good

Paybacks a bitch

Boy these light boards snap quick.

z surfing the inlet last weekend

Z man

Z and CB1 lost in the inlet

CB1 swallowed whole

Inflatable Sub Vector- Sick!

I hope they are affordable!

Sub Vector Design Talk from the Man (Parmenter)

So, here's the ingredients for what I call a SUB-Vector:

*The planshape is more or less the same template as my original conventional Stubb-Vector line (dating from 1991) of high-performance 'hybrid' surfboards. This is comprised of a very balanced outline curve and a modernised version of a Michael Petersen-type Queensland point break stubby a'la "Morning of the Earth".

*The decks are concaved from rail to rail, and blend into twin tail footwells. Lower CG, more ergonomic and comfortable when standing, and gives the below rail profile; also, the footwells lessen tail volume and give enhance traction and comfort in high-G turns.

*To complement the scooped deck, the rails are all angular boxy rails along the lines of the old Brewer guns of the `70s. This provides a very crisp and sexy deckline from nose to tail, and the rail shape gives volume (and thus stability) when lying horizontal but grants a lesser profile and more penetration, more of a cutting rail, when laid over in a turn. The thickest part of this SUB-Vector design are the two rail extremities, thus making this design a sort of twin hull when it comes to stability------and combined with the planshape help keep the board from yawing when paddled hard on one side.

*Hard, tucked-under edges with a comparatively smaller radius that typical tanker or SUP knock-offs. This gives crisp handling and enhanced planing at lower speeds encountered in smaller or slower waves. Also helps pull the useable hull width to a maximum. There is some disagreement about hard edges versus soft in the surfing world, but all the fastest surfers and my personal favorites (MR, Fitzy, Reno, Lynchy, etc), all favor hard, crisp edges on their boards. All surfers who claim hard rails spin out are making the mistake of being too weak or unskilled to properly set the rails into the water and gain the ensuing holding power.

*Flat bottom rail to rail, and through to the entry and nose portion. Again, all about quick planing and fusing control harmony into the design. Flat bottoms feeding into harder rail edges and crisp vee panels are the least tempermental of all designs, and react the quickest from rail to rail. This is from the Brewer school and will never be outmoded. The 'exhaust' of water entering and then exiting the hull cannot be exceeded by any other planing hull shape.
*Scooped out inverted vee. This offers both the benefits of traditional flat vee panels with the added leverage of light concaves; the concaves also cut through the tail rocker curve and offer the water flow a straighter, more drag-free passage off the tail.

*The only thing the two newer models have that the 9'3" does not is the increased bottom rocker. This had to be curtailed in the 9'3" as it would have cut off a good amount of entry level suers who found it accessible.

So, what we have now is a range of boards bearing the same collection of components. The only difference is the lengths and volumes of each. Confusion has arisen only because the volume original 9'3" was tailored to bigger surfers, as sort of a gateway short SUP; thus, people think ithe SUB-Vector is just an oversized board. But my rationale is this: As a design, the 9'3" SUB-Vector was so short that it had to be bulked up. It has baby fat. As the line climbs up into the 9'6" and 10'0" range they lean out and rocker up and become more versatile.

The new models are emphatically NOT just for me and Brian and Todd------they are meant for the widest possible intermediate/advanced demographic that is looking for Level II of their SUP journey.Think Bruce raymond and guys like that. 160-lb guys will rip on them becasue they are so refined, but the volume and width and rail profiles will accomodate surfers up to 220+ lbs of intermediate ability. Because they are around 29" wide and 4" thick they will work for a much wider range of abilities than our other boards in the size range to date. However, because the boards are composed of so many potent features, they will be rippable for even us guys. These are the best boards I have shaped, bar none.

So, the Sub Vector line is not a fat boy's board just beccause the 9'3" was over-volumed: It is a series of highly-tuned SUP surfboards each bearing the same collection of unique-to-the-field components.

For Sale - Jacky's old Board

Jacky's 9'0 bat tail C4 is For Sale. $700

Jacky surfed it a lot and it still looks beautiful.

For 2 years this was the only production board on the market low enough in volume, width, and thickness, for children and women to surf safely. Everything else is too corky for their body weight to have proper control in surf.

If you want the wife or child to have a good time out there, this board is their ticket to happiness. Trust me. Most paddle around on battleships that will kill them someday.

Jacky's new board had to be custom made to get it small enough. $1700 if you want to go that route.

The Rocker Stick - Template

With the hotwire template now finished, it was time to transfer the rocker to this 1 x 10 and make my rocker stick. The rocker stick is laid on the bottom of the board during vacuum bagging to verify the rocker is still true.

This must be done because the board will be shaped from 1 lb foam with no stringer. Therefore the blank will literally be a limp noodle. At times you feel like a dog chasing your tail trying to hold the rocker. You spend endless hours laying the rocker out to perfection on a piece of masonite. Then you cut the masonite to create the hotwire guide. You hotwire the blank as clean and perfect as possible, then the blank flops around like a noodle.

When it comes time to laminate (glass it) the weight of the epoxy alone bends the blank. Due to the length, it takes 3 adjustable height shaping stands to bend the blank back into the correct rocker during lamination. This is when that rocker stick get used.

3rd Gen Race Board Project Begins

Here is the bottom curve being laid out.

Here is the deck curve being laid out

Template done and ready for cutting

These boards will be all carbon and vacuum bagged. I'm in no rush, so I'll be working only when the weather is ideal for working under the house and not much good for surfing. Estimated completion date is some time in October.

Since my last race board project, I've been in touch with a few blog followers looking forward to this next one. I'll be more detailed and frequent with the posts as this project continues.

I will also make an effort to track my cost better. I think you'll discover it's a lot more expensive, and a lot more work, than you think. That Naish Glide 14 footer may look like a steal after you follow this project.