Saturday 9 September 2017

Asymmetrical :: 5’10” x 20 1/4” x 2 1/2” :

Why asymmetrical ? Well, neither humans nor waves are symmetrical. So in a lot of ways asymmetry makes more sense than 'regular' boards. Plus no board is 100% symmetrical in the first place. 


Top and bottom of the finnished board with the preferred fin setup. Designed for a natural footer the forehand side is setup with a single keel fin. The wing also helps to pivot off when doing turns. The backhand rail setup as a quad for a smoother and easier turning radius on your backhand. The feeling is sort of a combination of twin fin flow and quad fin speed with a touch of thruster manoeuvrability. Whats really nice is the feeling on your forehand as you transition out of top turns. The arc tightens and you get a sling shot going from the inside twin rail to the shorter outside quad rail. Overall it surfs really smooth and not weird at all considering how it looks.
The 'snake eyes' stripe design on the bottom is a durable vinyl application designed to ward off predators. Check out talisbru.com


This hopefully shows how the outline is blended together. Essentially taking the best design elements from forehand and backhand boards.


Here is a pic of the shaped blank before it was glassed. Shaped from a stringerless blank it was great to integrate the concaves, channels and rails. The one side has one fin and two channels, while the other has two fins and one channel. The rails are slightly different with the forehand generally a bit more pinched. The shorter backhand rail is a touch fuller as your heal transfers weight and initiates turns easier than your toeside. 

Sunday 13 August 2017

Colour laminating a Hippie Fish (all photos Ian Thurtell):


Preparing the outline on the deck for the rail laps, adding and cutting the cloth (6oz).


Adding the colour starting with the lightest and building on that to create the tie dye pattern.


Working quickly now (its resin not paint!!) once all the colours are added to get those laps nice and tight. See how the board came out 2 posts below.
Thanks again Ian for taking such great photos in the resin fumes. YEWWWW

5'6" Squid Fish


Had fun shaping this one, even more fun with the resin tint. Trying to create a cosmic blast type thing. Messy but happy with the end result.