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airsail said..

Kamikuza said..

airsail said..
Just back from a session on my groove skate copy. Carved around off some chop, down the face and the board touched the surface, no probs, just scooped back up and kept going. No chance a flat board would do that.

How do you know? Have you done it with a flat board?

Yep, rode lots of different boards, short flatter rocker boards just plow in. Flat boards are probably fine flat water but when you get out in larger chop with lots of water movement they just don't cut it. Usable but not enjoyable and you need to compromise to avoid pearling.

Going "down" the "wave" or riding over chop?

I find if the nose goes straight in, rocker doesn't matter. It's going in ??

Generally, the widest part of the board in front of the front foot is the issue for me because it "catches" the edge and sucks in.

I've got a board now that's shaped more like a surfboard, designed for kite surf foiling and tow in foiling in waves....

Too long for you guys though -- 127 :D

Not much rocker in this board...

Rode this board today. Regular amount of rocker I guess, 127x48, 22L IIRC ... 12 to 16 knots on a 8m.

Shape of the front half is brilliant -- narrow rails less inclined to touch the water in gybes unlike the regular inverted tear-drop shaped boards, and when it does the board just rides it out without digging, sucking or bucking. Good for ploughing through chop too.

Back end will be a bit narrow for my size 12s until I'm used to it

Most of the mass is between the feet, so it feels like the 3'6" DC to me. Zippy and fun. Anyone want to buy a Dwarfcraft?

I make /sell these. I have had a lot of people wanting shorter boards because thats what others are riding but I think for me this is the right size I am 6 ft and 93 kg Board 130 x 47
I have medium nose rocker and have double concave in the nose which effectively adds rocker. At just over 2 kg I can't see the point of going shorter with regard to swing weight. Usually ride strapless but practicing transitions so have the straps.

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bigtone667 said..
Not much rocker in this board...

Ya, but Greg is a freak. He is quite inspiring and has been incredibly helpful to me. Love his riding.

My board of choice is my 120cm J Shapes Freeride board. It is super agile and. possibly more importantly, fits in the boot of my car. (My kite mate thinks I'm mad but I really like it that I can fit, board, foil, kites, gear full of tub in the boot of the car.)

I recently dug out my 155cm J Shapes and have been riding that on light wind days over winter. It is massively grin inducing. The sweet spot on that is about a mile wide. I can walk around on it up on the foil and put my feet wherever I want.

The greater length gives more swing weight which really rips the board around during low speed, almost stationary gybes.

Not sure about tacks yet. With the big board and a well powered up 10-12m kite I can swing quite happily through tacks. Yesterday I was on the little board with a 5m kite and the tacks were more vertical and more "foily" than the big board.

If I had only one board it would be the 120cm, but I don't have to and I am very pleased I have the 155cm.

A few weeks a did a practice run on a 9' SUP with a kite and foil. I wanted to see what wing surfing might feel like. It was stupid hard to get going (because you can't water start), but once I got it wired it was also very very much funny fun. The long board just swoops around in the breeze. Highly recommended for a laugh.

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dafish said..

bigtone667 said..
Not much rocker in this board...

Ya, but Greg is a freak. He is quite inspiring and has been incredibly helpful to me. Love his riding.

His wife and niece are also riding a similar style and boards.....

I am going to cut out a plywood blank (100x50), round the edges and bolt the foil on and give it a try.

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bigtone667 said..

dafish said..

bigtone667 said..
Not much rocker in this board...

Ya, but Greg is a freak. He is quite inspiring and has been incredibly helpful to me. Love his riding.

His wife and niece are also riding a similar style and boards.....

I am going to cut out a plywood blank (100x50), round the edges and bolt the foil on and give it a try.

Yup, so is his brother. They keep all that talent in the family :) The best part about them is the joy they share with each other. Big smiles, the aloha vibe all the way. Truly inspiring. By the way, you won't have any trouble riding the plywood providing it's thick enough. Can you get 25 marine ply? Otherwise it might flex too much. My first palownia board I made a little too thin in the nose section to create a little scoop like an old school Paipo but took too much out and it flexed. I look at vids of it and can see it flexing downward, which makes it extra dicey on touchdowns. ( I really did learn the hard way)....

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dafish said..

bigtone667 said..
Not much rocker in this board...

Ya, but Greg is a freak. He is quite inspiring and has been incredibly helpful to me. Love his riding.

Let's face it, no one commenting this thread is at a comparable level to this guy.

Most folk are mowing back and forth a few carves thrown in and some wave riding and occasional 360 or upwind tack at best which is all great fun and perfectly doable with a flat board.

Don't disagree that a bit of rocker can be handy but it is also a fun sketchy sensation riding a flat board, especially going fast down the face of a wave.

Has anyone tried bending an XPS board to make a decent nose rocker and then glassing/carbon epoxy it? I saw another thread someone knocked one together from a bunnings XPS board and cheap carbon cloth and it looked pretty decent, I'm considering trying that too.

^^^ Haven't worked with it, but I've had a look and a feel and the bunnings stuff seems a bit brittle and like it may turn to powder with too much compression. You'd be far better off sharing a sheet of 20-25mm divinicell (enough for 4 or 5 pocketboards depending on dimensions) with another builder or three. It will have better all round properties for shaping, lamination, and durability.

Hey have been making carbon pocket boards and wings from Bunnings Xps for a few years now ,Its cheap $12.50 a sheet.Easy to work with And to form a rocker ,strong never broken a board or wing ...Havent had a delamination issue yet .Maybe the prep before applying carbon cloth helps. (Use coarse sandpaper to scour the surface ) And use 2mm core mat( between the carbon) on deck pressure areas. .Give it a try its a buzz riding stuff youve made yourself .

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Rebelrida said..
Hey have been making carbon pocket boards and wings from Bunnings Xps for a few years now ,Its cheap $12.50 a sheet.Easy to work with And to form a rocker ,strong never broken a board or wing ...Havent had a delamination issue yet .Maybe the prep before applying carbon cloth helps. (Use coarse sandpaper to scour the surface ) And use 2mm core mat( between the carbon) on deck pressure areas. .Give it a try its a buzz riding stuff youve made yourself .

I'm keen to try building a board from this material. Are there any good videos showing the process? I.E - how do you add rocker? How do you reinforce the foil mounting area?

Hot wire mate. This is Bunn. xps sheet, alu bent and clamped for the rocker, wire goes on top of alu and cuts the foam.



However, nothing beats natural wood:






To build a toolset takes years. A vac pump is a must with a vac gauge, otherwise xps might collapse.

Or use wood and some hand tools and a lot of elbow grease;)

Just saying...

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dbabicwa said..
Hot wire mate. This is Bunn. xps sheet, alu bent and clamped for the rocker, wire goes on top of alu and cuts the foam.



However, nothing beats natural wood:

That's clever. Thanks.

I had a crack at Bunnings XPS, carbon layup and reinforcing the tracks.
All good so far. I went with 1200 long to help with noob touchdowns

Wow - nice looking board.

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DukeSilver said..
Wow - nice looking board.

Cheers mate. Appreciated

These boards all look awesome but I'm still confused about how to make the rocker but I guess as its so cheap I might just have a crack with some XPS and bits of wood and clamps and see if I can make the rocker I want and then glass it up. Good tip about roughing it up and applying prep before carbon cloth, I saw a youtube vid on a guy making an XPS surfboard that did the same, apparently XPS can have delam problems if left in heat as gas comes out of it, but not expecting that problem for me. Looks like it will be fun having a go and seeing how it rides.

Was interesting to see the new North foil board is a similar design to what a few people are making with the big scooped nose, only its about $1300 and has no gybe strap inserts in the front for learning tacks/gybes.

^^^ No need for straps, unless you want to race or jump. $1300 for a foilboard is insane.

I want to race and jump :)

Here is my bunnings version..... 100x45.




Four holes and some waxing to finish.

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bigtone667 said..
Here is my bunnings version..... 100x45.




Four holes and some waxing to finish.

What cost more?
the board or the paint?

16km, no crashes, floats funny, but works a treat.

Well look at that. You could have at least rounded the corners off :) ! Having one of those smack you in the face as you come off would not go down well. Saying that, it just shows you how important the wing is, and the platform less so.

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dafish said..
Well look at that. You could have at least rounded the corners off :) ! Having one of those smack you in the face as you come off would not go down well. Saying that, it just shows you how important the wing is, and the platform less so.

I run a router around all the edges to reduce the damage to me and everyone else...... The are no sharp board edges.

I am going to add two surfboard kick pads for foot grip. The wax is way too slippery.

I still have about 20cm I think I can carve off, So I might round the nose.

I think the rule of thumb is: the bigger the wing, the smaller the board.

Yep that's a real low volume board.
Love the creativity amongst the kite community.

Are hot wire cutters available to purchase or are they bespoke tools that need to be home built? I've just bought some XPs foam sheets and will try and create a jig for the rocker profile. Livit is a gun foil board builder so will go and see him soon for some advice on construction techniques. I'm excited and inspired by this thread and can't wait to have a go and make some mistakes.

That is awesome.

Mine is getting smaller (with foot pads)..



Left room to lose another 10cm.