This is my latest board.
I finally saved up a few chunky EPS leftovers and joined them together to make this new board.
Working overtime at night in 8 degrees is not fun, that comes when you get to surf a new project!


6'10"x 32"x 117 ltrs a tough 8kg glassed with eglass. I tried this board out on Thursday/ yesterday when we had that bit of swell.
I was walking to the water with Plumber Pete, who was laughing his head off. You wont paddle that!!
He jumped on his 10 footer and I walked out to a bit deeper water for safety.
I jumped on board and the board was as stable as a billiard table!!
The above picture shows the variable rocker pod.


I chose a classic fish outline, I'm a bit conservative. Quad fins with riblets/ribtech for extra grip on this Bad Ass fish.
I describe riblets as reverse channels.
I got this classic planshape from an old 4'10"fish. I just plugged in the new measurements and let AKU do the scaling, Beautiful!!




RibTech!!



This picture shows the low rocker profile and thickness flow. This board has a chunky nose for added stability. I'm 95 kg and 60 years old. The fins are custom made by me.

This picture shows the thickness flow and how soft the nose is as well as how thick it is. The thicker nose actually adds an extra 25mm of rocker to the nose entry which is 120mm, the tail is 50mm. Because of the low tail rocker I could only manage 5mm of V bottom and still retain a spiral V which has concaves on each panel.

This could be my new favourite board for upto head high face waves.
One thing I have found is that this size board will take you to a new fitness level I call "Thighs of Steel"

I tried to show how fine the rail is in the above photo.

I always find that a picture of a new board on a car roof gives you a good perspective of size.

I have had about 5 hours of surfing the Sun Fish from yesterday and today.
I have been fine tuning this board already It felt a little bit to zoomy and thought it might be the fins sitting too far back.
But after this mornings surf I realised that the flex pod was too stiff because the rails were too thick. Back to the sanding bay for a quick rail reshape ( you cant do that if its a glassed board, not instantly anyway. )
I thinned out the rail volume on the flex pod, this made the tail flex more easily. What a revelation the board came alive!!
Thats why I think it will be my new fave for small waves.
I never thought I would be able to ride a Sub 7ft SUP.

It brings to mind a little essay John Messenger wrote about 5 or 6 years ago on Seabreeze. He was dreaming about a 6'6 SUP.

Well John its reality and it works.

Looking fw to a wee bit of video....
how tall are you as well? I too dream of sub 7'0",,,,
cheers

Nice job, and i reckon you are right to choose a retro fish design for this under 7' SUP
Can you show more about the Flex Pod

Welcome to the "Thighs of Steel" club, think about stretching thighs ( at least) anytime you come out with your new fave.

About the flex, in first i thought as you did about, it was too stiff but after getting use of the board and carving it after my thighs has been fitted, well i think it's OK. Just stay bend knees with a surfing stance after taking off and compress the tail before carving the board off the bottom.

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Tang said..
Looking fw to a wee bit of video....
how tall are you as well? I too dream of sub 7'0",,,,
cheers

I'm 173cm tall 5'8".
The surf was too small today for video. Video is always a problem no-one wants to take video when its pumping. I might have some tomorrow if the swell picks up tonight or on Monday.
I've been thinking about the Porchey73 gyro-gearloose helmet cam and have worked out how to do it just have to build it. That was some good self video using a go-pro on a helmet.

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Kami said..
Nice job, and i reckon you are right to choose a retro fish design for this under 7' SUP
Can you show more about the Flex Pod

Welcome to the "Thighs of Steel" club, think about stretching thighs ( at least) anytime you come out with your new fave.

About the flex, in first i thought as you did about, it was too stiff but after getting use of the board and carving it after my thighs has been fitted, well i think it's OK. Just stay bend knees with a surfing stance after taking off and compress the tail before carving the board off the bottom.

A couple of closeups of the soft pod for you Kami.

Pushing the boundaries .... love it

The main reason I chose a classic shape is because it is a classic shape with 40 years of design expertise behind it.

Look at the roundish full nose for example, sure its not your trendy Vangard style straight rail with a diamond of square tip but it has a lot more going for it than a Vanguard planshape.

Why?

The rounded ends at the nose are more forgiving, they allow the water to flow around the planform.

This is especially noticeable on late take off air drops.

You have been chasing that wave cause its a good one and you know a late take off over the lip is coming, go for it, drive down the face, the tail comes free and you land on the nose and slide it out a bit, the fins re-engage and your off, the crowd hoots, you have a big smile.

That front plan curve allows the boards nose to engage and rebound/ slide which allows you to make that wave.

Vangards are the flavour of the month at the moment.
I saw 4 this morning and all the riders were frothing.
I think the most important aspects of a board are rocker and rail line. Nose and tail are secondary.
It looks like you have managed the critical points in that board without the (look at me) square nose and tail.
I'd love to see that board with some serious channels but I suppose it wouldn't work with the flex tail. The riblets
look like a good compromise.

Really nice planshape. I was a bit afraid of the very flat tail rocker, but I guess the flex pod compensate for it.

Yes, 6'10" is becoming my favorite length too. Still some paddling ability, once the paddling technique is dialed in, but the rear foot falls naturally on the kick pad without moving the front foot around too much.

I think you can thin out a bit the front rails (the front foot), the idea is to avoid "blocking" the board then the nose is in the water when paddling or nearly pearling on takeoffs. Some belly / V in the first 6" - 8"may even aid in paddling without compromising stability.

Tights of steel, indeed :-), and calves of iron too :-)

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colas said..
Really nice planshape. I was a bit afraid of the very flat tail rocker, but I guess the flex pod compensate for it.

Yes, 6'10" is becoming my favorite length too. Still some paddling ability, once the paddling technique is dialed in, but the rear foot falls naturally on the kick pad without moving the front foot around too much.

I think you can thin out a bit the front rails (the front foot), the idea is to avoid "blocking" the board then the nose is in the water when paddling or nearly pearling on takeoffs. Some belly / V in the first 6" - 8"may even aid in paddling without compromising stability.

Tights of steel, indeed :-), and calves of iron too :-)

What surprises me, is first stability, then the paddle glyde.

The stability is very good to excellent, even at rest I have no problem. I don't have to continuosly feather the paddle and keep it connected to the water.

The paddle glyde is not very good when paddling out. I have changed my paddle style to a classic race style of paddling using much more of my core to propel me thru the water. This saves my shoulders.

When paddling for a wave I revert to more shoulder arms style, this gives me much more stability. The paddle glyde is far superior when paddling for a wave as the wave picks up the board very early and propels it forward.

The broaching we all get, is about the same as a longer board.

Colas, I have never been a fan of directional stability in the nose, EG: V nose. I like my boards to have an omnidirectional nose and get this feel with a high rail profile. You can clearly see this in the 5th picture down.

This morning was the first time that I have paddled this board in glassy conditions at my wave. All the other days were with a light westerly to a very unpleasant wnw freezing wind on friday. This produces bumpy conditions coming straight at you and up the wave face. You also have to contend with boat wake as we have a boat ramp and as it is a point wave you have to put up with backwash off the reef.

Stability is not a problem with this board. I was out for an hour this morning and didn't fall at all. I had to go home in my wetty and have shower to wash out the sweat!!

The rocker that I have used for this SUP was developed by me about 10 years ago for the 6'3 x 24" and 6'6 x 25" wide short boards I was riding then.

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smiitty said..
Vangards are the flavour of the month at the moment.
I saw 4 this morning and all the riders were frothing.
I think the most important aspects of a board are rocker and rail line. Nose and tail are secondary.
It looks like you have managed the critical points in that board without the (look at me) square nose and tail.
I'd love to see that board with some serious channels but I suppose it wouldn't work with the flex tail. The riblets
look like a good compromise.

Sure Vangard got pull back max width allowing a front rail line looking more as a thruster rail type.
But the old plan shape is forgiving while taking off( my 6'4" got the nose under water the first third of face while taking off) or reentry maneuver up down the soup at the end of cut back.
As well this traditional elliptic template is more stable in long turn, working as pintail do.
The reason i would like to jump on Vangard is the stability and non rowing ( or less) effect provided byVangard's parallel front lines but i still wonder about it, i need to demo it.

Anyway these two kinds of plan shape under 7' make me and can be a matter of style old school , new school

awesome, you guys. Love your expertise and passion!

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boardbumps said..

Colas, I have never been a fan of directional stability in the nose, EG: V nose. I like my boards to have an omnidirectional nose and get this feel with a high rail profile. You can clearly see this in the 5th picture down.

Mmm, yes. I guess the high rail prevents the blocking too. Kind of "flat belly" :-)

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colas said..

boardbumps said..

Colas, I have never been a fan of directional stability in the nose, EG: V nose. I like my boards to have an omnidirectional nose and get this feel with a high rail profile. You can clearly see this in the 5th picture down.

Mmm, yes. I guess the high rail prevents the blocking too. Kind of "flat belly" :-)

something we only dream of now!!

It has been so cold over here around 4C for the early water temp is still just over 20C.
What I have noticed early in the mornings is that the flex pod is stiffer than it should be.
Later in the day when the temp rises to 20C the Flex pod feels normal.

I'm continuing to tune the board. What I did today because of the cold problem, although I new I was going to do this sooner or later was to remove a 70mm length of the riblet from the flex pod. The pod feels much better now when I flex it on dry land. It was 26kts this arvo too windy and cold to surf. I'll see what happens tomorrow morning. The swell will be a secondary wind swell tomorrow the past few days have been a nice primary swell with a bit of run and push.

"I'm continuing to tune the board. What I did today because of the cold problem, although I new I was going to do this sooner or later was to remove a 70mm length of the riblet from the flex pod. The pod feels much better now when I flex it on dry land. "
XPE flexibility is changing with temperature (like bodyboarders know it ), I reckon take off by sawing the black stripe from the pod for winter .
Just an idea...

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Kami said..
"I'm continuing to tune the board. What I did today because of the cold problem, although I new I was going to do this sooner or later was to remove a 70mm length of the riblet from the flex pod. The pod feels much better now when I flex it on dry land. "
XPE flexibility is changing with temperature (like bodyboarders know it ), I reckon take off by sawing the black stripe from the pod for winter .
Just an idea...

The white PEVA I use is 60kg the black is 90kg and is for depth of vision for when you sand the tail shape, it is also for cosmetic looks.
The problem has been that the fibreglass and epoxy skin has become too stiff because of the cold weather. When the day heats up the epoxy/glass skin becomes supple again. This undoubtably happens (suppleness) when I put the board onto the 20C water. The air temp here has been around 2C at 6.30 am with plenty of frost.

I finally got some of the crew to take some video this morning, but it will take some time to edit it.

The paddle I use is the same paddle I have been using for the past few years and seems perfect. I don't need to adjust/ shorten the length at all.
I can paddle upto 5 strokes on a side before I have to change which is about average for the 8'2 I usually ride.

The first few waves this morning with the modified flex pod were fantastic, the board really came more alive in the pocket but still has tonnes of speed to scoot around the longest whitewater sections.

I made a new set of fins over the weekend so that I can get them a bit further forward on the board. The are the same size as the current ones.
Moving them forward really suits my surfing style, the board finally is very responsive I'm now having trouble keeping up with it thru turns. I just love that there is now no swing weight in the nose.
A quick 30mins late surf this arvo just before dark with just a couple out. I really felt at home, this IS my new goto board for upto head high face.

the pic above is the old fin position.





This pic is the new fin position




The new fin base is at the bottom of this pic. The old is at the top. As you can see I use quite a large fin for my fronts, the backs are size 5

Hi boardbumps, i report to you that 45cm for the leading edge of the front fin is a "must"to me.
Like your board , mine is my fave up to head high face.

Congrats with the board. 32" gives you the stability !
Fins on GONG Short SUPs are 50-52 cm forward
This is the way to go with SUP - SUP's won't be considered the old-age walkers of surf anymore.
Gong showed the direction, the world will follow.

Making it look easy in less than ideal conditions today Rod ! fins looking good & flextail woking well .

This should be the video link for a few waves of the SunFish SUP.

There is one thing that everyone that is viewing / thinking about these ultra short WIDE TAILED boards is that they are extremely wide at the pod.

Though some of them are narrow in the waist, the pod is very wide.

This limits the boards all round performance to mostly head high face and smaller.

A boards longer length does not increase the size of the wave that can be comfortably ridden because of the tail/pod width.

A seven foot board is not a short board by todays SUP standards.

Shredding old boy that board makes you look like you know what your doing

That looks like a real fun board. And thats what its all about.(fun)
Stays on the plane thru the fat sections too.
I'd like to see it in some hollow waves,it could be a real tube shooter.

Nice vid man, your board goes great

Hi Rod,I was interested in your earlier comments about moving the fins further forward as, it suits your style.It sure made the manoeuvrability really quite pronounced with the fins forward. Did it change glide and yaw in any way, better, worse, the same?
These posts on your sup design and performance are really appreciated.

Rocket.

Nice vid, we can see the board seem quite sane & smooth.

I like the low entry rocker, allowing you for a quick cheater five without pushing water :-)

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rodriguez said..
Hi Rod,I was interested in your earlier comments about moving the fins further forward as, it suits your style.It sure made the manoeuvrability really quite pronounced with the fins forward. Did it change glide and yaw in any way, better, worse, the same?
These posts on your sup design and performance are really appreciated.

Rocket.

G'day mate,

the boards glyde is mostly a function of length then rocker. This board has very little glyde when paddling, but as you can see in the video it has plenty of speed, stability and glyde around a long whitewater section when I catch up to the mal and have to do a quick cutback.

Yaw is more pronounced and is also a function of length, but I find that a bit of surface chop causes more yaw problems when trying to catch a wave.

I have tried to show the paddle out type of yaw early in the video, there is a fairly long section of a distance shot, showing me paddling and yawing. The shorter the board the more yaw. After a while you don't notice because you just auto correct, 3 to 5 paddles to the left then 3 to 5 paddles to the right this makes a straight line.

Moving the fins has just loosened up the turning rate of the board. At 6'10 it does tight turns anyway, but it is now a lot faster and flowing. You have to be very gymnastic to keep up with it. Another fitness level to be achieved.

This type of board is really very stable, you have to paddle it, to realise just how easy it is to stand on and not have to feather your paddle.
The video shows just how hard the wind was blowing the other morning, the wind started out lightish and just got stronger upto 15kts gusts.

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colas said..
Nice vid, we can see the board seem quite sane & smooth.

I like the low entry rocker, allowing you for a quick cheater five without pushing water :-)

I think I want a bit more really late nose lift, just to keep it above the chop. A late nose lift will also help when it submerges, what late nose lift does is force the board to rise up to the surface. The current nose rocker is good but it is a bit slow rising back up, the tip thickness also helps here as well. That should not hurt the nose rides.

We might get some good swell this weekend, so I could have some more video in some proper surf.

Thanks for the turn on the sunfish today Rod. Real fun on the knee to waist high peelers at Cabarita Beach.
This board has amazing glide like all your boards.(must be your secret rocker.)
Turning is real easy. Only complaint is trying to get a full rail bottom turn, the rail released before I could
drive thru the arc and up the face. Saying that its not a high performance board, its a FISH.
I'm 6'1" and 98kg. The board was super stable.
Its a must have board for the quiver.

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smiitty said..
Only complaint is trying to get a full rail bottom turn, the rail released before I could
drive thru the arc and up the face.

On quads, it may be because the rear quads are a tad big for your style. For inatnce I had this problem with FCS Q1 http://www.finshop.com.au/Products?Product_ID=211&cmd=Display on a 8'3" quad, but was OK with FCS GX-Q www.finshop.com.au/Products?Product_ID=214&cmd=Display

One option I have been told on wide tails is also to try to ride them as twins in the rear slots: thus the board let you time to sink the rall more before starting the turn, but have not tried it myself yet.