Up late and thinking..geeez shouldnt do that.., but with Mark Richards closing the shop it got me thinking about board development. Now not having a big history in surfing, I may be way off base with somethings.
I seems the industry took major steps based on a few individuals

1- Bob McTavish..... development of the fore-runner to the modern shortboard
2- Mark Richards.... development of the twin fin (watched MR surf at Margret river Thriller..in a word.... once WOW)
3- Simon Anderson. development / refinement of the thruster
4- Murray Burton.... development / refinement of the quad??
5-.....................................................????????????

So what is or who is next??

As I said, I may be off with the names, please correct me
Curious here to see what others think?

Climber

George Greenough.......................short boards, fins, hot dogging, cameras etc The original grandmaster.

As for whats next I am not really sure.......but I would hope that we could make some significant breakthrough in technology at some point soon. For a long time we used the same old PU products - until the mighty blank operator closed his doors one day. In recent yrs expoxy and carbon strips etc have become more popular and some nice product has been launched. But given the age of this industry it strikes me that innovation has been pretty slow / poor on the product side of the equation. There have been some dramatic changes in shapes, designs, fins etc but the actual process of making most surfboards and the elements involved have not changed that much at all. Its time for someone to start thinking outside the box I reckon.

Me = development of the Longboard
































































































































































Forum

sorry, murry did not develop quads, refined- yes

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laceys lane said...

sorry, murry did not develop quads, refined- yes

So it was you mate

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laceys lane said...

sorry, murry did not develop quads, refined- yes

I'm pretty sure Glen Winton was riding quads on the tour a way back. They were making them at Byrne in the early 80s as well.

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smh said...

laceys lane said...

sorry, murry did not develop quads, refined- yes

I'm pretty sure Glen Winton was riding quads on the tour a way back. They were making them at Byrne in the early 80s as well.

bruce mckee( i think i have the name right) is credited by a lot of shapers as being the man.
cmc will correct me if i have the name wrong. he knows who i mean

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laceys lane said...

sorry, murry did not develop quads, refined- yes

thought that was the case LL hence the question marks on the post.

Curious..how far back does the beginning of quad development start?
Being a sailboarder from way back, we trialed them in the late 80's on wave boards but were found to be too slow and very very slippery. With board development and rail and rocker refinement today, we are back riding quads on sailboards (wave only)

Climber

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climber said...

laceys lane said...

sorry, murry did not develop quads, refined- yes

thought that was the case LL hence the question marks on the post.

Curious..how far back does the beginning of quad development start?
Being a sailboarder from way back, we trialed them in the late 80's on wave boards but were found to be too slow and very very slippery. With board development and rail and rocker refinement today, we are back riding quads on sailboards (wave only)

Climber

i saw a quad the other day that had the front fins with no cant- the back fins were canted- interesting

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smh said...

laceys lane said...

sorry, murry did not develop quads, refined- yes

I'm pretty sure Glen Winton was riding quads on the tour a way back. They were making them at Byrne in the early 80s as well.

yea glen would go out at pipe, get a few waves, come in stick a few more fins in maybe even add some to the tail edges of his board, go back out for a couple more and repeat, a real innovator, and may i say it was super fun growing up surfing with him and his bros.

Here's the back end of mine. The front fins are toed in with the back ones straighter. It looks a bit busy back there but it seems to work.

This list could be never ending a few i can think of with the other thread on hulls are bob Simmons and also with twins, swallow tail type fish's Steve lis, deserves a mention. http://www.surfmuseum.org/html/steve_lis.html

But if your talking changed an industry then gidget

I remember a fella in NZ having a quad way back in the late 80's when I was starting out - right around the time when Mr X used to flaunt those paddle gloves of his. I always enjoyed his surfing. He did really good at Pipe one year (think Robbie Bain was also in the final) which silenced a few of his doubters from memory. He was a madman!!!

Tell us some more Sharpie.......

I have 5 short boards in the shed - 4 are quads. One of them is a MB and I love it. A mate of mine has a 6'6" Silver Bullet quad which I reckon is the ultimate one board travel quiver for me. Ok in the smaller stuff and can handle all the way through to double over head. Perfecto as a light travelling quiver. In recent yrs I have been a fan of taking one board away - esp when I am away with work and will only get a few sessions here and there. Although I was glad I took two away to WA as I smashed up the POD one morning!

There was Ben Lexen that got the star fin going that Cheyne Horan was riding and every now and then I see one. Did anyone ever try one of those ? And what about that tunnel fin ? That seems like a hoax.

Just watch the movie / doco on Al Merrick called Flow. Apparently he invented everything!

No, I don't believe that, I believe all of it post redwood boards from the Duke were Aussie innovations.....

I have heard alot of people talk about MR for the twin, but have been told he was more famous for riding them...in no way was he the first to shape and use them???

just what I have heard

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smh said...

There was Ben Lexen that got the star fin going that Cheyne Horan was riding and every now and then I see one. Did anyone ever try one of those ? And what about that tunnel fin ? That seems like a hoax.

I had one in a SB years ago bright pink so you know the era,can't say it worked any better than a standard rear thruster fin

Cheyne's mom is a customer of mine and I've run into Cheyne in Bali a few times had a few beers,he gave me a yellow fin which I still have

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62mac said...

smh said...

There was Ben Lexen that got the star fin going that Cheyne Horan was riding and every now and then I see one. Did anyone ever try one of those ? And what about that tunnel fin ? That seems like a hoax.

I had one in a SB years ago bright pink so you know the era,can't say it worked any better than a standard rear thruster fin

Cheyne's mom is a customer of mine and I've run into Cheyne in Bali a few times had a few beers,he gave me a yellow fin which I still have

Well there's another keeper Mac

Its signed by him to me and he did ask not to sell it

I did post a picture a long time ago

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husq2100 said...

I have heard alot of people talk about MR for the twin, but have been told he was more famous for riding them...in no way was he the first to shape and use them???

just what I have heard

I read a good MR interview a while ago where he speak of getting boards from Aipa, Abillera and Brewer. They were making him boards and liked some features of each. He was shaping then and combined plan shapes, tail vees, flyers etc on the one board that was for him the perfect board for his surfing.

His boards I his words made winning the 4 titles like taking candy from a baby, loose and fast. He said they were a real advantage. He certainly did not invent them. That would belong to Bob Simmons I believe.

thanks cmc

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CMC said...

husq2100 said...

I have heard alot of people talk about MR for the twin, but have been told he was more famous for riding them...in no way was he the first to shape and use them???

just what I have heard

I read a good MR interview a while ago where he speak of getting boards from Aipa, Abillera and Brewer. They were making him boards and liked some features of each. He was shaping then and combined plan shapes, tail vees, flyers etc on the one board that was for him the perfect board for his surfing.

His boards I his words made winning the 4 titles like taking candy from a baby, loose and fast. He said they were a real advantage. He certainly did not invent them. That would belong to Bob Simmons I believe.

Bob and http://www.surfmuseum.org/html/steve_lis.html

I actually have a twinny 5'10ish Apia that predates MR making them, I believe Aipa was making them for MR before MR as CMC said combined the best bits from a few sources.

Yeah Bob Simmons was riding twin finned hydrodynamic planing hulls with concave and planing rails in 1946....

In 1949 he was making EPS cored, timber veneered sandwich construction, this is before PU foam!!!

He is credited as the father of the modern surfboard, only about 20 years ahead of his time..

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Ted the Kiwi said...

I remember a fella in NZ having a quad way back in the late 80's when I was starting out - right around the time when Mr X used to flaunt those paddle gloves of his. I always enjoyed his surfing. He did really good at Pipe one year (think Robbie Bain was also in the final) which silenced a few of his doubters from memory. He was a madman!!!

Tell us some more Sharpie.......

I have 5 short boards in the shed - 4 are quads. One of them is a MB and I love it. A mate of mine has a 6'6" Silver Bullet quad which I reckon is the ultimate one board travel quiver for me. Ok in the smaller stuff and can handle all the way through to double over head. Perfecto as a light travelling quiver. In recent yrs I have been a fan of taking one board away - esp when I am away with work and will only get a few sessions here and there. Although I was glad I took two away to WA as I smashed up the POD one morning!

ok ted here we go, when glen was playing with channels he wanted a bit more release i think, so he drilled holes on long angles right through the board toward the end of the channels and lined the holes with light aluminium tube, you could see water squirting out the holes through the deck of the board especially on big bottom turns. also a while after he started wearing the paddle gloves he would surf with a weight in his trailing hand, to try and get more drive if i remember rightly

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climber said...

Up late and thinking..geeez shouldnt do that.., but with Mark Richards closing the shop it got me thinking about board development. Now not having a big history in surfing, I may be way off base with somethings.
I seems the industry took major steps based on a few individuals

1- Bob McTavish..... development of the fore-runner to the modern shortboard
2- Mark Richards.... development of the twin fin (watched MR surf at Margret river Thriller..in a word.... once WOW)
3- Simon Anderson. development / refinement of the thruster
4- Murray Burton.... development / refinement of the quad??
5-.....................................................????????????

So what is or who is next??

As I said, I may be off with the names, please correct me
Curious here to see what others think?

Climber

'

Good topic Climber,

There are so many other names you can throw into the mix
Some that come to mind would be guys like, Wayne Lynch, Murice Cole, Terry Fitzgerald, MP, and so many more that at some stage have all played a part in the Boards ect, ect that we all love to use today. And that is just the Aussie guys.
Then there are the Guys that have pushed the boundries of surfing and open the doors for everyone to follow, Guys like Greg Noll, Lopez, Ian Cains, Shaun Tompson, Laird Hamilton, Tom Curren, Tom Carroll, Kelly the list goes on and on.
One can only imagine what guys will be doing in 10 - 15 years time.
A bloke that jumps to mind at the moment is Mark Visser, This guy ( and I am sure there are others ) is pushing alot of boundries of late and acheiving things that would make the average bloke hide under there bed and call for there mummy
My hat goes off to all these guys and many more for pushing the boundries and testing themselves and there equipment to show us all past and present what really is possible.
There My 2 cents.
Locky

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Locky24 said...

climber said...

Up late and thinking..geeez shouldnt do that.., but with Mark Richards closing the shop it got me thinking about board development. Now not having a big history in surfing, I may be way off base with somethings.
I seems the industry took major steps based on a few individuals

1- Bob McTavish..... development of the fore-runner to the modern shortboard
2- Mark Richards.... development of the twin fin (watched MR surf at Margret river Thriller..in a word.... once WOW)
3- Simon Anderson. development / refinement of the thruster
4- Murray Burton.... development / refinement of the quad??
5-.....................................................????????????

So what is or who is next??

As I said, I may be off with the names, please correct me
Curious here to see what others think?

Climber

'

Good topic Climber,

There are so many other names you can throw into the mix
Some that come to mind would be guys like, Wayne Lynch, Murice Cole, Terry Fitzgerald, MP, and so many more that at some stage have all played a part in the Boards ect, ect that we all love to use today. And that is just the Aussie guys.
Then there are the Guys that have pushed the boundries of surfing and open the doors for everyone to follow, Guys like Greg Noll, Lopez, Ian Cains, Shaun Tompson, Laird Hamilton, Tom Curren, Tom Carroll, Kelly the list goes on and on.
One can only imagine what guys will be doing in 10 - 15 years time.
A bloke that jumps to mind at the moment is Mark Visser, This guy ( and I am sure there are others ) is pushing alot of boundries of late and acheiving things that would make the average bloke hide under there bed and call for there mummy
My hat goes off to all these guys and many more for pushing the boundries and testing themselves and there equipment to show us all past and present what really is possible.
There My 2 cents.
Locky

well said. i got nothing on that,but did enjoy thinking i want to see this rip curl movie with all their spin out cameras