For those that like to see all the ingredients - here is a little something Neil Scheltema and I have been cooking up..just for starters..

Nice! Interested to hear how it goes

I am very interested in the rational behind the wide chopped off tail???

The tail is actually longer than planned as we needed to start at the positive end of the scale in terms of lift, and its easier to sand it off on the beach than add it on! 5mm came off each side yesterday then a further 5mm off the tail..still too much lift and not enough drive from the fin, although only a few knots off the pace..constant trimming with the rig and only pushing the fin to 80% - not scientifically calibrated ..just plucking figures.








Next step is to get some expert coaching on setting up the Ka Koyote sails I'm running..I'm not 100% sure I have got the best out of them..in fact I know thats a big factor, as is the fin selection. Will be consulting with Jesper on both tonight at the Windforce Slalom.

I anticipate another 20mm coming out of the tail..really wand as little board behind the fin as possible and back foot completely in command of the fin..

Hey Pete - construction and detailing is all my doing so I'll have to take the blame for that! Its a side affect of the anti-inflamatories I promise..
The arrow is a Neil Scheltema Designs motif.
There are significant issues with solar heat gain so these are not really viable for general consumption..

Am I right in thinking the tabs are just carbon cloth ? Nothing else inside ?

Do you add more cloth layers to the tabs or are they just the deck and underside cloth extended out so to speak ?

If you add more cloth how far onto the board (deck / tail / underside) does it lap ?

And how stiff are the tabs ? Rock solid ?


If you wanted to get thin rails on a large floaty wave board do you think a method like this would work, as opposed to say having 'normal' construction but with a stepped rail section ?

The side pieces are a prefabricated continuous carbon that have been cut to shape and bonded to the board after it has been PVC wrapped and re-shaped. Then outer plys bagged on in the traditional way - bottom first, lapping onto the deck, then deck. Deck plys are not lapped onto the bottom as this would affect the bottom shape too much, which is very subtly shaped, and yes they do sandwich the carbon extensions.
The carbon extensions are purely a sacrificial bottom that I can trim on the beach without compromising the watertightness of the board. We have just made them look sexy for fun. My son thinks the tail looks like a Whale Sharks mouth..pretty accurate description!
The side extensions are totally stiff. The tail extension started at 0.6mm and had some flex but now its trimmed back its stiff. Using chopped strand glass mat is equally effective - I just used what I had close to hand.
This idea of Neil's really came from the need to modify the board to find the correct trim, rather than building a new board every time he was not satisfied with the trim.
To answer your last question the answer is simply, yes. However that does not necessarily mean I have completely understood your question!

So here is a bit more on whats happening with the tail..

Here's a few more tweeks to the whale shark..