Surfboards

[profkrispy]

In between surfing, riding, and extolling the virtues of the Law of Sines and the Quadratic Formula to teenagers on the edge of their seats waiting for their cell phones to vibrate, I build surfboards. Here are a few of them.



9'8" x 23" wide x 3 1/4" thick. It is a mix of ideas from Bob Simmons and George Greenough.



9'2" x 16 3/4" x 22 1/4" x 15 3/4" x 3 1/4". Similar to the board Nat Young rode when he won the World Championships in 1966.




6'10" x 22.5" x 3". Exploring having a little flex in the tail with the tapered, vanishing stringer.



6'3" x 20" x 2 7'8", similar to a board Richie West rode in "Crystal Voyager"

[Too Tall]

I'd have to make up a word to describe your impressive and beautiful work.
If I lived in SoCal I'd be your best new pal.

[themanmonkey]

Awesome. When I lived in Santa Barbara I use to have .

[crumpton]

i'll take the 9'2" seriously, just send it over. nice stuff.

[robin3mj]

I like the 6'10"- that'd be a good board for the parts of the Jersey Shore I surf...how is the stringer-less tail working? Is the intention to flex enough to hold the line down a fast, skipping/choppy face, or something else?

[profkrispy]

The 6'10" is designed for good point surf, think Malibu or Rincon, but it will work well in any wave that has some tension, and by tension, I mean any wave that has a down the beach as well as an in to the beach component. The flex tail is only really felt when loading and unloading out of a bottom turn, you get a little extra pop off out of your turn.

[54ny77]

nice surfboards! if you were in maui we'd come visit!

i'm debating renting a board today or tomorrow and going over to ho'oikipa to embarrass myself...

[tcbelise]

I'm really liking the 9'8 simmons-style. What kind of fin set up are you running, twin?

[profkrispy]

I'm really liking the 9'8 simmons-style. What kind of fin set up are you running, twin?

Single fin. An 8" version of this:

Clicky clicky

[tcbelise]

Nice volan fin! I've been switching to flex fins on all my boards (even the non-hulls) and a have been really diggin' the feel.

[themanmonkey]

profkrispy who are you using for your foam blanks? Has anybody filled to hole left by Clark?

[profkrispy]

In hindsight the demise of Clark Foam, though inconvenient at the time and for a few months thereafter, was the best thing to happen to surfboard manufacturing in years. Within a year after they shut down more surfboard blanks were available than ever. Granted, with them all chasing the same gremlins Clark had figured out decades before, I often felt like the various blank companies would sit around the coffee table on Monday mornings and trade problems. "Hey man, why don't you deal with crooked stringers this week, we're tired of them." "Cool, we'll trade you for holes in the foam and soft rails." Now that the water is settling many of the start ups are already gone but there are 3 companies here in California producing quality foam; Surfblanks America, Blair Foam, and the heir apparent to Clark Foam, US Blanks. Most of the boards above were shaped out of Surfblanks. Many shapers in our area use US Blanks primarily because they have a huge warehouse just down the street from the shop.

There has also been an even bigger push since Clark's departure to explore other materials such as using styrofoam blanks and epoxy resin.

[themanmonkey]

That's good to hear I left SB during the sky-is-falling period. My strong DIY streak has made me want to build my own board for a long time and used to spend a lot of time at Swaylock's forum. I remember reading about folks starting to use carbon fiber and new materials and it looks like new surfing tech is picking up speed.

[72gmc]

Prof, I don't surf but looking at your boards makes me wish I did. Simple, beautiful.

[mainemike]

very cool. juts very very cool

[maunahaole]

Cool article from the local freebie weekly paper.

http://honoluluweekly.com/entertainm.../ancient-surf/

[profkrispy]

There was a surfboard show in Ventura this weekend, Sacred Craft Expo 2010. I bought a booth, showed off and sold a couple of boards. My wife sold a couple of paintings. Here's some pics:




Happy customer.

[jclay]

The 6'10" is designed for good point surf, think Malibu or Rincon, but it will work well in any wave that has some tension, and by tension, I mean any wave that has a down the beach as well as an in to the beach component. The flex tail is only really felt when loading and unloading out of a bottom turn, you get a little extra pop off out of your turn.

What, "planing"...a little energy recovery from a strained state?? Nooooooo! It can't be (kidding, couldn't resist)!

All of the boards look VERY sweet. The orange one, is that by any chance leaning towards a mid-length Mini-Simmons exercise? And the LB with the lavender rails and Vee stringer - really, really pretty!

My sweethearts - 9-10 Con pin (Bruce G), 9-6 Anderson Traditionalist, and my 1976 6-8 Hank Warner Innerlight egg - really flat rocker aft, mighty quick. I need more. Wish you lived nearby.

John

[profkrispy]

The orange one, is that by any chance leaning towards a mid-length Mini-Simmons exercise? And the LB with the lavender rails and Vee stringer - really, really pretty.

Thank you.







Started with a 1967 template from one of George Greenough's Velo Kneeboards, drew the nose and tail with the template onto the blank then connected the curves with straight lines. Greenough and Bob Simmons never met but what's interesting, at least to me, is that one can start with a Greenough template and end up with a Simmons-esque board.





A couple more of the purple board, an 8'6" spoon.







There was another orange board at the show, a 9'4" spoon.

[profkrispy]

This is a 5'8" kneeboard project recently finished for a customer in Northern California. The fading stringer allows for some torsional flex in the tail of the board, providing some additional loading and unloading, some additional zing out of turns.

5'8" x 23 1/2" wide x 2 5/8" thick