Wellfleet Supathalon

Attention all you east coasters!! I hope you’re getting your piece of the Cape Cod Bay Challenge activities. The Wellfleet Supathalon looked like a real blast. Brother Bob did an Animoto slide show of the festivities. These guys put on a hell of an event, and it’s all for charity. Next up is the Charles River paddle, which sounds like way too much fun, though having grown up in Boston, the notion of actually touching Charles River water seems totally foreign, but I guess it’s really cleaned up these days. Challenge on the Charles, July 17thhttp://www.capecodbaychallenge.org/Race_Series/race_series.html

I’ll be flying out to the CBCC on August 14th. I hope Bob has got me a decent board this time.

Here’s the slideshow.

Ross Island SUP Series

All you folks in the Northwest, get out your paddles. Gorge Performance of Portland, Oregon is organizing a three race Stand Up Paddle series in the Willamette River, paddling around Ross Island.

I fully intend to be there, paddling my guts out. You’d think they’d have a geezer class. Bob might look like a kid, but he’s not that much younger than me.

The flatwater course is approximately four miles, circling around Ross Island. Here’s the basic information:

Race dates: May 8, May 22, June 12
Location: Oaks Amusement Park http://oakspark.com/
Registration at 9 a.m., racing at 10
4-mile course around Ross Island
4 Divisions: Under 14, Under 12’6, Women, Elite
First race is $30 and includes a tee shirt. Subsequent races are $20.

Gorge Performance
503-246-6646

Surfrider and the Wllamette Riverkeepers will also be there. If you don’t have a board, you may rent from us for $20 (our 4-hr rental rate). PLEASE check our FB page for continuous updates!!!

Gorge Performance has been around since 1983–I bought my first “high performance” windsurfer (an Aitken rotomolded 10 footer–hot stuff!) from Bob a few weeks after he opened. They’ve been in the middle of windsurfing, kite surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding and now Stand Up Paddle Surfing, jumping in early to any edgy sport. Still stoked, and still crazy after all these years. Always a good place to go for expert advice and the right products.

Maliko Video

Another cool post from Bill Boyum–some video he shot of his friends Jason and Campbell on a typical Maliko day. This is one of the best camera angles I’ve seen. Maybe Bill can get some good video on a big day. It would be nice to have some Maliko shots that actually look representative.

Maliko Run–Bill Boyum from Babcock on Vimeo.

Jason and Campbell recorded on their F16s at Maliko on an average day.

Stand Up Surfing Waimea

Corran Addison is a is a South African slalom canoer, white water kayaker, Stand Up Paddle surfer and designer/founder of ECO Imagine Surfboards, now based in Montreal, Canada. He’s in Oahu chasing waves and decided to take on the North Shore’s legendary Waimea Bay during a big WNW swell. Here’s his story from an email he sent me:

I got to surf Wiamea bay again this morning, Valentines day. This is my second time surfing the wave, and it was generally bigger the last time I surfed it, but the swell was saying 10ft Hawaiian though there were a few rogue sets closer to 12′.

I only got one wave today, an average sized one for the day, but as always it was a thrill. This time I had a 9′ Enigma, rather than the 8’5″ Cutback that I had last time. The board was better, but the conditions were much harder. Choppy and surgy, it was hard to remain standing while waiting for sets, so I sat down a lot while waiting. This was my first mistake.

After about 30 or 40 mins of waiting for the right wave, suddenly all the surfers started to paddle frantically outside. I jumped up and spotted a huge rogue set coming in. I paddled and paddled as fast as I could, and made it barely over the first wave, a giant monster with a face well over 25ft. Behind it was a bigger one, and it was already jacking up. I paddled and paddled again as hard as I could, wishing I had a longer faster board, and this time right as I was going over the lip it began to break. I dove over the lip as I reached the top, hoping my board would follow. It did. As I broke the surface, my heart sunk as a third even bigger wave was looming towards me. I did what any idiot in my position would do. I dove down as deep as I could, swimming frantically until I got to the end of my 9′ leash.

Then there was a massive jerk on my leg as the wave broke right over the board, and felt myself take off backwards underwater like a victim from a Jaws movie. Rag dolled under the water, my leg feeling like it would get ripped off, I began to hope the leash would break or the dual leash plugs would pull out.

I was not so lucky. Eventually the pressure came off, and I swam to the surface, breaking for air just in time to see a wave looming over me. Before I could even react to dive under, it broke almost square on my head, knocking the wind out of me, and once again, the board took off dragging me deeper and deeper. 10 seconds… 15 seconds and finally the pressure backed off, and I swam to the surface, desperate for air.

One big breath, and I began again to turn to dive under as yet another wave broke just outside of where I was. I got one or two kicks under before the wave crashed into my board, and I took off again being drug backwards and down. Why won’t you break I thought. Serves me right for making such a strong leash and leash plugs. Finally, I popped up, and looked out.

The set was over, but I could see the next set looming, approaching. I jumped onto the board and began to paddle frantically towards the channel. The first wave was approaching fast, a rider on it already, the inside broken. I knew right then that I would not make the channel, and another beating did not appeal to me. Dropping to my stomach right on the tail of the board, I gripped the paddle, and waited for the impact hoping it would belly surf me out in front. I could not take other set on the head!

Luck was with me, finally. The wave crashed into my back, engulfed me, and then spat me out like a bar of soap. Edging over, I angled for the channel and rode it out as the wave faded. I jumped back up, and paddled as hard as I could until I was well into the channel, where I sat back down, panting, dizzy and humbled. Looking over into the path of the incoming waves I saw the surfer who’d been stuck inside at the same time as me, swimming for the beach, one piece of his shattered board washing into the rocks, the other no where to be seen. I considered going to get him, and then though the better of it. Another beating like that I was afraid I would not survive. I will let you know that he finally made it in.

As I sat recovering, the channel slowly took me back out into the lineup. I sat there a good 20 or 30 minutes, just watching the guys getting waves, good waves, thinking… I don’t really want to be out here any more. My board is too short and wide and rockered for this… and I was no longer in the mood to get trounced like that again. So I sat and waited until finally a wave with my name on it appeared. Coming right at me, jacking perfectly for my position, about 10′ (close to 20′ face), and clean. I jumped up, spun and paddled my ass off onto it, taking the drop, bending my knees with a wide stance, bouncing and jumping across the chop until the left closed out and crashed like thunder next to me. I stayed on, making the drop, and rode it in to the beach, where I began the dicy and technical game of getting in through the famous Wiamea shorebreak.

Another 10 minutes of careful waiting for the perfect moment, and I paddled in, jumped off and ran up the beach before a shore wave took me out.

I had given my camera to this family on the beach and said that if they got a chance, to take a pic of me. They took just one, right as I was paddling onto the wave, before the autofocus went mad and they stopped shooting. That’s Ok… they got the shot as I was dropping in. A fair reward for the beating I took.

And that’s how I spent Valentines day.

Corran

PS I’ve also pout in a shot from the Waterman Sunset Beach World Cup

Standup TV: Modalities of Stand Up Paddle Surfing Vol 1.2

Anyone in the sport more than a few days knows that Stand Up Paddling is not just about surfing. Stand Up Paddle boards are probably the most versatile human powered watercraft extant. People surf, tour, fish, sail, race, swellride, kite, run whitewater, camp from, and dream up new things to do every day with stand up paddle boards. In this segment Dan Gavere, Chuck Patterson, Dave Kalama and Rob Rojas explore the equipment and skills in various SUP modalities.

Standup TV: Women and Fitness in Stand Up Paddling Vol 1.3

Women are embracing Stand Up Paddling in great numbers. While there are plenty of great women surfers and all-around waterwomen embracing the sport, it has also emeged strongly as a fitness and exercise method that is also a great deal of fun. In this episode Candace Appleby, Gillian Gibree and Rebecca Jakeway talk about the sport and fitness of Stand Up Paddling with a specific emphasis on SUP for women.

Standup TV: The Industry of Stand Up Paddle Vol 1.4

In this segment Stand Up Paddle industry players like Jim Terrel, Steve Bohne and Charlie Burnwell discuss the growth and impact of SUP on their business and the water sports world.

Standup TV: The Art Of Stand Up Paddling Vol 2.1

The art of stand up paddling. a fine session at Oceanside with Noah Shimabukuro, Chuck Patterson, and Colin McPillips.

Standup TV: Chuck Patterson on Surfing Vol 2.3

Chuck Patterson is one of the most dynamic surfers in Stand Up Paddle surfing, and a powerful racer (winner of the 2009 Battle of the Paddle). In this episode he shares some of his Stand Up Paddle surfing background

Standup TV: Colin McPhillips on Equipment Vol 2.4

Colin McPhillips is a three times world longboarding champion. He’s been hooked on Standup Paddle Surfing for some time. Here he talks about how he started, and the equipment he prefers.

Standup TV: Slater Trout on Racing Vol 3.1

Years ago Mark Raaphorst of S.I.C. said “keep an eye on Slater Trout, he’s the future of Stand Up Paddling”. How right he was, not only is Slater a talented SUP surfer and all around waterman, but he shocked everyone with his wildcard performance at the Battle of the Paddle Elite race, taking second and strongly contesting for first, leading for much of the race. In this episode Slater gives tips on flat water racing.

Standup TV: Whitewater SUP Vol 3.2

Our Hood River buddies Dan Gavere and Nikki Gregg talk about whitewater SUP with some nice footage from the White Salmon river and other whitewater venues

Standup TV: Flat Water Touring Vol 3.3

Jeff Warner of Legends Surf Shop talks about flat water paddle touring in Carlsbad Lagoon

Standup TV: Gillian Gebree Vol 3.4

Gillian is a lifeguard, surf instructor and fitness expert. In this episode she give great tips on exercises to help you Stand Up Paddle Surf better.

Standup TV: Gary Lopez Vol 1.1

Stand Up Paddle Television started airing last year as a special segment of My Local Lineup TV on every third week of the month on iTV San Diego, channel 16, covers everything stand up paddling, from surfing and flat water to down wind and white water. While airing to about three million people in San Diego County, the show has now launched Stand Up Paddle TV, with all of its episodes, on the web. We will be carrying all the future episodes on Ke Nalu, and we’re catching up TODAY on all eleven of the episodes previously aired.

The episodes probe into several different facets of the sport, including history, profiles, industry, fitness, and more. Among some of the names already featured in the show are: Gerry Lopez, Chuck Patterson, Colin McPhillips, Slater Trout, Dave Kalama, Jamie Mitchell, Candice Appleby, Dan Gavere, Donald Takayama, Ron House, and the list goes on.

Here’s volume one with everyone’s favorite king: Gerry Lopez

How NOT to Launch

Just in case you were wondering, this is not how a boat should be launched

Grumpy About Gerry Lopez

This is really irritating.

A few weeks ago someone on the Standup Zone (http://www.standupzone.com the best forum for Stand Up Paddle Surfing around, including the little forum here on Ke Nalu) mentioned the book Fierce Heart: The Story Of Makaha and the Soul of Surfing. My friend Kaweeka pointed out some local Hawaiian controversy about the book, which was enough to pique my curiosity. I went to Amazon and ordered a copy. So far, I’d have to say it’s everything a book should be–fearless. I’ll get to Gerry in a minute. But here’s my take on writing.

Everyone has their own unique view on the world. That usually doesn’t matter much until you sit down to write something. But a book, or any writing for that matter has to reflect the writer’s view of the world, or it’s worthless pap. You can’t write a book that your Mom won’t be embarrassed by. You can’t write a book caring that your friends might consider you a perverted whack job. You have to write fearlessly, or you’re a hack and your book is crap. Stuart Holmes Coleman wrote both this book and “Eddie Would Go”. Both are fine books. Eventually the people he wrote about will understand that he loves and respects them, and wanted to tell their story the best way he could. I think he did that. I haven’t finished it yet, but so far, so very, very good. They have warts, he talks about them, but they are all HUGE people, and if I’m very lucky I’ll get to meet them.

On to Gerry. While I was on Amazon I noticed Gerry Lopez’s book, and bought that too. So here’s the short version. If you care about great writing, stop reading this and buy this book. If you care about surfing, stop reading this and go buy this book. If you’d like to see how life should be lived…well, you get the idea.

But I’m pissed about this book, really pissed. I can live with the fact that Gerry Lopez is an infinitely better surfer than me, and an infinitely better Stand Up Paddle Surfer than me. But I’m a relatively new surfer and he’s been surfing all his life–that’s understandable. I’ve been writing all my life, made my living writing stuff. And he’s a far better writer than me. That pisses me off.

Pick someone you think has a modicum of sensitivity and an appreciation of elegance. Your significant other will probably do. Read them this passage:

“The summer wave off the little point of the bay at Pakala still spins perfectly around it’s arc of shallow reef, just as it did before my grandparents lived there, or later when a child looked up to notice its ample grace.”

Damn.

2009 Stand Up Paddle Race/Distance/Downwinder Showcase Part 1

We chose an odd day for our showcase–a Tuesday–but we were running out of time and Maui Canoe and Kayak Club had a race scheduled for the weekend that included Stand Up Paddle boards. We assumed most paddlers and some of the boards we wanted to test would be committed for the weekend. Alan (shapeshifter) Sidlo was here from Chicago to participate, and my brother Bob (stoneaxe) Babcock was here from Boston. So we went with Tuesday.

The plan was to do some Battle Of The Paddle-style loops around the flags at the canoe beach in Kihei. Have lunch on the beach and then do a downwinder with a lot of board swapping. On the beach we had some of the most interesting race and downwinder boards available. the weather wasn’t cooperating, and some of our testers had conflicts arise. Ah, well, we wanted to make this small, it looked like we were getting our wish. But we’re getting ahead of the story…

Monday: Weight and Measures and Freezing in the Pool

But first, the weighing and measuring. We decided we wanted to see how these boards measured in the water. The Penetrator was the impetus for this craziness, since as soon as you look at it you can see that it’s critical measurements vary with the amount of weight it has on it. We decided to put a standard weight on each board and measure it in the swimming pool at Ponohouse. I have to say that it was a bit of torture–the pool is only heated by the sun, and it’s been cloudy and cold lately. Bob assiduously avoided getting wet, Alan and I did all the in-the-water work.

This video shows our highly technical process. weighing boards by weighing ourselves on a highly accurate genuine Weight Watcher ™ scale from Costco, then picking up the board and doing it again. Note to Mark Raaphorst, the banging of your lovely F14 on walls and such sounds a lot worse than it is–it hit the hose of the outdoor shower handle. Bob also shows his true colors and admits he has no intention of getting in the pool. This from a guy who paddles with icebergs on the east coast. Gets to Maui and turns wuss.

Here’s more fooling around and some underwater shots of the molded F14 race board from Sandwich Island Composites (SIC). Notice how the planing hull has a flat entry across the nose of the board. Notice also that the full width of the board provides stability. Compare this to the Penetrator 572 pictures later.

Penetrator in the pool. the board has a completely different profile when it’s unweighted vs. weighted. This board was made specifically for my weight (250) and even the 185 pounds we placed on it (Bob’s wife Sue plus a bag full of dive weights) left quite a bit of the nose standing clear of the water.

Measuring the Penetrators waterline. It looks in the video as if we didn’t pull the tape tight, but we actually did, the video shows the tape after the measurement was made.

Measuring wetted width. the Penetrator has deck width of 26.5″, an unladen wetted width of 22″, at 185 pounds it’s 24″ and with 250 pounds it’s 24.5″.

Bob, figuring out the scale–a slow process. Michi, I swear, all those bumps and bangs sound MUCH worse than they were.

Next time, we hit the beach and discover some startling things about racing boards.

Stuey’s Story–The Penetrator

Stuey Campbell designed and built the Penetrator racing boards, a substantial departure from the design philosophy most racing board builders have been taking. I asked him to tell me a bit about his background and why he built the board the way it is. Here’s the story in Stuey’s own words:

Where do I start? I sit here with a skin full (that’s what we say here In OZ) of Dark n’ Stormys’ a potent brew of Queenslands finest dark rum subtly blended with our best ginger beer. It’s a mighty fine drop which promotes among other things rational and lucid thinking!

How do I begin the Penetrator story? “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” been done before? Damn it. “Man first arose from the primordial muck”, too early? Oh well. How about a 7 year old Stuey Campbell, with hair that never quite sat properly asking his Dad one September morning if he let his 12″ long model square rigger go now, if it would beat the fleet in the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race. “If it gets out into the 2knot southerly set of the East Coast Current, you’d have a fair chance” was his reply as my early craft, built from scraps from the yacht club rubbish bin, blew briskly from the wharf.

“How fast do you reckon she’ll go”? It’d covered the first 50 metres in record time. “Son, her hull speed will be limited to 1.34 times the square root of her waterline length” My young mind grappled with the calculation but I could already see that my small craft was pushing water.

The sophistication of my models marked time with the advancing years but who was gonna let a 10 year old design his yacht? My 11th birthday and all this changed. Sure I loved my 5’3″ Gordon Woods S-deck, it had a really trick yellow and green resin bleed on the bottom but it had a fat, badly repaired round tail. It had to be fixed and maybe I could improve things a little. Out came the grinder, “just turn your head away if you start gettin’ hit” said my Dad as I turned the round into a diamond. Whether my attack improved things is debatable but from that point on I was making my own.

Planshapes, rockers, rails, fins and their interaction with the water became all consuming and school grades slipped in direct correlation to my becoming a straight A student of the ocean. The line outside my shaping room door grew ever longer and I was only 14, there were no mathematical equations or reasons but I seemed to be developing a “feel”. After a short stint at G&S, I was taken on by Terry Fitzgerald at Hot Buttered who was instrumental in developing my “tool use” but all along my design ideas remained my own.

1991 9’7″ triple stringer Hawaiian gun

The ensuing years saw the evolution of the modern shortboard through all it’s twists and turns. More often than not I found myself at odds with conventional “wisdom”, I’d sometimes view the latest innovation and that little voice inside would say NO and it would be discarded immediately. Sometimes I’d just look and that “feel” would just tell me it was all wrong. Sometimes I’d feel like a freak, coz’ I couldn’t even fill out a tax return yet I could just look at something that was supposed to flow through the water and instinctively know it wouldn’t work. All sorts of ocean equipment became second nature whether I rode them or not, shorties, longboards, kneeboards, paddleboards, sailboards you name it.

photo 5- Surfing a swell on a fast 28′ trimaran off Mooloolaba, Queensland

A love of boats and sailing first planted by my Dad had flourished and grown and I’d found myself spending more time on them as the years went on. Small  repairs led to bigger jobs led to building yachts. My brother and I built a 36′ cat, it was way fast and I spent countless hours laying on the forward trampoline, just laying there, watching what those bows did as they sliced through the ocean, watching and thinking. I spent many years drifting between building ultra-fast sailboats, mostly cats and tris and making all manner of surfboards.

The 36′ catamaran that I built 12 years ago with my brother, we covered thousands of miles in this and I learned an awful lot from this boat.

Another shot of “Catscan” on the Noosa River

A little over 2 years ago Woogie Marsh mentioned between paddle building and ding repairs that stand up paddleboarding in Hawaii had morphed into a new direction, distance and downwind. He wanted to get into it, mostly as cross-training for his outrigger work. I was all ears. What were these downwind boards like? How big were they? I could instantly see the potential, I’d been downwinding all my life, ‘cept on yachts, it was the best, most fun you could have sailing and I wanted in! At the time in Australia we had nothing, no one was making them and the biggest available blank was 12’3″. Upon scouring the net all I could find was the early F16s from Hawaii and some Eaton paddleboards from California. I only had limited photos to go by but from what I could see, in my opinion they were attacking it from the wrong direction. That “feel” was talking to me again.

First up, polystyrene and epoxy were the go, anything else would be too heavy. To this end we ordered a massive block of foam. 16′ seemed a good length to start and I hand drew and cut some profile templates for what was to become the first Penetrator. I had a vision in my mind of what I wanted to create but the question remained, will a stand up paddler be able to remain upright without expending too much energy doing so?

1st 18’8″ Penetrator 572 with carbon frame layed up prior to glassing

The first board was built and immediately named the Penetrator, it wasn’t what I wanted and indeed I thought it was a tad ugly but we had to start somewhere. Initial tests proved that stability on this type of craft would not be an issue, freeing me up to progress to stage 2. The next board proved a quantum leap, I pulled in the planshape and rolled the bottom considerably, the improvement being so substantial that board no.1 was renamed the “seaslug”. Stability only decreased fractionally and we were on the right track.

Attaching profile template prior to hotwiring another 572

The idea had always been to design a SUB more along the lines of a racing ski or OC1 and given that these craft as well as the rudderless va’as are the quickest paddle powered craft in the ocean I was somewhat surprised that others weren’t following the same path. Other designers were all engaged in seeking the optimum, more surfboard like, planing hull. I could understand their thinking, I was even skeptical at first as to whether a stand-up paddler could remain upright on the radical board I had envisaged.

photo 4- Bottom of 572, carbon frame, pre-glassing

The thinking I had in mind involved a narrow kayak-like hull that didn’t rely on skimming the surface to attain maximum speed, it wasn’t to be a planning hull at all but what we generally refer to as a semi-displacement hull. It would cut through the water with little disturbance and maximum glide requiring minimal energy to power. Whereas the commonly used planning hull requires a large energy input to perform to it’s optimum (ie. on the plane) which quite simply cannot be done by even the strongest paddler. In fact the only time that the planing SUB will hit it’s peak is when on a runner (riding in a swell), so when not running but operating under paddle power alone, the rider is quite simply dragging an inefficient hull around the ocean. I further reasoned that the superior paddle speed and glide of my design, due to it’s low drag hull, would allow it to not only pick up runs easier and stay on them longer but also pick up runs that it’s slower planning cousin may miss. That was the theory, all that remained was to find out how far I could push the design parameters before stability became an issue.

572 in the bay

If the first of the Penetrators hinted I was headed in the right direction Nos.2 & 3 really drove the point home. These boards were 16’4″x 27 1/2″x6″ and the bottoms were rolled substantially more than the 1st board with little lost in the way of stability although I was still sure I could push it further. I had also increased the depth of the deck concave with the aim of lowering the riders centre of gravity. Shortly after creation both these boards were given a “baptism by fire” as Woogie and Chris De Aboitiz made a valiant attempt to paddle around Fraser, the largest sand island in the world. Even though their circumnavigation was cut short by violent headwinds, the boards proved themselves by handling all conditions thrown at them. It was extremely satisfying to watch from the support craft as the boys nailed 140 miles in the first 3 1/2 days till nature threw in the spanner. Still it well and truly showed what the design was capable of as well as implanting some new ideas and advancements.

Woogie at Fraser Island

After Fraser Is. I made Woogie a new board, another 16’4″ that he was to race in the 16 mile ocean marathon at the Noosa Festival. This time I pulled the width in to 27″ and went all out with the bottom rolling it as far as I dared. I was now happy with the shape as it was real close to what I had originally envisaged. It was light too, glassed with the carbon frame I had been working on which consisted of a central strip of carbon Unis, top and bottom as well as a 6″ wide strip which encased the rails, giving it the perfect amount of flex and longitudinal strength. This was wrapped up with a single plain weave 4oz. bottom and double on the deck although this proved not quite durable enough and we went back to a 6oz. skin. The board flew during the race in unfavourable sidewind conditions and a small lumpy swell with Woogie coming in around 2 miles ahead of 2nd place, the previously unbeaten James “Billy” Watson riding a Vortice XP. The Penetrator 16′ underwent some very minor changes over the following months and Woogie paddled them to another 3 clear victories but I had some new ideas in mind, starting with a significant jump in length.

Woogie bending a paddle

Skimming on flat water

My son Ryans’ fiance Elle paddling a 14′ non-race Penetrator

An order for a big bloke from down south came in and it didn’t take much persuading to sell him on the idea of going 18′+. We had our Guinea Pig and I set to work, at this stage I had a new and undeveloped steering system in mind that I thought would be advantageous, if not essential for a board of this length but the customer was quite happy to go without. The Granddaddy of the fleet, the Penetrator 572 was born and at 18’8″x 26 1/2″x 7″ it required me to draw and cut a whole new set of templates and profiles as an increase of this magnitude rendered the 16′ ones useless, it simply wasn’t possible to stretch them that far.

I also dropped the nose rocker by an inch and pushed it further forward as the 16’4″ hadn’t been making full use of it’s waterline length. The 572 is a massive lump of board though I was pleased to get the weight of the first one down to around 25 pounds (though I knew subsequent models with the steering system would come up on this). Woogie performed a clandestine test-run while the customer remained blissfully unaware in Melbourne before shipping it off to him. The results of this short test proved spectacular with Woogie immediately claiming a huge speed increase, somewhere in the order of 30% over the superseded 16′ model. We’d also used the test run to judge where to place the foot peddle for the steering on Woogies soon to be constructed 572.

Creating the new steering system was a mission in itself as I had to start from scratch and hand-build all the components as well as figure out exactly how I would get it to operate. It’s kind of still a work in progress as I keep improving both it’s mechanics and construction. PonoBills board was only the 2nd one I had made and still houses a bug or two but these are only minor and I’m well on the way to getting them sorted.

Fine tuning the bottom of a new 572

Penetrator 572 with partial c-frame and steering gear installed

Another development on the new 572 was the addition of two channels on the deck which start at the back of the concave and run off the tail, the purpose being to help expel any water that may be trapped in the concave, some of this water is also removed through drains in both the steering peddle well and carry handle which run aft and exit through the bottom of the craft.

One other feature of the Penetrators which differs dramatically from the norm are the rails themselves being virtually an upside down version of what most other boards are running. The hard top edge and soft undercut of the rail shape serves two very important purposes critical to the boards performance. First being that, narrow as the board is at 26 1/2″, that’s at the top of the rail, because of the undercut, where the board actually contacts the water is a very speedy 23″. This, combined with it’s waterline length gives us a length to beam ratio of around 9.3 to 1, well inside the magical 8 to 1 figure around which point seacraft cease to produce a significant bow and stern wave (one of the physically limiting factors for maximum hull speed). Secondly as opposed to a board with a  typical rail shape which is at it’s most stable when in the bolt upright position, the Penetrator, while a little tippy when upright, becomes more stable the further you tip it over, which when you think about it is precisely when maximum stability is required!!!

Since it’s creation Woogie has raced the 572 model in 2 races, a 25 mile relay race which he, along with partner Danny Sheard won by around 4 miles and a solo 16 miler which he won by about the same distance. Between the 16’4″ and the 18’8″ Penetrators they have an unbeaten record of 6 wins from 6 starts and are definitely well on their way to being proven as incredibly fast and an extremely valid design concept.

On a personal note I have never expected to become a rich man from these boards as they are very labour intensive and I build every one of them by hand from start to finish. That’s right, I shape, glass, sand , spray and fit out each and every one of them and it gives me immense satisfaction. My main motivation comes from a desire to prove and show to the world a design of board I conceived, designed and created from scratch all by myself and I am more than happy to share my ideas with anyone who’s interested.

New Starboard Lineup

I got a somewhat odd press release from Starboard today regarding their new catalog. I assume the release is not the full catalog, but it does show some of the new boards. Seems like they need a new proofer–it’s not everyday that you see a major company’s name misspelled in the header of a highly designed piece. I’m EXTREMELY sensitive to this kind of thing since I used to run an advertising agency–it’s every agency principal’s nightmare.

Anyway, here it is. Interesting looking boards and some surprising additions to the lineup.

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