Coming to a bulletin board near you...



New shop flyer created by Graphic Artist J. Golien Pretty cool, huh?

Kirt's Kingfish...

Another colorful addition to Kirt's quiver. This one is an 8-0 King Fish with the optional five-fin setup, allowing him to ride the board as a thruster, a quad, or as a twin with trailer. This board is an EPS/Epoxy shape, with all glassing and color work done by Ray Lucke. Each color block has its own black pinline, in case you're wondering.

Ray and Kirt

Check-out the five fin setup

I added a bump-wing to the tail of this long fish design to keep it from locking up in the turns. Bottom features low rocker throughout, with shallow single-todouble concaves.

Spring is here, and time to start thinking about that new summer board. Smaller surf means more planing area and more volume. Lots of possiblities...lets talk

Something borrowed...

This is the board I borrowed from Jay. Rode it Tues and Wed at Pipes in clean, 3'-4' conditions, and really had some fun. I also borrowed a 5'6" Mini-Simmons for the trip that Glasser Ray shaped. Surprisingly, I was able to catch 4-5 waves, but just couldn't find the gas pedal. I guess I'll have to lose a few pounds, or build something bigger.

Here's some more Kingfish pix. I surfed Pipes almost every day for years, and then I moved to Barney's, the next break over, where I would go in the wintertime, surfing Terramar in the summer. It was fun going back. Nice being able to wear my 3/2 Mateuse instead of my R3 Patagonia.

Checkin' new blank...

Checkin' tail rocker...right on the money

I just received a machined EPS blank from Marko Foam that will eventually become my travel board. I spent a lot of time designing this shape in Aku, so it was exciting to get my hands on it for the first time. This board is a 7-10 round-pin egg, with single-to-double concaves and a speedy rocker profile. It has a nice, full outline to maximize planing surface. Thickness is right at 3" but I kept the tucked rails foiled, but not too thin. I wanted a board that would work pretty well in most California conditions, short enough to lock in the shell of my truck or inside a mid-sized rental car, and light enough wrangle through hotel lobbies. I won't get a chance to work on this one until I get back from a week-long visit down to good ol' SD. My buddy Jay, loaned me his 7-8 TP King Fish for the trip. He's also the guy that shot this picture, and actually, the same guy who built my website. Good to have talented and genrous friends. Check out his work at www.slidermagazine.com. and, oh BTW, he also does surf photography for those of you that want to impress family and friends with pictures of your surfing virtuosity. You deserve a "cover shot" for St. Patty's Day, your BD, or for just being the great person that you are. Am I right?

T-Belly Goes European...

This T-Belly is headed to Mario in Hamburg, Germany.

I made some adjustments in thickness to better match Mario's 170lb weight and shortened the length to 48" to better match his 5'8" height. Although, personally, I like the smaller size even for someone my height (5-10) and weight (185lbs). I kept the center of floatation behind center. Board features the same concave deck/concave bottom as my other T-Bellys.

I'm working on a new belly board design that will combine some hull influences with some Simmons influences...stay tuned.

Naked King Fish...

This 8-0 King Fish is shaped from 2.0lb EPS, which is difficult to handshape, but yields a very light finished board. I had to borrow a planer with a grit drum to do this one. Board will get epoxy resin with one layer of 6-oz S-Glass and one layer of 4-oz E-Glass on deck, and one layer of 6-oz S-glass on bottom. The S-glass is stronger than e-glass without adding more weight. (more expensive, too)

Customer Kirt likes his boards colorful and this one is no exception. But you'll have to wait until next week to see it...

Pros & Cons of EPS/Epoxy Boards: Finished board is probably 30%-40% lighter than comparable polyurethane foam board. Some people like to add extra layers of glass cloth yielding a much more durable board at the same weight of a PU. Hand-glassed EPS boards have great flex properties, and are not near as stiff as the vacuum-bagged, sandwiched construction boards, e.g. Surftech, Boardworks. EPS foam is made of tiny individual foam beads compressed together, leaving air in the teeny-tiny spaces between the foam beads. This air wants to expand when heated. Heated air from the core finds it way to the surface (gas-off) and can form an air pocket between the foam and its fiberglass shell (de-lam). The newer EPS foams do this less but you need to avoid leaving any EPS boards in the direct sun or locked in the car on a hot day. If you live or travel to the tropics, having your shaper install a one-way air-vent is a good idea. EPS foam does not finish-sand as nicely as PU, and small pock-marks are left in the foam. Not a problem if the board is finished "clear" or with opaque resin, but resin color tints are out, and the blank should be sealed before air-spraying color. Epoxy resins are about 30% more costly than polyester resins, so expect the price to be higher for an EPS/Epoxy board.