New 8-0 Nomad...

Over the years I've built a number of sub-8ft egg shapes (Nomad Model), mostly 2+1 set-ups, but a few quads as well. The surf conditions in my part of California vary, greatly. This past winter was as good as it gets, while the winter before it (2013-14) was just an extension of summertime, without SW swells. More often than not, surf runs 2'-4', which is good enough for the ol' log, but who wants to ride a log everyday? Finding a board that's a little more "sporty" in performance but can still handle the small stuff is a real challenge. This board is my latest attempt.

Dimensions are 8'0" 16-1/4" x 22" x 14-5/8" 2-3/4" 55.8L. EPS/Epoxy construction with two-tone resin-tint color, and sanded gloss-coat finish. The board is both light and buoyant. The board has a versatile five fin-box set-up, allowing either quad- or tri-fins.

Low entry-rocker makes this board an easy paddler, with good down-the-line speed. Initial trials at Mondos (mush-burger capital of the world) showed that it can handle the small stuff. Just waiting for the next South swell to see how it handles some juice.

Hey Michael! Come and get your Nomad!

Here's the latest iteration of my Nomad shape, a.k.a. egg, speed egg. This is the epoxy/EPS version, which was glassed with 4oz+6oz S-cloth (deck) and 6oz S-cloth bottom. Board is about a 2lbs lighter than a standard PU/PE shape. Boards dimensions are 7'6" 16-1/8"x22-1/2"x15-1/4"  2-7/8" 53.7L.

Here's Ray polishing the deck

This shape has an interesting story behind it, and it demonstrates how my shapes evolve over time. Earlier this year I hand-shaped an 8-0 EPS King Fish for a customer, and then had the same shape cut by machine, using EPS again. I use the AKU  program for machining my blanks and since AKU doesn't cut swallow or fish-tails, the tailblock of the cut blank is left straight. Since personally, I'm not a big fan of big fish shapes, I decided to just re-shape the tail into a round-pin. Thus was born the 7-11 Egg which I really enjoyed last spring. But, I felt the shape in EPS was a little to floaty for my weight, so I sold the 7-11 to Mike G., and hand-shaped a 7-6 from PU foam that was much more to my liking. About 5 weeks ago, Michael stopped by and turns out he works and surfs with Mike G.  He had ridden the 7-11 and wanted something similar, but smaller. So, I loaned him the 7-6 for a week or so, and after riding it, he felt the shape was still not quite right. So we narrowed the outline, and reduced the thickness and went with EPS foam to maximize float, and here is the final product. And that's how my shapes evolve; a combination of personal trial and error, coupled with feedback from customers. Don't forget, you can get a custom shape for the same price as a board off the rack. All it takes is about 4 weeks of patience.

Nueva Huevo...

I'm really excted about this new egg. Just picked it up today from the shop.

It's 7'11"  17" x 23" x 15-1/2" x 2-7/8", EPS/Epoxy 3 layers orf 4-oz S-Glass deck and 2 layers 4-oz S-Glass bottom. Sanded gloss coat finish with red and blue pinline.

 This is a 5-fin, convertible board and I'll be using the T.Patterson template with 80/20 foil on rear fins when going quad and the CI template when going tri. Both fin sets are FCS-based from True Ames Fins.

Full outline and low rocker should make wave-catching easy. Bottom features single-to-double concaves with some "V" out the tail for speedy carves and smooth cutbacks.

Say "Hello" to Baby Blue...

Fresh from Ray Lucke's Glass Works comes this beautiful little speed egg. This is my "Wayfarer" model and its designed to offer great performance in a mid-length size. I wanted a board I could lock away in my camper shell or in the wifes's BMW (when necessary). This board's size makes it easy to transport and store in hotel/motel rooms. Here's the CraigsList spiel:

7-10 Speed Egg
Dims: 7’10” 16” x 21-7/8” 14-1/2” 3-1/8”
This new Thomas Patrick Speed Egg features tightly tucked rails with a spiral-V bottom. The tight tuck maximizes bottom surface and gets the board up and planing quickly, while the double concaves keeps the board loose. 2+1 fins setup keeps the handling predictable with plenty of drive and hold. Color is light-blue resin tint with red-orange pinline, with a sanded gloss finish by Lucke Glass in Camarillo. Moderate nose kick with low tail rocker makes the board forgiving in steep take-off, but very fast down the line. Price does not include fins, although I can add any new fins (including the Marlin Bacon solid bamboo set shown in photo) far below retail. Priced at only $399.00. Call Thomas 805-856-8554 or email if interested. www.tp4surf.com http://tp4surf.blogspot.com/