While you're waiting for the next swell...

Here's a cool vid of Joel Tudor and Wingnut talking 'bout noserideing

Waves!

Ventura area surfers were treated to three days of outstanding surf this weekend. Calm winds allowed clean conditions nearly all day. I surfed a couple of late afternoons on the dropping tide. Something I haven't done in months.

Here's the Pier at C St showing some size where there's typically barely a ripple. The little black  dot at the edge of the white water is a surfer.

One of the smaller set waves at Pitas Point. This shot was taken from where I hope to be parking my newly acquired travel trailer this winter.

6-8 HYB 5-Fin...

I shaped this hybrid shape for the older, larger shortboard surfer who has a job, responsibilities and doesn't get to the beach as often as he'd like. Or, for a surfer who is looking for a sub-7' board to add to his quiver of mid-size and/or longboard shapes. The board has a full outline with wide-point very close to center, which is typical of hybrid shapes.. The bottom has relaxed entry rocker with a slight kick in the last 6" to cope with later take-offs. Bottom contours are a subtle single-to-double concave. At 2-5/8", the thickness is in between standard shortboard thickness and standard funboard thickness, striking a balance between paddling power and lower volume.

(BTW, the rocks you see in the photos were covered by 3' of sand prior to this weekend's big swell! Time to break out the booties.)

The five fin-box option allows the rider to experiment with either tri-fin, quad-fin or 5-fin configurations. As a transition board, this shape tries to provide the broadest performance range possible. Dimensions are 13"x20-1/2"x15"  2-5/8". Those interested in the shaping of this board can check here.

Contact me if you're interested in taking this board for a spin.

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.

King Fish for David...

After riding Kirt's KF, David decided he wanted one for himself, but with a few modifications. This 8-0KF is a little smaller overall, with pulled-in nose and tail, thinner rails and just a little less thickness. Final dimensions are 8'0" 16-7/8"x22-1/2"x15-3/4"  3" 64L. The cedar stringer adds a subtle touch of elegance to the uncluttered look of this clear finished custom. David's choice of Hexcore fins by True Ames will allow this shape to perform to its potential.

One for the shop...

In between all the recent board orders I've taken, I managed to slip in one for the "shop". This is a 9-6 Nova which is my all-around, go-to, modern longboard shape. It's a board you can take to the beach almost any day and have a great time. Chest-high or smaller, pop out the side-bites and add a 9.5" center-fin (Velzy NR by True Ames is my favorite) and "enjoy the glide, the slide and the occasional noseride". Shoulder-high or bigger, pop in the 3.7" side bites and your favorite 7"-7.5" narrow tip center-fin, and enjoy top-to-bottom turns and cheater-fives through speedy sections. A narrow tail and moderate tail V, make this board turn effortlessly, while the half-length, blended nose-concave and moderate nose width invite endless noserides. If you only have budget for one LB in your quiver, the Nova is your best choice. Dimensions: 9'6" 18" x 23" x 14-1/4"  3-1/8"

Foiled at both ends

Love this medium thick tucked rail!

This board was glassed with two layers of 6oz E-Cloth on the deck and one layer of 6oz E-Cloth on the bottom. Ray used just a "stick-dip or two" of yellow pigment in the resin, added a red pinline and finished with gloss and polish.

I love yellow surfboards!!

Stubby 2+1....

Just picked up the 6-4 "lemonade" stubby. Ray did an awesome job with the abstract bottom and the pinline.

Full outline and boxy rails for extra volume in a short length. 2+1 fin config for that retro cruise style.
Dims:
6-4 14-1/2"x22"x16"  3"       Price $510 without fins

Another new stick for Kirt...

This is an 8-4 Nomad Quad + 1, with a double-bump round-pin tail. The 5-fin set-up allows Kirt the greatest range of fin configuration choices; Single, Twin, Twin with trailer, 2+1, or quad. Boards dimensions are 8-4 16-3/4" x 22-1/2" x 15-1/2"  3". Bottom is fairly flat in the middle, with slight convex in the nose and V in the tail. Board has low entry rocker with and a slight kick in the tail. The double-bump tail, tail-rocker kick and V placement will keep this board loose and free despite its relative size. The low rocker makes it an easy paddling board that will be very fast when in trim. Now all Kirt has to do is to decide which fins to use.

Sean's Zinger...

Zinger 2012

Delivered this beauty to Sean just this morning. The Zinger is the latest iteration of the TPS Widget. "What's a Widget?" you ask? The Widget is a shape I designed as an alternative to the "big fish" shapes that started re-appearing 4-5yr ago. 

7-2 Widget 2008

I used the flat rocker, full outline, and double bump tail of my Mod Fish design, but replaced the swallow-tail with a diamond tail. On the Zinger, I pulled in the nose a tad and added the sloped-deck rail, which allows max volume without a bulbous rail. Other refinements include a shallow single-concave bottom, with double concaves feeding the fin array and a slight amount of "V" starting just in front of the fins running out the tail.

End results is a speedy mid-sized board with high-performance features that can be scaled to the riders size. The dimensions of Sean's board are 7-2 15-3/4x23x17  3-3/8" thick.

Here's Sean and his new Zinger...

Here's what Sean had to say after today's first session:
"Well the waves weren’t perfect, knee to waist, winds picked up as the tide went out. I’m surprised how light the board felt in the water, it did everything I asked. I’ve never covered so much ground in small waves before. I caught everything I looked at, lefts rights, point to the cove. I was ready to go in but a few strokes and I was back out catching another wave, it paddles fast. Stay tuned for some new swell in the santa barbara pointbreaks… thank you!"

Order your new custom Zinger today!!

Making lemonade...

The last few weeks have been really busy with orders for new boards. And, I've been making almost daily trips to my supplier for blanks, S-glass and the odd fin box or fin. One of the orders was for customer Chad, who owns this spiffy 6-8 2+1 . Chad wanted the same basic design, but a little shorter, a little narrower and a little thinner. We worked together on the design using AKU and I picked up a blank that would accommodate the width, length and thickness. After cutting the outline, and shaping the rocker and bottom contours, I was shocked to find that the blank was still 3-1/2" thick! Chad had ordered 2-1/2" thickness, and cutting an inch of thickness out of this blank would make it highly susceptible to denting. Not cool. So this blank became a "lemon" and I stuck it in the corner of my shaping bay. I picked-up another blank for Chad's single-fin 6-4 and finished it (being glassed now) and then shaped customer Rick's 9-4 pintail Nova. All the while the "lemon" was standing in the corner reminding me that "haste makes waste".

While cleaning up the bay after finishing the Nova, it occurred to me that the "Lemon" might make a good Stubby, with CI Biscuit dimension, i.e. short, wide, thick and flat. I set the broom aside and picked-up my trusty Clark Hitachi, and when the dust settled, here's what I had.

Final dimensions are 6-4, 14-1/2"x21-1/2"x16" 3". I added the wing in the tail to step-down all that width, kept the rocker very low throughout, ran a shallow single concave down the bottom and added a little V out the tail. I'm going to go with a 2+1 fin set-up, and have Ray finish with an abstract, resin-tint bottom and rails, with clear deck inlay. Board will function as a fish alternative.