Traditional logic tells us that a wide tail or 'pod' will provide a board with a high planing speed potentiual however will be slidely, poor control and pop out. Sound about right?
I came across this new model Dane Reynolds ingeniously engineered with a hand saw. I like Dane, he is doing the most amazing futuristic surfing on the planet and he is taking upon himself to redesign his own equipment with no tools other than his own intuition.
The only function that the last 4inches " of tail of a traditional (dinosaur) shortboard is provide drag. see http://marinelayerproductions.com for evidence of a clear improvement in a dated design, with simple reduction of un-neccesary surface area.
I have played around here and there on one of dads airmats in the past, but never really had the motivation to learn how to ride it properly because of my continued focus on pushing the limits of performance surfing equipment , however the other week i finally gave Dads new Krypt super mat my full focus of attention. Firstly, its nothing like a bodyboard whatsoever, its more of a pure speed experience. tricks or spins arent even part of the equation. Its more about high line trim and harnessing the invisable pressure waves and power pockets. Your tapping into the source at a higher level than surfing and that is something very rewarding and exciting because it is an egoless experience, just you and the ocean and frictionless speed. the closest thing to being a dolphin.
This is the first instalment of a series of chapters in my wide and colourfull adventures around the globe chasing Surf.
June 2006. Southern Sumatra Indonesia.
After arriving in Jakarta in East Java i met up with the hard core indo surf crew which included Californias Travis Potter, Brian Conoly,Brett Swartz, Micah Byrne, Brandon Tipton and Ben Knight -and an array of film crew ready to capture the trails and tribulations of a discovery misson, deep in The jungle areas of far south Sumartra, Home of some of the deadliest indonesian wildlife, malaria hot-zone and apparentlty some untouched indo gold in the form of empty barrels.
After like 20 hours sqweezed into a beamo with no suspention driving on some of the heaviest moutain roads in the world, we arrived in some god forsaken arsehole of the earth city where i imagine barely a whiteman has set foot. First mission was to find a fishing boat with a crew willing and capable of a surf expedition into the untouched wild coast of the area, after a day of searching and haggling with local fishermen, we found our crew and our ship for a reasonble price, a raty chicken boat none the less with not even enough deck space to sleep the entire crew. filled with Chickens, a goat , 5000 packets of mi-goreng and 20 case of Anker beer, which would be gleefuly drunken warm.
We set off on our voyage up the coast. about 12hrs steam we reach a tranquil bay on the inside of a small peninsular where we anrchored for the night. The next morning we waxed our boards and paddled our boards ashore and set off into the jungle to cross the peninsular in search of waves on the other side. No one expected to find what was waiting on the otherside, a beach break of all things and not any ordinary beach break, but a fully fledged sumatran Puerto Escondido style peaks in the double overhead size. To be continued.........
These 3 boards are my current go to quiver. 5'4 x 18" x 2 1/8" Tri fin 'Nano'MPH. 5'3 x 17 3/4" x 2 1/8" Quad fin 'Vector' MPH. 5'7 x 18" x 2 1/8" Raptor Subsonic Dual fin. Im really stoked on the level of refinement i have acheived on these boards. 3 styles of performance, equally radical and all posses that magic something. I
Winter 2007. Great season for waves and sandbars at home in Northern NSW Aust. i was first introduced to the fish in 2004 by RK, 3 years later i have several hp ofshoots of the origional Pavel keel hauler i rode at pumping Lennox. Filimed at Lennox, Ballina, Angourie and Victoria. Filmed by Mark Thomson, Hamish McKennzie, Ryan Kenny. Featured in Australia Surfing Life Jan 2008.
Im Back in Oz until August or possibly longer, any one interested in talking to me about a board now would be an ideal time. info@tomosurfboards.com. peace TOMO. P.S My house survived the tornado with a few broken windows, next many of my neibours were not so lucky. Fortunatly,No one was killed in this disater, theres been some amazing storys of survival.
The only function that the last 4inches " of tail of a traditional (dinosaur) shortboard is provide drag. see http://marinelayerproductions.com for evidence of a clear improvement in a dated design, with simple reduction of un-neccesary surface area.
