Malcolm Campbell shaping blur

You know Guy has Malcolm working hard when you can’t even get him in focus!

That’s Malcolm (front) shaping Guy’s (rear) new post-lunch Egg… Sorry to see Malcolm go so soon, but on the plus side I can get in the shaping bay again.

Get plugged

FCS rears for the EVO6 set up going in tomorrow…

BoardJam 24th July

Come along and try out some boards if you are in the area.

6’8” Cleanline EVO5 bonzer review

  

This was designed for the Mentawais trip this March – it was the board i took out if i was feeling a little insecure. It was so stable and confidence inspiring and did exactly what it said on the box… smooth clean lines, no dramas. It got in early and drove down the face nicely. What i hadn’t expected was for it to go as well as it did this morning at Nettles, (my nickname for this great A frame beachbreak with a 30 minute walk and a little goat tracking). Head high set A frames, shoulder high walls, with the lefts being the better option. The board was, as usual, beautifully stable and unflappable even over the odd bit of chop. I don’t know how much of this is to do with the wood and the parabolics (thanks Mark) vs. the shape, but as a package it all works beautifully. The robustness is also impressive, especially as it is the same weight as a comparable PU board even with all the wood.

Today the board excelled in the small stuff driving calmly but quickly across the faces and yet being able to come hard off the bottom and the top. I was playing around a bit as well, trying to put some of Russell Winter’s tips from the trip into action… and one one wave it worked so sweetly I couldn’t quite believe it was possible on a 6’8 board. Half way along the wave I set up for a section with a really hard bottom turn and then drove acutely back up the face, and instead of rotating too early (and not getting vertical) I kept low, delayed the turn, keeping on the rail  and came right up onto the lip, pivoted round hard a fast and back into the face and onto the next section… thanks Russ! 

So i guess my conclusion is if you wanted only one board, and it needed to be strong, light, would go in small and large waves, with enough float and glide to make surfing a bit easier… then this would be at the top of my list. Oh, and the wood also feels as good as it looks.

fresh foam

5’8” New Sprat Keelfish bonzer | 6’0” Porpoise Tubercle bonzer | 6’4” Atlantic POD EVO6 bonzer ready for shaping…

more fin…

 

At long last fins

You know how some things sometimes drag on and you just can’t seem to get them done. Well this set of fins has been one such job but finally, after a prompt (thanks Pete) I got my arse in gear on got on with it. 2 CRV template rear fins for a Riddler for Roachy a few months back.

Tropical bonzer

Tim/Ant – Mentawais March 2011, 6’5 Freak Fish EVO6 bonzer, 6’4” Cleanline EVO5 bonzer, 14’6” & 10’4” finless Dugouts.

Pic Tony Plant - photography and art

MC in the house

Malcolm will be in the factory shaping next week, so if you need convincing on the merits of a bonzer pop in and say hi from Wednesday onwards… Mr Penwarden or myself will also be around to help you on your way to a more pleasurable surfing experience.

This is one of my all time favourite planshapes from Malcolm… that lovely fullish nose with the curvy middle and straighter drivey tail… oh and masterful pinlines from Moonlight Glassings, Peter St Pierre.

I’ve been doing some American Ash bonzer sides for a few of my boards this week, so hope to get a set on the longboard next week and maybe get in the shaping room as i have a few piling up now!

Joker resin bands

Resin bands planned for the Joker, below… but finally decided on the resin colour scheme, and the pinlines are going to be resin too, which will add time but be a lovely change from the usual sprayed ones… looking forward to feeling that subtle bump on the rail line as I'm paddling around. If you like this please click on the Facebook like button below and if you hate it send me comment with some other ideas as i probably wont get to this until the end of next week anyway as i still have the bonzer fins to foil out of that lovely American Ash!

I’ve been a bit slow on finishing this one due to other design projects pilling up (including a few eco-renovations at our new place, one of which will be for boards)…  but warming up again with 3 new shortboard bonzers to shape ASAP and a new Glass Tiger collaboration FreakFish to get into the pipeline.

More tint

The longboard is now glassed and ready for the bonzer fins in American Ash… probably next week now.

Glassing the concave as a panel has worked really well with a big upside being extra definition of the transition so I should be able to get a really good edge on it. Fin boxes, pinlines and a resin band are also still to come, then finished off with a gloss and polish.

Gaffa tape, Roundtrees, and the Supaglide.

OK my apologies – the longboard bonzer is not fully glassed… queues in the glassing room meant i just wasn’t able to get to it… so i went for a surf instead. “Roundtrees” claimed the Supaglide on session 1… i was enjoying sunset all on my tod at a local point, nice shoulder high one rolls through, i wove my way through the boils, loving it, and then thought I'd cutback… sucked dry, i rode over the reef and Supaglide became Supading. Surfed till the sun went down… then the long paddle back. A beautiful session.

 

I’ve got a great splint from the hand therapists and that and a bit of gaffa tape kept the finger fully protected.

PS: Definitely glassing tomorrow!

Resinating the concave

Part 2 of glassing the Joker EVO5/6 bonzer longboard... 6oz light kelpy tint (red just seemed too shouty for such an unusual board) over the clear preglassed 4oz concave and then trimming out the panel. This will then receive a 4oz clear patch over it once the deck is glassed... more tomorrow.