RealSurf Surfers' Forum

Here 'tis. 6' X 19 1/4" X 2 1/4".

Weights good, but doesn't have the compression strength of a d-cell skin (the veneer is <1mm thick). I'm still expecting it to be more durable than a PU of comparable weight.

Will get it wet later in the week .

That is awesome.

tiger wrote: What's your take on compsand performance Ric? I think they behave more like PU/PE than straight out epoxy/styro, cos the skins kinda absorb some of the corkiness. How you rating the JD?

Loving it more and more, TT and on a recent trip it supplanted a previous go to… a Surftech that has significantly more volume and I thought best for small stuff. Rode the Surftech the first two days, then the JD came out and that was that. I say that as I always thought I would struggle more on the JD in small waves as I'm not exactly a light weight. Certainly was not the case though it was in reef conditions.

Think a lot of it is also where your head is at, least it is for me.

I have struggled a bit more with the JD in faster moving reef waves, just the catching, but it is early days for that and I wasn't the only one. On the trip, small guys were grabbing 6'6" s and there I was on my 6'3" albeit of ample proportions. I told JD I want another bigger one but that wasn't going to happen in the available time frame. Once I could catch the buggers I didn't encounter a problem, other than the normal skill set. :?

JD's rails on my board are quite fine compared to what I would do for myself and it just feels right. Once you are riding it's pretty effortless to steer it to where you want. That said, I feel quite comfortable on the Surftech too, but its volume can present some issues and they are not for comparison as they are 2 very different boards.

The JD itself is light and floats me like a much larger PU/PE. I think I'm encountering some deck compression under my front foot but nothing of significance and it has seen a fair bit of work already.

Must admit I have put the JD in some pressure situations too, and it keeps popping up.

More tank testing coming up in the next 2 weeks!

Where are you off to this time?!

Firstly, sick looking boards mate!. I agree with ric v about jd (rhymes y'all haha) boards. Mine is a keel fish, very wide, but I,tell ya what, the performance due to the light weight, the thinned rails, and josh' wizardry is ridiculous. I never cared for light weight, and mine is his heaviest glass schedule, and i've gone 180degrees. Im capable of some pretty bloody good turns on it, considering my skill level, and the fact its a keel fish.

For me, the paddle is like a nice light poly, not corky, just right. Once up n going, faaark, fast n responsive as hell. The rail twang too, im not good enough to always utilise it, but when im on my game, faark, the projection and speed out of a hard compressed turn is just ridiculous. Definately want another!!.
Sorry for the hijack

That's cool Beerfan. JD's boards look incredible. Doing similar construction, I have massive respect for his ability. Craftmanship is a dying commodity in the modern world, be it of surfboards or furniture, or whatever. It is less rewarded than ever before.

In regards to compsand performance, I'm beginning to understand more about it as I make more boards. I think I have been over engineering mine a little. And have room to adjust some of the schedules to get a bit more flex, without compromising strength.

The round tail with the blue spray deck is a bit too rigid, but there is a lot going on with it. Being a step up board that is ridden in better waves means it's not really a problem. But with high perf style boards for experienced surfers, a little more flex would be desirable.

I've had 2 surfs on the new timber veneered board in small, fun beachies, and it feels much better flex wise. Thinner skin, with lighter glass schedule seems to help. I'll do a more detailed ride report after a few more surfs, but feels good so far and no denting apparent yet.

Tiger are these boards you are shaping the same compound and make up as fire wires?

If so firewires have that pressure vent yours don't what is the reason?

Awesome looking boards by the way.

Been a while since I looked on this thread, so thought I'd put up a few pics of what I've been up to.

This is my current board.[url=http://s307..com/user/Tiges_album/media/TQ%20new%20bottom_zpstfijzg7d.jpg.html][/url]

And rmb if you're still out there, (it's only been 2 1/2 yrs since your post).

I've put vents in a few that have had a lot of volume, but generally don't bother on more regular boards of say less then 35 litres.

Had no probs yet, just tell people to make sure they don't leave them baking in the sun. Like you probably shouldn't do with any boards really.

5'10" HP

Nice work tiger. Good to see you posting in this section again. Have you ever thought of a cork top build

Thanks guys. Hey digger, how are you mate? Hope you're enjoying your travels. I haven't done anything with cork yet, but will give it a go at some stage. I'm going to make my daughter a little board, and use cork rails on it. I'll maybe do a deck at some stage too, but think they look a bit ugly.

Hey Saltman, Carties is one of those spots you can get a sneaky little run on, especially during winter. Was the board you saw an older poly one, or one of the newer compsand?

6'3" kinda refined version of a 7S superfish thing.

6'3" smallrounder.

6'0" twinzer

Great work mate. Look very clean and proffesional

Thanks beery.

How do you fond the rounded squares as quads? I have a round tail quad that works insane but never been sure how a rounded square would work as a quad. Round tails and quads work so well together