RealSurf Surfers' Forum

I look at the modern surfboard as the pinnacle of design evolution, every square inch has been refined for about a century to an amazing level where shapers and riders can make it do amazing things.
But I thought what about reconfiguring the essential design components as seperate pieces and having a multi piece board that’s also adjustable ? That would be a cool travel board.
For example, we don’t really need the pointy nose so that out, but the fin cluster area is in.
Could you divide the rocker between 2 sections ?
And how would you connect the sections together ?

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Slobadan Madicubich wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 02, 2021 8:16 am

Ask ottaway, he had one

I think this concept goes beyond Otway's which was just a mal in two halves. There was also a guy I used to surf with at Fairy Bower who made one. He was shipping it to some guy in WA but doing some "testing" beforehand.
Surf Foils plan seems to have multiple pieces like a jigsaw and you put them together to get the plan and rocker shapes you want for a particular day.

Interesting but probably too complicated.

My guess is that devising a method to fasten the parts of the board together while mantaining reasonable weight and flex would be way to difficult.

Thanks guys for your replies. It’s much appreciated.

Trev , you’re right about this going beyond dividing a board into 2 or 3 equal parts.
I believe that the front 1/2 doesn’t function as constantly or effectively as the back 1/2. The tail and fins control a lot of the drive, grip, pivot but the front is more of a canard controlling the pitch of the engine at the back.
More specifically about 40% of the front half of a board could be replaced with ‘something else’ and that now turns a 6’2” surfboard into a 44 inch main section, so no longer than a boogie board. Exact same shape as your riding now but at 44 inches that’s going to be “almost” carry on luggage size. Not quite but certainly easier to stash in the boot, bus, bike.

Considering that modern boards are a design tweak away from one another, you can alter the distance between sections to make a single board cover a range of dimensions.
And with a range of sections, you can swap them in and out to completely change the performance. A larger front section would add mal-like increased buoyancy, paddling and stability. Swap in a longer pintail section and it’s a semi-gun. It’s not limited to just 2 or 3 parts, its an interchangeable system to try many designs.

Cranked, yes the connection method is open to many ideas, some have suggested using inlaid pipes, or twin aluminium arms and questions about whether the connection need to create a completely rigid board or somewhat flexible and in what direction should it flex. So it’s doesn’t fit together like other bisect boards or Lego, there’s a seperate connector that connects the sections.

Good luck, but why bother?

Surfboards need to be coherent end to end. You can feel a good board tip to toe. This just seems like a pretty expensive way of disrupting that feel.

Hi Nick,
Instead of dragging a Triple board bag on holiday, a 6.4/6.6/7.2 could fit in a boogie board bag.
If you like trying different boards this would be a cheaper method than buying new boards. A new front section would be about $99.
In the surf you could adjust the board as the tide changes.
If you’re the type that breaks boards, clumsy, likes reefs, sandbars, tubes or generally lives dangerously, breaking the nose off your board isn’t the end of the surf. Just swap another one on and you’re out there.

Multi piece design also opens up other design and construction areas to explore.

Heres a pic of a few prototype front sections I’ve ridden.

The designs process involves a lot of drawing, thinking, speculation, visualisation, creativity but in the end you have to pick up a surform and have at it.
It’s the one step that separates the dreamers from the do-ers. But in this case it’s an easy step because it doesn’t cost a cent to find a broken board and work out how to revise the shape. The front section is the new part that needs to blend with the performance and aesthetically with the rest of the surfboard.
I chose to use EPS as it has better buoyancy than PU foam so ‘pound for pound’ it will be lighter and give better lift. I also prefer Epoxy resin and vac bagging because it reduces excess resin and you can produce double sided glass in one hit. Sanding sux. I raided the local fish shop and took all his foam boxes so all my prototypes are recycled too.
Here’s some of the early front sections going from streamlined bullets to technical water flow ideas.

You're quite mad you know Mr. Foils.
However, the same was said to Roy, and now he's a millionaire.

Softboard technology is where you need to be looking for answers ... traditional foam and fibreglass isn't.

offshore1 wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 04, 2021 5:00 am

You're quite mad you know Mr. Foils.
However, the same was said to Roy, and now he's a millionaire.

I missed that part of Roy's story Offy, how did it happen?

Cranked wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 04, 2021 7:37 am

offshore1 wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 04, 2021 5:00 am

You're quite mad you know Mr. Foils.
However, the same was said to Roy, and now he's a millionaire.

I missed that part of Roy's story Offy, how did it happen?

https://www.theinertia.com/surf/worlds- ... 5-million/

He had some weird ideas. Anti Sun screen.
And iirc, called hoax on the London bombings (the bus and train ones).

Pretty sure someone came on here and said he'd died from cancer.

Happily went from Stewart to Stuart when it suited him.

Who can forget his run in with Nick about a missing board he claimed would dominate at pipe. Annoyed it wasn't tested. The actual footage of Roy surfing his aircraft carriers in a bright orange wetsuit with motorcycle helmet was legendary.

Hi Offshore1, some people dream, some sit at home watching Netflix, others are driven to do things- build, create, surf, climb, ride.
When I first saw Laird riding a foil with ski boots on in 2004 I thought, yep, that’s me. Within a year I had a boogie board foil working and it was in 2013 that I published pics right here on RealSurf of a member Alex Budlevski ( Captain Caveman) riding my shortboard foil at Curl Curl in Sydney. So Alex was the first person to paddle into a wave on a shortboard foil. That was about 4 years before Kai Lenny. And I believe Roy had foiled before Kai too.
Roy will go on to make his mark wherever he goes, I don’t take on any bad things he’s done, it’s not fair to judge someone like that when we’ve all done dodgy things. I liked his boards, they were beautiful and highly crafted. Pity I don’t own one.

If you want to see something mad, here’s my pistol grip reversible handplane with recessed finger groove.

Cool.
Very cool Surffoils.
You're not an anti vaxxer I hope.

No, fairly average type of guy, except for that one time at band camp...

Run. While you can.

“You got a pretty mouth boy”