Ask Carroll

[Nick Carroll]

Well I haven't seen a shit load of Noa's surfing in the flesh so to speak

From what I can tell, mostly just going off video and stills, he is enormously talented with great reaction speed and timing and that sense of being little bit ahead of the wave's movement – the kind of thing people would like to teach at high performance centres but can't work out how.

If I could spend a bit of time surfing with him I would have a clearer judgement of his abilities and potential.

[el rancho]

Thanks mate.

His old man is OG and still goes hard in the big stuff

[steve shearer]

I've also known Noa since he was in Nappies. Remember seeing him surf on this palm frond in the driveway of the Deane home when he under 2.
Amazing talent

[el rancho]

He used to drop in on everyone at snapper. He'd do a snap and an air before the rightful owner had even managed to make it out of a bottom turn.

He's the real deal.

[Beanpole]

I'm printing this shit out in case my missus ever complains.

I'm still getting grief from buying a third board recently, which admittedly I don't need given my skills but it was second hand (as is one of my other boards) so it was hardly a big expenditure.

Anyway, I showed my wife the Carroll list and said 'see, at least I'm not like this guy' and her response was 'what, divorced?'

Gee ctd to make you feel good: I've got eight boards with an age of about 1963 to current plus two seventies models I reclaimed from Vinnies and then there's six boards my son has in various stages of disrepair plus a foamy, softie that should get chucked, two body boards, three hand planes, piles of leggies, an assortment of fins and a pile of flippers.

On this topic Nick. Given the list should I buy a new board?

[Nick Carroll]

Thanks mate.

His old man is OG and still goes hard in the big stuff

I've known Wayne for decades, since he shaped for Fitzy. Fantastic style

[Nick Carroll]

On this topic Nick. Given the list should I buy a new board?

I feel any fair dinkum surfer should constantly be thinking about the next board.

[MrMik]

On this topic Nick. Given the list should I buy a new board?

I feel any fair dinkum surfer should constantly be thinking about the next board.

Although it sums up the predicament quite succinctly, it only shows a small part of the problem.

How many boards would you estimate you have broken beyond repair?

And how many would your wife estimate you have broken?

[andy2476]

This formula is originally about bikes but it works just as well with boards

The correct number is n+1, where n is the number of boards currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as s-1, where s is the number of boards owned that would result in separation from your partner.

[steve shearer]

Nick or anyone here ridden a channel bottom quad?

saw one the other day shaped by Phil Myers, damm it looked good.

I was thinking one as a semi-gun in the 6'3" range for super clean E swell 6ft days at the Point and that might cross over into a G-Land special.

While on that Point, any idea what TC was riding in those G-Land Pro comps, doing the speed snaps and then riding the Tube way forward on the board like a single fin? Carving in the tube like Shaun Tomson.

I loved the way those and other big boards he was riding at the time, as well as Tom Curren's, looked. Something that has been lost in the current small boards in biggish waves thing.

[Beanpole]

Wayne Lynch Model wasn't it?

Thank you, Nick. I will be using that statement as yet another excuse

[Beanpole]

Re: How many have I broken. My other problem is I like repairing old boards. Not that I'm much good at it but I guess it's a bit of being a frustrated shaper and a major tightwad as well. Used to really stick my right knee into the deck getting up so it was a running joke all my boards had a big dent on the right hand side. Don't seem to do it much anymore for some reason except on my old Rabbidge three stringer.

[bomboraa]

Nick any experience of a nubster mini keel fifth fin on a quad? If so, useful in bigger surf? Pointless if the quad is properly designed? Any board design elements (, board width, tail shape, type of quad _ McKee or rail-centric _ bottom contours etc) it may favour?

ah I think pointless on a good board.

The only time I've been forced to stick with that setup was on a board that didn't do what it was supposed to do.

To me the whole bit about a quad is to take back fin drag out of a board and emphasise or assist its down the line and barrel riding qualities, in that context the little semi keel thing in the middle is just an irritant.

Seems like for most good board makers the era of confusion about how to work quad/thruster design features is over now and has been for a while, so just go with it

One potential drawback of five box setups btw: longer fin boxes in groups of five at the back end of a board will restrict the tail flex a bit, which doesn't seem to matter in the super short boards or big ave guns but might play a role in 6' plus and up boards.

Thanks Nick.

[Yuke Hunt]

Nick or anyone here ridden a channel bottom quad?

AB was doing em ... nice sticks too. A few of the local T-land crew have them under foot. Dale continues the tradition @ Byrning Spears.

Theres a lot of misunderstanding about channel bums ... AB was a delight and quite insightful when discussing the idiosyncratic variance of design principals.

[el rancho]

Nick or anyone here ridden a channel bottom quad?

saw one the other day shaped by Phil Myers, damm it looked good.

I was thinking one as a semi-gun in the 6'3" range for super clean E swell 6ft days at the Point and that might cross over into a G-Land special.

While on that Point, any idea what TC was riding in those G-Land Pro comps, doing the speed snaps and then riding the Tube way forward on the board like a single fin? Carving in the tube like Shaun Tomson.

I loved the way those and other big boards he was riding at the time, as well as Tom Curren's, looked. Something that has been lost in the current small boards in biggish waves thing.

I watched a twenty year old Taylor Steele movie last week and they're all riding those 6'2" plus thrusters in real punchy beach breaks. I noticed how much they had to surf off the back foot to fit the rocker in the super bowled out waves. Like they were really jamming the tail to get vertical in the pocket.

Not something you see anymore because boards for those bowly unorganised east coast oz/Hawaiian beach breaks are all well under 6 foot now

[Nick Carroll]

Tom's got a 5'11" AB six quad, it is a matter of silent dispute between us, I was gonna get AB to make me one until the silly cnut crashed his bike in Bali

It really flies but better ones were definitely down the track, it's such a good match-up, and you can use even smaller fins with a six channel.

Gland 97 from memory Tom was riding 6'7"s and 6'9"s, different shapers (Lynchy, Rawson, Michael Baron), boards with wide point well up so you go to the front half while tuberiding, fcuken hard boards to ride I tell ya.

[Natho]

Nick,

on the subject of longer boards:

I am about to step into the shaping bay for the first time under the watchful eye of someone far more experienced than I. I am looking at having a hack at a 7'2 pintail gun. Mostly for bigger Sydney swells. At first I was thinking slight concave to vee in the back third. Now Im thinking flat to vee in the back third to keep it more simple. Possibly with a slight roll in the nose. Any thoughts? Wide point maybe just forward of middle.

Not sure a gun is a good place to start but the blank is there ready to go.

[Nick Carroll]

Fcuk think about rocker first, bottom shape second

Slight vee under the nose to keep the stringer rocker a tiny bit low on entry, slight double concave coming back between the feet, flat through the fins blending to slight vee exit. The vee should not match the tail rocker - everything should release from the fins on back.

Constant curve in the rocker, no flat spots, but nothing extreme. A board like this should be able to turn from almost anywhere and always be releasing.