What boards DID you take to Indo?

[Cranked]

There's always been a significant section of the surf community that has condemned Surftech and all who ride them (spawn of the devil). I think they came to represent the intrusion of an industrialisation of the surf industry, an intrusion into a cottage industry, into an arts and craft movement that has its origins in nineteenth century england.

It was a movement born of ideals. It grew out of a concern for the effects of industrialisation: on design, on traditional skills and on the lives of ordinary people. In response, it established a new set of principles for living and working. It advocated the reform of art at every level and across a broad social spectrum, and it turned the home into a work of art.

Hankering after a lost world.

[godsavetheking]

I think steve just likes winding Cranked up because he bites so predictably and so well every single time

Tuflites are dreadful to ride, though. That's an absolute and not open to any discussion

[Cranked]

Yeah, I know, I just can't resist

[steve shearer]

and they are some of the ugliest mass produced generic crap mankind has ever produced.

[Cuttlefish]

Speaking of mass produced generic crap I was at a night market with my food stall next to a wood fired pizza stall the other week.
Everything that went onto those store bought pizza bases either came out of a large plastic bag, can or bottle.

[godsavetheking]

In the continuum stretching from people who take their own tea bags with them on holiday to those who believe in the tooth fairy, tuflite buyers would be at one end and sworn devotees of backyard custom handshapes would be at the other. Cranked is - I believe - an IT man, firm of logic and long on prosaicness. The tuflite is an obvious fit

[Beanpole]

So if you ride both.....you are still a traitor.
Billy Tolhurst is getting a few put out under his own label these days.

[crabmeat thompson]

all i can think of is the amount of premium waves cranked is blowing on a craft which is scientifically proven to offer less performance in good waves. tufflites own small glassy conditions. all those small to micro summer mornings within an hour of the sun coming up, and that's it.

as soon as the swell rises above waist height, or there is a hint of breeze – from any direction – they become pigs when compared to their PU or epoxy brethren. it's science.

[Cranked]

and they are some of the ugliest mass produced generic crap mankind has ever produced.

Oh yeah, obviously.

Just take this 9'6" Dick Brewer Darrick Doerner Waimea Gun for example. Ugly as all get-out in your eyes.



I'm just a consumer though,I think you should take up your beef on the uglyness with Brewer and Doerner.

And the tech process: while you're at it, better give Randy French some pointers on how it could be improved

[Davros]

Good discussion. How much weight does a board need for fast powerful waves, doesn't seem to impact the pro's but the general punter might need a kilo or so.

[Cranked]

all i can think of is the amount of premium waves cranked is blowing on a craft which is scientifically proven to offer less performance in good waves. tufflites own small glassy conditions. all those small to micro summer mornings within an hour of the sun coming up, and that's it.

as soon as the swell rises above waist height, or there is a hint of breeze – from any direction – they become pigs when compared to their PU or epoxy brethren. it's science.

Don't agree Braithy. I've just spent a month surfing overhead to double overhead waves. I was in the water every day, usually twice a day, for a month in all swells and wind conditions. But of more relevance to your point, I also surfed the wind affected sessions. These were more numerous than usual for that time of year, so I clocked up a lot of hours in chop.

It seems Braithy has joined the club of surfers with very little experience of surftechs who still find the need to pontificate. I've ridden poly for around thirty years and surftech for 20 years in all conditions - including wind chop and double overhead. I rode a 7'6 poly semi gun (a CI M13 copy) just 2 months ago in solid waves. I was, as usual, disappointed in its lackluster performance (mainly due to the weight, great in a straight line though) and traded it for a 7'5 JC Surftech, which proved to be a vastly superior board in all conditions.

I don't really believe Steve is doing this as a wind-up, I think he truly believes what he says, including his emotional antipathy.

Braithy however, is a new entry in the game, so I'm not sure what his form really is.

[foamy]

Cranked, do you have a fin theory with tuflites? Some say bigger fins resolve the tuflite's tendency to skitter in higher kilojoule waves.

[Davros]

I think you lose the connection with the wave spiritually, physically and metaphysically.

But they go great too.

[alakaboo]

Like in many situations here on RS, the last word should probably go to our impartial rationalist, Iggy.
He has both poly and surf Tech boards and has said on numerous occasions that the surf Tech is no good in windy choppy conditions.

And only the legally blind could accuse Iggy of selecting his quiver based on aesthetics.

[tootr]

All else equal, do you go a tuflite with less volume than PU to compensate?

[Davros]

"Ask Hatchman"

[marauding mullet]

Firstly @ Cranked..I suspect Braithy is taking the piss, and not out of you.
Secondly, I have a 7'2" Wayne Lynch Tuflite which is quite heavy, and not because it has water in it. I haven't used it yet but I'm hoping it will surf the same as a poly board of the same dimensions. I had a 7' Byrne Tuflite which was light and did feel a little bit skittish on the 2 occasions I used it but Cranked owns it now and he likes it.
Thirdly @ tootr, volume or displacement is what determines a board's buoyancy, so theoretically the construction has no effect other than the difference in weight of the board itself, which would amount to f/all considering the weight of the surfer himself can vary by several Kgs from one day to the next depending on body weight, wetsuit or lack of etc. so paddling and sitting on the boards shouldn't feel different.
Once up and planing buoyancy takes a back seat to design/shape and to me it feels like the skittish feeling people experience with Tuflites is due to the difference it weight of the board as far as inertia can effect it.

[foamy]

^^
I thought the Tuflite skittishness was perhaps more due to stiffness than weight.