RealSurf Surfers' Forum

Hey, thinking of taking a 6'4" six channel swallow to Mentawais next year as a mid-range board.
Used to ride Al Byrne's Burning Spears six channels back in the 80s.
Looking for feedback on various options.
Have a couple of Gunter Rohn's Local Motions and see he's make a nice looking 6 channel
AB again
Or a tuflite Byrne. Never ridden a tuflite and a bit expensive, but they're light for travelling, nice shape and I assume tough.
Not sure how many out there ride 6 channels, know Nick C favours ABs, what your thoughts?

Absolutely love 'em, ride them a lot. I have one of Gunther's old 6 channels in near mint condition, but the fins are a bit weird so it doesn't go as well as it should. Would be a mid-80's model I reckon.

Bloke on the boat I was just on in Indo used a 6 channel on his bigger board seemed to go pretty well for him in the bigger cleaner down the line stuff .

Had a good period of 5 yrs obsessed with six shooters...earned my stripes as a shaper and sander with those beasts, such that it became routine.

The laminator at the time eventually stabbed an extra $50 on his price for going near the things, and that makes perfect sense. So guess why they're not wide-spread now?

Can't be beat for sheer down-the-line speed. The handful of guys who will make one are all gettin' on a bit, and the new-schoolers won't know the details, so if you want one, seek out the maestros.

Can't be done in composite...alas...

Josh
www.joshdowlingshape.com

Frocken love channels... they are fantastic in the tube and love down the line waves and carves. Only drawback I find is at high speed my attempts at cutbacks become more cut downs, I tend to find it difficult to do big direction changes on it. Getting around sections is super easy, they love to accelerate. Great design for great waves however once the wind gets up and it gets a bit choppy they tend to go pretty average... not sure why though (I'm guessing laminar flow?) but a shaper could probably explain why.

speedneedle wrote:Had a good period of 5 yrs obsessed with six shooters...earned my stripes as a shaper and sander with those beasts, such that it became routine.

The laminator at the time eventually stabbed an extra $50 on his price for going near the things, and that makes perfect sense. So guess why they're not wide-spread now?

Can't be beat for sheer down-the-line speed. The handful of guys who will make one are all gettin' on a bit, and the new-schoolers won't know the details, so if you want one, seek out the maestros.

Can't be done in composite...alas...

Josh
http://www.joshdowlingshape.com

Sounds like a challenge right there Josh

The first of my most recent two 6 channels was a right fecker to shape AND to glass, with my pro shaper mate chucking a spazz on two occasions that I actually witnessed, and several more I didn't. We eventually ended up just irrigating all the sand throughs with copious amounts of resin, because he got so sick of rocking up to work every morning seeing it there on the stand, mocking him.

With such a light glass job neither of us expected it to survive one season of floaters in the local shorey... but survive it did. Even when I snapped the first 8 inches of nose off ( the result of a shallow duckdive into the bank followed by a poorly executed air ) we stuck it back together and poured it full of Q-cell, such is my love for the board.

So now I am thinking of a 6 channel quad compsand, using revolutionary construction. If it doesn't end a crushing, expensive failure, I reckon I may well have created the fastest surfboard in the Galaxy.

Love channels, alas dont have one at the moment, went for a quad cause have never tried one before, but for my next board am thinking of going back to them, am thinking of getting a nice single rounded pin with six channels, sorta like Im in my mid life crisis cause I grew up surfing singles and want to have one in my quiver for the heck of it cause there beautiful. Saw one in my local surf shop and salivated over it.........

dUg...Fastest board in the Galaxy...I like it...

See though, it'd be madly difficult with the composite thing, trust me, I've thought about it for aaaaages...not impossible but, like, are channels reaaaaly that excellent?

How about a nice clean uncluttered dubbleconk...

I have an idea though:- add the channels as raised strips later, not clinkers. Little long, low fences in the bottom...Never know...I'll let it run through the noggin more.

Josh
www.joshdowlingshape.com

A also surfed with a guy in Indo that had a 6 channel rounded pin board. He was a pretty big fella, and he said that he likes them because you can push them as hard as you want through turns. Sounded like a similar argument as for quad fins.

Freestyler wrote:Hey, thinking of taking a 6'4" six channel swallow to Mentawais next year as a mid-range board.
Used to ride Al Byrne's Burning Spears six channels back in the 80s.
Looking for feedback on various options.
Have a couple of Gunter Rohn's Local Motions and see he's make a nice looking 6 channel
AB again
Or a tuflite Byrne. Never ridden a tuflite and a bit expensive, but they're light for travelling, nice shape and I assume tough.
Not sure how many out there ride 6 channels, know Nick C favours ABs, what your thoughts?

I took a 6'6" byrne TL channel to Ments - didnt ride it much as 604 would have been plenty of size
Pretty good board but you do not get that nice sharp edge on the channels with the Tufflite one construction that you do on an AB
Also I heard they may be discontinuing the 6 channel TL so you may find a bargain but if not I would opt for a gunther or Al byrne

Pulled a couple of my priceless old sweet-sixers out of the rafters today...

7'2" from 1992. This is the magic one I'm too fat for now. 6'2 from 2004...reclaimed from a sponno who has'nt had another channel bottom since, because I got into the composites and nobody else wants to do him the sixers anymore!
Josh
www.joshdowlingshape.com

josh done many'' many'' through the eightys & had to glass them no one else would

i can see so many things in the design that could be improved on using upto date design mixed with the old.
you have my interest i might just do one
fin placement in relation to channels is what interests me
shit i never realy liked going back but i like this one.

Hey huie,

The secret is (not that I imagine I'm telling you anything...) -

Splay each channel 2mm off from parallel with the stringer, from start-dot to rail...
Channels start inside double concave.
More tail rocker @ weeny bit of vee...
Fade the centre channel out before the tail to prevent stiffness.

Now go knock one out! Wooooooo....

Josh
www.joshdowlingshape.com

Ian Byrne is still knocking out 6 channels at Mt. Woodgee

think wayne mckewan who is shaping for bede is doin em too.

Yep,

The Mt Woodgee fellas can do 'em with their eyes closed...and have a particular Queensland style.

Josh
www.joshdowlingshape.com

not many people do them these days, hoyo swears by them,,, i say bring back the channel bottom

Hey Skeg,

I announced loudly at the workshop where I do my boards that 6 channels were coming back...

The laminator and the other shaper started crying and ran out tearing their hair...

I dunno why?

Josh
www.joshdowlingshape.com

speedneedle wrote:Hey Skeg,

I announced loudly at the workshop where I do my boards that 6 channels were coming back...

The laminator and the other shaper started crying and ran out tearing their hair...

I dunno why?

Josh
http://www.joshdowlingshape.com

dunno which would be worse, shaping, laminating or sanding... but I’ll give my vote to sanding