kneeboarders???

[mustkillmulloway]

any kneeboarders on here

i'm taking a interest as of tommorrow and looking at adding one too the quiver

appreciate any advice

[Yuke Hunt]

mmmm ... interesting ... very interesting ... 10 years ago we lost one of the most wonderful creatures ... an incredible kneeboarder and exceptional surf photographer ... inspirational in both fields ... Peter Crawford passed away on xmas eve 1999 in Bali ... the art of kneeboarding has declined somewhat over the years ... but there are still a few of the noble creatures lurking in the lineup ... quite a few at Northy and down around the Gong ... there's also a bit of a crew on the sunny coast who get together for comps etc ... check out http://www.ksusa.org ... its a dedicated kneeboard site ... your nearest specialist kneeboard shaper would be David Parkes at Byron ... that would be Garret's dad ... Dave is a champion bloke ... he has a few second hand boards at the factory ... and could also shape you a nice new stick if you wanted ... welcome to the dark side ... insert evil laughter.

I did not have time to make that all rhyme
the message is there ... its not such a crime.

[otway1949]

John Lennon said it " One thing you can't hide is when a cripple's inside!". Welcome to the par of the arena that taught surfers to pigdog, layback and do clever foambaly things to make the tube, there is overhead waiting for you in small surf even the gut sliders envy knee boarders when they try to drop knee.
gopher it

[nu boy]

Before you do anything I suggest that you book an appointment with a phsycotherapist.They may be able to help you before this gets to the advanced stage.Remember prevention is better than cure.

[Trev]

There's a small clique of kneeboarders who surf Moffs whenever it gets over about 3'.
They're competent and good to watch.
Love their late take-offs.

[Trev]

whenever it gets over about 3'

you talking overhead, or just waist high??






ps: this is a 2 foot wave

Based on your assesment above (which is surprisingly the same as mine, they turn up in 4' + waves (ie double the one in the pic)

[Davros]

Parkes if your near Byron.He has a good site.

[purple pyramids]

give pridmore a yell. he had a nice sounding one for sale recently.
for shapers, as others said, parkes at byron or bruce hart at flashpoint in brookvale.
http://www.parkesaustralia.com/KneeBoards.htm
http://www.surfinfo.com.au/nsw/flashpoint/

for used boards -- early/mid 80s is a good period. fair bit of volume and a multi-fin set up.


this is not my quiver --http://www.surfinfo.com.au/b_pages/knboard.htm

[chrisb]

Interesting, I kneeboarded for a few years. However when I first tried standup on a full board and persisted I have not had the desire to resume kneeboarding. Could be something to do with wanting to challenge myself, to progress etc. Could even be the (irrational?) fear that if I was seen kneeboarding people would think that I couldn't standup.

Fong, I presume that your'e a competent standup. I'm wondering how many kneeboarders are competent standups and prefer kneeboarding. I have seen a kneelo at DY Point who sometimes stands on his kneelo so he is obviously a competent standup. However is he an exception

[Yuke Hunt]

Interesting, I kneeboarded for a few years. However when I first tried standup on a full board and persisted I have not had the desire to resume kneeboarding. Could be something to do with wanting to challenge myself, to progress etc. Could even be the (irrational?) fear that if I was seen kneeboarding people would think that I couldn't standup.

I'm wondering how many kneeboarders are competent standups and prefer kneeboarding.

Good question ... but first of all lets look at your statement concerning the irrational fear of people thinking you cant stand up ... I have been surfing for thirty something years ... started on a 6'6" McCoy single fin and so on ... but got really interested in kneeboarding after seeing what PC and Co were doing ... although I thoroughly enjoyed riding kneeboards I was extremely self conscious about what other people thought ... for quite a few years I chopped and changed between shortboards and kneeboards ... eventually I stopped kneeboarding altogether and for about 16 years rode all manner of stand-up surf craft ... competed in shortboard comps ... rode longboards ... fishes etc ... approximately 18 months ago I decided to revisit kneeboarding ... just add another board to the quiver ... primarily for really hollow days ... It had a bit to do with competing against the younger crew on sucky points ... and a lot to do with the realisation that kneeboards really had a niche in surfing ... so I had a custom quad kneeboard made by David Parkes ... and thoroughly enjoyed riding it ... much to the detriment of all the other boards in my garage ... currently onto my second custom from David and am once again totally hooked on the cripple stick ... occasionally I get a negative vibe from someone in the line-up but find that mostly people are inquisitive ... especially when they see how well Kneeboarders handle really late takeoffs and constantly rack up far more tube time than the majority of KnOrmaL surfers ... to be honest I couldn't give a rats rectum what other people think about what I ride ... I surf for my enjoyment not to pander to the whims and fancies of some narrow minded fool ... as a youngster I was far more self conscious and in retrospect it was probably one of the reasons I stepped away from kneeboarding all those years ago ... thankfully I have returned.

Now as for the question of Kneeboarders being competent stand-up surfers ... in a nutshell yes ... Gaven Coleman and Simon Farrar ... both multiple world champs can ride stand-up very well ... Simon used to compete in NN club comps with good results ... but even if they couldn't it would not diminish from the fact that they are exceptional SURFERS ... kneeboarding is not as easy to do as one might think ... especially to do it well ... the wider surfing community owes Kneeboarding a huge debt of gratitude ... from George Greenough who developed the modern fin and was instrumental in ushering in the shortboard revolution ... to Steve Lis and his fish design ... Peter Crawford for amongst other things his amazing photography and for just being PC ... and so many more who had an influence on surfboard design and the culture of surfing ... praise the cripple a truly noble beast.

[Buff_Brad]

Remember that Steve hmmmm was it Artis or Artois? He made unreal looking kneeboards with kweeel designs. Saw him pull into a massive NN barrel when I was a grom on an incredible day.....NE swell in winter and westerly winds in the late arvo ...... must have been like 1976.

Wonder what he's up to now?

[mustkillmulloway]

Remember that Steve hmmmm was it Artis or Artois? He made unreal looking kneeboards with kweeel designs. Saw him pull into a massive NN barrel when I was a grom on an incredible day.....NE swell in winter and westerly winds in the late arvo ...... must have been like 1976.

Wonder what he's up to now?

if it's the same guy i'm thinkin off ( and lets be honest, there ain't many kneeboard shapers around ) he would been living at wallaby point near long enough be considered a local ( 20 years)

showing your age buffy

ok...so my first attempt ended in diaster, broken ( retro ) leggie + rocks = bashed board

i have persisted and kneed a few on the rv quad and mal ( both fun waves...it's cool looking @ the wave from a different angle, it seems your going so much faster

i wonder if there is a design that suits both kb and standup one board two uses


fu.ck i sound like a tight arse....i should go buy a leggie hey


p.s i got a bad knee from footy....wat are those pad things i see on knee boards like


do the job

[Buff_Brad]

Remember that Steve hmmmm was it Artis or Artois? He made unreal looking kneeboards with kweeel designs. Saw him pull into a massive NN barrel when I was a grom on an incredible day.....NE swell in winter and westerly winds in the late arvo ...... must have been like 1976.

Wonder what he's up to now?

if it's the same guy i'm thinkin off ( and lets be honest, there ain't many kneeboard shapers around ) he would been living at wallaby point near long enough be considered a local ( 20 years)

showing your age buffy

ok...so my first attempt ended in diaster, broken ( retro ) leggie + rocks = bashed board

i have persisted and kneed a few on the rv quad and mal ( both fun waves...it's cool looking @ the wave from a different angle, it seems your going so much faster

i wonder if there is a design that suits both kb and standup one board two uses


fu.ck i sound like a tight arse....i should go buy a leggie hey


p.s i got a bad knee from footy....wat are those pad things i see on knee boards like


do the job

Fong , I think his kneeboards were "Moonrise" or "Earthrise" .....something like that and he was considered one of the best at the time. NC should know. Or Ric.

Funny how you remember shit. I think he broke a kneeboard in half that big perfect arvo.

[matt...]

there's still a few kneelos up the coast here...
i used to work with a guy who kneelos out at copa pt or tudebaring whenever he gets the chance. His son is a stand up though, therefore disproving any hereditary genetic mutation...
ex world kneelo champ baden smith & his brother are still a regular feature wherever it gets big & good...
it still amazes me how late & deep that these two can commit out at big haven - even with all the backwash in the world swirling around the first takeoff, even with the big sections on the wide ones that catches many unaware out there... bouncing over rocks & boils near the end of the first section - amazing...
plus a few who are still good but not quite as good as baden, still get out at nth avoca occasionally.
must be something in the water up here...

[mustkillmulloway]

[ ... just add another board to the quiver ... primarily for really hollow days ... It had a bit to do with competing against the younger crew on sucky points ... and a lot to do with the realisation that kneeboards really had a niche in surfing ... ... I surf for my enjoyment not to pander to the whims and fancies of some narrow minded fool ... .

interesting, i guess i look at 400 others in the line up....all standing up...all surfing the same

and wonder....do i really want be just like em :?

i like the idea of a niche, and the fact thats it's not wats coooooool

it's sure hurt some shortboarders egos....but i couldn't give a rats

it's just another way going surfin....hard complain

[purple pyramids]

i got into it after seeing the violent hatred of kneeboarders in the 70s. i thought anything that can piss people off that much is for me.

anyway, pads help if you're taking big drops. but that generally only happens in winter and you have a steamer on that provides some padding. maybe it's not cold enough up in noosa? also helps with grip. see how you go. if you're getting board bumps just grab some closed-cell foam and stick it on.

[chrisb]

anyway, pads help if you're taking big drops. but that generally only happens in winter and you have a steamer on that provides some padding. maybe it's not cold enough up in noosa? also helps with grip. see how you go. if you're getting board bumps just grab some closed-cell foam and stick it on.

I read once (in one of Nat's books I believe) that long-term kneeboarders suffer chronic knee problems, presumably worse than the general population of surfers. Anybody have some empirical/anecdotal evidence to support this

[chrisb]

John Lennon said it " One thing you can't hide is when a cripple's inside!".

Peter Garrett once said "It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees".