So, here we are. It's done, and it's called Big Black Nothing.
I'm figuring out where to start, because 1) I don't know who exactly is reading this, and 2) I just plain don't know where to start. Through lots of hairbrained thoughts, two hour long talks over pepperoni and garlic pizza, countless emails and a few sleepless nights, I put together what I think is a fantastic surfboard...The idea itself went through probably 5 different stages and morphed in my brain for the past two years or more, and only has seemed like a possibility since I built my first flex spoon a few months ago.
The idea revolves around the basic principal that Greenough and others followed and continue to follow every day, twist + snap = projection. Our flex fins do it every time we twitch our toes, glass panel flex tails do it when you lay into a bottom turn, and flex spoons do it without you even thinking about it.
The board is as follows; a shortened Hullibut template, with the tail template ballooned out (think: as the tail twists, the template changes and pulls in), and the nose narrowed a tiny bit. Basically an elongated velo style template. Then, take the foam distribution of a Flex Spoon (where the rails contain the volume and act, depending on how they are foiled, as torsion bars to control flex), and add a neutrally shaped volume to the center of the board, allowing the whole board to twist, nose to tail, like a Spoon. The volume of foam in the center does add stiffness, but I believe that is a good thing; when you're on a 5' kneeboard, your center of gravity is very low and you don't have much leverage, therefore the flex should be quite soft. When you've got 6'10 of board, and the load is applied to one specific region of the board (under your feet), the flex should be much stiffer so as not to wash out when you give it some juice.
The rocker was flattened to accommodate the flex, and the materials were changed drastically to reduce the weight that the added glass would give, as well as produce more float to counteract the volume that has been carved out.
(showing the deck contour after the deck lamination)
The board is a 2lb EPS core, with varied layers of 6oz E, 6.2 oz Carbon twill, 9 oz S-glass, and Epoxy resin...and a vacuum bag. Laminated materials work best when they have the proper resin ratio, that is to say that too much resin is heavy and brittle, too little will have air bubbles and will not be strong. A vacuum bag is a contraption used most commonly in molding, where the bag is sealed around the wet-laminated "part" (board), and the atmosphere is sucked out of the bag, pulling the excess resin out of the carbon/glass, and giving an air-tight bond to the foam.
I realize this much of the content may not be read, because this will only be interesting to a few people...but if you read this far, leave a comment, i wanna see who made it!
This board is by NO means perfect in terms of build, this is the first time I've used the full eps/carbon/vacbag trifecta, it was intense, mind numbingly complicated, and incredibly wonderful...the product is light, strong, and extremely complex. I'm excited for the next two experiments (same build style, different shapes).
A ride report/initial impression should be today at the low tide...so far the coolest thing is when cars drive by the whole board vibrates like a guitar body...
