Malcom Campbell Alpha Omega Twin ride report....UPDATE!

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

I'd love to know what T. Knox really thinks of the bonzer design. He promotes it but doesn't seem to ride them often .

He rides them a lot.

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

Duffy looks like wings or bumps the ewings have flute like channels like my log above.

Correct.

No flutes.

 

[Woke AF]

Always disliked the whole Campbell whatever it is. He is the O.G pretentious **** making shitrider surfboards with a pointless fin set-up and stupid bottom. If it is that clever, how come only retards ride those boards!?

-And this comes from a fan of The Knost!

http://instagr.am/p/CLzs1DPMIMf/

 

[Northern_Shores]

http://instagr.am/p/CLzs1DPMIMf/

very unwoke to go at the wave like that. Microaggression!

 

[rowjimmytour]

very unwoke to go at the wave like that. Microaggression!

Grab rail is weak sauce and should be banned riding CB bonzers and only allowed on CI biscuit bonzers

 

[spenat]

I have a 5-10, not sure the dims are exactly as it has a heavy opaque glass job and cant quite read them, It has whatever glass on fins. guess its about 34 L I got it basically new off Cl about 18 months ago for $450. figure for that price worth the gamble. Im 44, 6-2 175lbs, prob a litter or two bigger than I would have ordered but for $450 Not complaining. . Likes some push for sure. I have surfed it from knee high to 15 foot faces at some of the points by here. at 15 foot faces. great board. Im torn about ordering a bigger step up version or just getting a russ short at 6-4

 

[Havoc]

sorry, but not sure if it was clear or not in the title, but has there been an update to this thread??

 

[Sharky]

Re Taylor, he made a movie that discussed his relationship with Bonzers. It was fairly extensive. I've probably cut at least 20-30 for him. I have a folder full of Knox files. Further when he was having his CI model made, he brought a blank by Malcolm's shaping room to put a Bonzer bottom in it so he could take it back up for scanning. Which Malcolm did for no compensation. It is what it is. Take it or leave it. The waiting list is long all over the world for Bonzers. I'm trying to figure out when I am going to have time to cut over 60 that are wanted in Europe ASAP.

Anybody that looks at that footage of Taylor surfing a small mushy Mexican point break on a Bonzer and laughs at it clearly doesn't know what they are looking at. Stick with your WaveStorms.

And Malcolm is probably one of the most humble, empathetic/helping/caring men I have ever met. Which has little to do with surfboards, but given some of the above idiocy I feel compelled to add it.

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

Grab rail is weak sauce and should be banned riding CB bonzers and only allowed on CI biscuit bonzers

If only the board had a flat bottom and fins made specifically for it he wouldn’t have to grab rail.

 

[rowjimmytour]

sorry, but not sure if it was clear or not in the title, but has there been an update to this thread??

The update I believe dates back to GWS working with MC on the Alpha Omega now offered on MC bonzer website...
ALPHA OMEGA


The Alpha Omega is a Bonzer Twin Fin. We built our first one during the Fall-Winter season of 1977-78. It was made for Duncan, and he put it through it’s paces in everything from knock around surf, to way overhead top to bottom tubes at Silverstrand Beach. That board was our offering to the emerging Twin Fin craze inspired by the incredible surfing of Mark Richards. The template was based on what MR was doing, and we combined it with our Bonzer Light Vehicle bottom design. With a combination of jest and bravado, we named it the Alpha Omega.

We were so maniacally focused on our Bonzer 3 design, the way we looked at it, was that this Bonzer Twin Fin would outperform the Twin Fins of the day, and therefore the Alpha Omega would be the beginning and the end of our foray in the twin fin genre.

Lo and behold about 34 years later the Alpha Omega reappeared. We brought her back at the urging of our friend Fynn Wilson, JP St Pierre, and Duncan. We have slightly modified the template. The tail isn’t quite so narrow, but the nose template is the same as the original. The bottom is the Bonzer Light Vehicle design and the fins are very similar to the template MR used back in the day.

The response to the 21st century A/O has been pretty amazing. It has even somewhat surprised us. Simply put; it is a supercharged twin fin. If you like Twin fins, you’ll get a charge out of the Alpha Omega.

 

[Northern_Shores]

but given some of the above idiocy I feel compelled to add it.

Add to the idiocy? We have had enough stupids for today. Thanks for coming by!

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

Re Taylor, he made a movie that discussed his relationship with Bonzers. It was fairly extensive. I've probably cut at least 20-30 for him. I have a folder full of Knox files. Further when he was having his CI model made, he brought a blank by Malcolm's shaping room to put a Bonzer bottom in it so he could take it back up for scanning. Which Malcolm did for no compensation. It is what it is. Take it or leave it. The waiting list is long all over the world for Bonzers. I'm trying to figure out when I am going to have time to cut over 60 that are wanted in Europe ASAP.

Anybody that looks at that footage of Taylor surfing a small mushy Mexican point break on a Bonzer and laughs at it clearly doesn't know what they are looking at. Stick with your WaveStorms.

And Malcolm is probably one of the most humble, empathetic/helping/caring men I have ever met. Which has little to do with surfboards, but given some of the above idiocy I feel compelled to add it.

Don’t I know you from somewhere?

 

[Sharky]

Add to the idiocy?

Wow. Impressive how you managed to figure out that a vague reference to "idiocy" applied to you. You may not be a clinical idiot after all! Clearly, I have underestimated you. We're going to have to move you up the scale from clinical idiot to clinical imbecile. We'll leave clinical moron out there as a goal for you. You can do it!

Now go sink another surfboard. And try not to hop so much. It's embarrassing.

Love you.

That's my post limit for the week. I'm out.

And remember, surfboards are toys, surfboards are toys..surfboards are toys? surfboardsaretoys. Oh screw it. Surfboards are really important sh!t. Who am I kidding?

 

[rowjimmytour]

If only the board had a flat bottom and fins made specifically for it he wouldn’t have to grab rail.

Or if only he had man legs instead of chicken he would have no need to grab rail..

 

[rowjimmytour]

The update I believe dates back to GWS working with MC on the Alpha Omega now offered on MC bonzer website...
ALPHA OMEGA


The Alpha Omega is a Bonzer Twin Fin. We built our first one during the Fall-Winter season of 1977-78. It was made for Duncan, and he put it through it’s paces in everything from knock around surf, to way overhead top to bottom tubes at Silverstrand Beach. That board was our offering to the emerging Twin Fin craze inspired by the incredible surfing of Mark Richards. The template was based on what MR was doing, and we combined it with our Bonzer Light Vehicle bottom design. With a combination of jest and bravado, we named it the Alpha Omega.

We were so maniacally focused on our Bonzer 3 design, the way we looked at it, was that this Bonzer Twin Fin would outperform the Twin Fins of the day, and therefore the Alpha Omega would be the beginning and the end of our foray in the twin fin genre.

Lo and behold about 34 years later the Alpha Omega reappeared. We brought her back at the urging of our friend Fynn Wilson, JP St Pierre, and Duncan. We have slightly modified the template. The tail isn’t quite so narrow, but the nose template is the same as the original. The bottom is the Bonzer Light Vehicle design and the fins are very similar to the template MR used back in the day.

The response to the 21st century A/O has been pretty amazing. It has even somewhat surprised us. Simply put; it is a supercharged twin fin. If you like Twin fins, you’ll get a charge out of the Alpha Omega.

Whoops wrong thread this is Duffy experience after buying AO OTS almost new and ride report. Latest update is Duffy is waiting for step up AO I believe with pintail and glass ons.

Just the facts...

Dims - 5’10 x 20 1/8 x 2 5/8
Fins - True Ames fiberglass twin fin glassed on
Color - blue with clear fins
Wax - FU
No traction pad
Features - beak nose, swallow tail, Bonzer bottom

Waves - 1st surf - combo swell beach break waist to chest high, super foggy.
2nd surf - right hand point break chest high, medium tide, kind of fat.

Me - 6’2 - 190 lbs. - 50 years old - been surfing 40 years. Regular foot. Rode only twins and quads for the first 10 years. Got my first tri-fin at 20 years old and have almost always had a twin or quad in the rotation.

Now for the opinions featuring a smattering of words and phrases that probably mean slightly different things to different people...

So in calculating the volume I went on CI’s web based custom board builder thing and punched in the dims for a few different boards with ‘similar’ outlines and everything pretty much came in around 33L.

However, as soon as I got it in the water I realized it was more than that. When sitting on the board, the surface of the water hit at those ribs that get sore when you surf without a wetsuit for a few hours. My best guess is 34L, but in the end it doesn’t really matter.

The board paddled fine and caught waves fine. I wouldn’t say it’s a wave catching machine but it does just fine. Beak nose, flat deck, volume forward all contribute to hidden volume and wave catching ability for what is, judging by the dims, a pretty small board for a guy my size and age.

Anyway once you get planing the board is so fuckking fast that you can take off quite a bit deeper. Twin fin set up planes sooner IMHO.

Let me just mention here that prior to the surf I had only been riding a mid length single fin for the past 3 months. Also I haven’t ridden a board with glass on fins since 1996.

This first surf had pretty dumpy waves and I never got a chance to open it up but I did get a couple waves that gave me the impression that this board definitely works.

The board had no issues holding off the bottom and it gained speed through turns in a way I have never really felt before. I did go for a top turn, over cooked it a bit and ate sh!t. I also caught a left (backside) and was only able to do a bottom turn before the wave closed out. It held the turn better than expected but it was not a very good ‘test’ of it’s backside performance.

2nd surf - point break...

First wave I sort of reverted to that wide stance, heavy pivot off the bottom thruster style turn expecting to go straight up into the lip but the board lost traction so I had to calm down a bit and nursed it through the turn. Came up mid face and that fucking speed just kicked in. Check turn to scrub a little speed and set up another bottom turn. Narrowed my stance and used my feet ‘as one’ applying weight to the concave that runs along the rail.

Oh sh!t! Acceleration, drive, hold. Roundish twin fin turn but went straight up. Top turn created more acceleration that I wasn’t ready for and I ate sh!t.

2nd wave, again a little loosey goosey off the bottom but easily manageable. I think this is only partly due to it being a twin fin, part due to my heavy foot but possibly mostly caused by the fat bottom of the waves. On the beach break surf where it was steeper with a flat bottom (wave more square) I had no issues losing grip. Eventually on the point surf I just started going farther into the flats before turning off the bottom and the traction issue went away.

Finally got a good runner with a couple of sections and was getting used to the board. Even though I have ridden twins and quads all my life this board is unique. The effects of the bottom contours are noticeable. I think I now really understand what GG means by concaves “gathering”.

The thing with this bottom and fin combo though is that this ‘gathering’ happens in a way that creates an incredible amount grip and the gathered water is dispensed out the back and off the rail like it’s a jet boat.

That Bonzer bottom sucks and spits. It sucks the board to the water, sort of like the aerodynamic down force used in race cars and spits it out with seemingly more force than is possible. It’s like this pulling down energy conflicts with floatation and planing of the board. Water passing beneath is getting compressed and the only way to relieve the pressure is out the back. The result is interesting to say the least. It made me rethink my entire approach to surfing these waves. It has the speed of twin keel fish (more actually) but the performance of a shortboard.

What a mad genius that made such a thing.

Got a few more waves, had a blast then the swell just sort of turned off. Although the waves were small I think I was able to give the board a fair shake.

So, who is this board for?

Im going to say that if you are a beginner to lower end intermediate surfer this is not the board for you. The board is super fast and sensitive and can get squirrelly (for me in a good way). At times it can feel a little wild, like you have to reign it in. Again, this is based on two surfs and about ten waves total so my opinion here will probably be modified.

If you are a thruster rider and have skills you should be able to transition to this board fairly well but I know there are some tri-fin aficionados that don’t like twin/quads and this board is definitely a twin fin board with all the attributes one finds in twin fin boards, but more refined.

If you surf well and want to feel something unique you’ll like it and if you are a twin fin lover this board could quite possibly be the holy grail for waist to head high (or more?) waves, especially point breaks. You will be able to get waves in a crowd due to the insane amount of speed. You’ll just simply be able to sit deeper and make more sections. Basically, if you can see the other side of the section you can make it.

It’s ridiculous.

Thank you, Malcom.

Thank you, GWS.

Thank you, cute chick at Mollusk SB that took my money.

 

[HSY]

not everyone can make boards as utterly unpretentious and dank as you

I miss the old Northern_shores dungeon build and video evidence of shred threads. Really the apex of the surfermag forum, and I'm not being facetious at all. Well, that and Roy Stewart.

 

[HSY]

I miss the old Northern_shores dungeon build and video evidence of shred threads. Really the apex of the surfermag forum, and I'm not being facetious at all. Well, that and Roy Stewart.

Oh, also want to add whoever built the spreadsheet for fins people were using in the Roberts White Diamond 100 page thread. I bought my first Roberts along with a set of AM2 fins and a F2 center fin because of that thread! Probably the spark that really set off Greg Griffin's fin rants...

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

6’4 x 20 3/4 x 2 11/16

Sizing based off the one posted by @rts265

Not exact same dims but close. A bit thinner and a bit narrower. Glassed strong.

Thank you, Malcom and especially GWS.

Can’t wait to ride it....

 

[20W-50 and blood]

loks chichis!!1

 

[Bman76]

6’4 x 20 3/4 x 2 11/16

Sizing based off the one posted by @rts265

Not exact same dims but close. A bit thinner and a bit narrower. Glassed strong.

Thank you, Malcom and especially GWS.

Can’t wait to ride it....

View attachment 107982
View attachment 107983

That's it - i'm ordering. I want a full report on the differences between the round and swallow. Thanks, Duffy.