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Kneeboard Design
- Thread starter GWS
- Start date
I lost partial use of my legs for around four months this year after nearly crocking it from sepsis (ruptured appendix). A couple of older mates, who are avid kneeboarders and mat riders gave me an array of newer and older board to try. I rode Chayne Simpson's thruster he rode at huge Nias a few years back. 5'8 - super thin at 2 1/4 and fins really far forward, but couldn't get into it. I tried a few quads and twins, then i rode a Croizier flextail slab and it was amazing. I ended up ordering a 5'4 slab and even though my legs are back and i am surfing (now rather poorly...) again, i still bust out the kneeboard because it is super fun.
What i found is that, it's easy to do, but super different from surfing and hard to do well. I have a little reef behind my place and often take it out there, just for the fun of the 'duck and cover'. They are also a blast to stand up on too. I'm lucky enough to watch Simon Farrer surf Cowries on big days - that guy is at another level.
What i found is that, it's easy to do, but super different from surfing and hard to do well. I have a little reef behind my place and often take it out there, just for the fun of the 'duck and cover'. They are also a blast to stand up on too. I'm lucky enough to watch Simon Farrer surf Cowries on big days - that guy is at another level.
Aussie shapers love to put their fin placements way up forward. Under a kneebarders center of gravity. Two different schools IMO. The US guys have the Fish. For all of you fish fans, it was developed as a kneeboard first. Simon has his boards shaped by Bruce Hart, Flashpoint Surfing. I have a couple of Bruce's boards right now.
John Mel. Freeline Design here in Santa Cruz was and is my mentor. So many custom boards over the years shaped by John. Go into Freeline, make a shaping appointment, show up at night at the factory and when you leave you have a board ready to be glassed. Just another whole approach to the same subject.
John is currently the World ROB kneeboard champion. "Rotten Old Bastards", 60+.
John Mel. Freeline Design here in Santa Cruz was and is my mentor. So many custom boards over the years shaped by John. Go into Freeline, make a shaping appointment, show up at night at the factory and when you leave you have a board ready to be glassed. Just another whole approach to the same subject.
John is currently the World ROB kneeboard champion. "Rotten Old Bastards", 60+.
I grew up kneeboarding 5' 2" boards up to 5' 6". The Aussie influence brought the bigger, wider bards with more volume.
Swim fins. part and parcel for us US kneeboarders. In Oz though, the Sydney area, guys like Simon Ferrar, the Simpson brothers, Baden Smith. They do not wear swim fins. Bigger boards, more volume to compensate.
My go to now is a 5' 10" fish with swim fins. Some extra vol. I can catch small waves with more vol like a long board. I can paddle through big rips using legs and arms. I love Buddys F2K quad fish design. It's a traditional fish but it has a more forward fin placement. Not as extreme as the Aussie designs. But it is looser, more manueverable in smaller surf but still able to hold in the big stuff.
Buddie also shapes a traditional quad fish kneeboard with the fin placement way back on the tail. The kneeboard equivalent of a gun.
Bringing this up for you kneeboarders who like Buddy McCray's Blast boards.
Was on FB the other night and a guy from South Africa was posting pics of his new Buddy Fish. Shaped in South Africa.
Apparently Buddy is now sending a CMC file. You take it to the local shaper/glasser of your choice. Buddy still supplies the fins.
If you know Buddy, you know what he has gone through. Absolutely Stocked that he can pass his art on to us without the personal wear and tear that shaping a board does to him.
What is Old Never Dies. It Just Gets Stronger.
Was on FB the other night and a guy from South Africa was posting pics of his new Buddy Fish. Shaped in South Africa.
Apparently Buddy is now sending a CMC file. You take it to the local shaper/glasser of your choice. Buddy still supplies the fins.
If you know Buddy, you know what he has gone through. Absolutely Stocked that he can pass his art on to us without the personal wear and tear that shaping a board does to him.
What is Old Never Dies. It Just Gets Stronger.
It seems to me a lot of the guys that are spending the most time in the tube in later years are kneeboarders.
Kinda crazy to see a guy in his 60s pop up in a lineup and show everyone else up.
Kinda crazy to see a guy in his 60s pop up in a lineup and show everyone else up.
If you ever want to try one out, I have one that would work for you, 5’6 Flashpoint from OZ.
Cool to see this thread resurface from 2018!
I bought a kneeboard (used 5'10 Blast tri-fin round tail, forward fin placement, FCS boxes) while recovering from an Achilles tear in 2008 and enjoyed the heck out of it for about 9 months. Then back in garage until I hurt my foot last month, had to fix a few dings and wash the cobwebs off. It's back! Still a lot of fun. I paddle it just like a regular surfboard, no flippers.
What fin template do you guys like? I started with a set of G-7's but it felt more pivoty then I had remembered.. Could just be because it has been so long I forgot how to ride it properly!
I am now running the Merrick template which feels good, starting to get the hang of it again.
I bought a kneeboard (used 5'10 Blast tri-fin round tail, forward fin placement, FCS boxes) while recovering from an Achilles tear in 2008 and enjoyed the heck out of it for about 9 months. Then back in garage until I hurt my foot last month, had to fix a few dings and wash the cobwebs off. It's back! Still a lot of fun. I paddle it just like a regular surfboard, no flippers.
What fin template do you guys like? I started with a set of G-7's but it felt more pivoty then I had remembered.. Could just be because it has been so long I forgot how to ride it properly!
I am now running the Merrick template which feels good, starting to get the hang of it again.
For more drive, try some keel style fins in the front and 3.75 regular style trailers in the back. The guy who made your board had that fin setup in mind when he designed it.
Ha!
It's always a treat to visit old stomping grounds. I think the only places that have a solid crew anymore are Blacks and So. Side HB. And with a few exceptions, we're all sporting gray or no hair....
I've seen a handful in SF.
I talked to one older guy riding a concave deck kneeboard. He said he didn't need the extra foam and the thick pad he used filled the void.
So here's a question - i'm keen to get a set of twin fins for this kneeboard I've got - but no idea who makes them as a single tab type setup. These are plastic and I want fibreglass - any thoughts?
He does have a set - good advice and not far from me.