Board 14
7’11" Hollow Balsa Surfboard
March ‘07
Since I’m regularly seeking for the elusive new sensation, it has led me to create a board that has elements of timeless tradition and ‘as new as today’s sunrise”…
A few years back, Paul Gross and I had communicated about the possible collaboration on a board…He at the time, was creating his version of a twin fin Simmons replica…We had talked through some design elements, with the intent for him to shape and glass a “reference board” then hand it over to me to use as a model for me to create a hollow wood version of it, with unshaped rails… That board would get back to Paul Gross for him to shape the rails and glass…That was the plan until Paul pulled away from Swaylock’s and the internet…
The idea of that board has been in my mind since then…
The starting point of my board, was to honor the Tom Blake hollow tradition, then utilize a planshape similar to what Bob Simmons was working with for a while…
(above) An internet search produced this old drawing of a classic 1954 Matt Kivlin plank…This was my basic reference point for the design…A wide outline, low rocker, with a rolled bottom, and medium rails…I gave myself room to contemporize it, since it would of course be surfed and not become just “room décor”…
(above) Here’s the basic planshape I came up with…I drew the curves for this, using my first hollow board, the 8’2”, as the French Curve…I also made a template of that a 7’2” Liddle…I overlaid the Liddle template over mine and the basic curves are very similar…Like any board, it’s all about how you lay ‘em out…The picture above, of the traced out template will be the “gluing form” for the hidden, structural inner rails…The finished board will be about 3” wider when the layered “outer rails” are on…
You can also see a departure from the basic square tail…with as wide of a tail as it is, I’m wanting to have it be either a twin fin or possible a quad…
Using my Liddle as a reference, I made a new rocker curve…Surprising to me, the Liddle has more nose lift than what I’ve typically used…
The dimensions aren’t exact yet, but I’m thinking it’ll be something like this:
Length – 8’ +/-
Nose – 16.75”
Wide – 24”
Tail – 17.5”
Width at tail tips – 13.5”
Thick – 2.875”
Nose Rocker – 4”
Tail Rocker – 1.25”
(above) The longest balsa I can get up here is 5’ and wanting to avoid splices, so I decided to run the balsa at a 45 degree angle to the stringer…
In the evenings and early mornings I put the rails on...They are all balsa, a first for me...Up to now they have been alternating either bending ply and cork, or balsa and cork...All balsa is less forgiving...It wants to snap if pushed too far...Definitely slower going than the 1/2 cork method... Nothing much different using all balsa...
(above) The good ol’, tried and true, dry balsa / contact cement method...No steaming or pre-bending...Cork between the layers is definitely easier to use, but I was looking to do something different...Here the final tail lams are on and there is a lot of tension wanting to release...The filament tape says "no"...Later after the tail was shaped, I cut out the "butt crack" and inserted a "stringer" extension with the leash loop built into that...Pictures of that coming up later…
(above) The rocker is similar to my Liddle…Thickness about 3”…Both top and bottom are domed…Not a flat spot anywhere other than the un-shaped rails…
The weight of unshaped “blank” is 9#...It’ll loose at least a pound and a half after shaping…Glassing will put that back on and a bit more…
(above) The un-shaped numbers…
Length - 7’11”
Nose - 17.25”
Wide - 24.5”
Tail - 18.25”
Tips - 13.125”
It’s gonna be a wave magnet, and since I’m setting it up as a quad, it should be quick and loose…
(above) Here, you get an idea of the foil and flow...The fins are solid basswood…
Not as light as balsa, but significantly stronger than balsa…The templates are something I came up with after a lot of thought and study…
(above) The swallow tail is wide and deep …
(above) I set the rear fins parallel to the stringer at 90 degrees to the plane of the vee…I toed-in the front fins and canted them out a bit…
Looseness and lift are the goals with the front fins, and stability and drive from the rear…
(above) The front fins are foiled only on the outside, while the rears are double foiled…
The basswood and balsa look good together…
(above) All of this from straight wood, shaped around air…
(above) The tail block has the leash loop built into it…Cedar and balsa…
(above) Remember the picture of the tail laminated and taped together…???...It had a rough look to the corner…I cut away that area and inserted a “stringer extension” tail block…It has the leash loop built into it…The splice is under the “P”…
(above) The stringer extension splice is under the vent…
(above) The maker’s mark…
(above) 12.5#...
(above) This board has been fun to build…I like to think that if Blake or Simmons could see it, they might nod their heads, crack a wry smile, and say “Is that the best you can do…???...”
Westport 3-15-07
Swell: West 8’ @ 10 sec.
Wind: First day in months that the wind went offshore…
Water Temp: Nice
Air Temp: Is it about to snow…???...
My new 7’11” was done, except for the final glossy finish…In the past, I had my nephew spray on a clear two-part urethane auto clear coat…He’s one of the best in town…But he was swamped and couldn’t get to it for weeks…So I bought a quart of clear Imron, and did it myself…I sprayed on two coats, top and bottom, sanding the first coat…It turned out great, not as perfect as my nephew could do, but more than good enough…I shot the last coat on Wednesday night…
I got up on Thursday morning expecting to go to work…I checked the weather forecast and saw the prediction for East winds starting mid-morning, increasing to 20 kts. Then swinging South by dark…The swell was reasonable, west in direction, 8’@ 10 sec…Real good for our beaches…My plans for the day just changed…
I would have preferred to wait a day more for the clear coat to cure, but the forecast showed endless South winds after today…So I put the 7’11” on the shaping stands and waxed it up…The first stroke of the wax always is somewhat of a milestone, when the board has been taken from the idea-design-construction phase to the “this is what you were built for” stage…An authentification of design…A commitment to be ridden…Reality check…
I loaded up the Benz and drove to the beach in daylight, a rarity for me…The winds were showing along the way…Tree tops leaned West, the smoke from the chimneys leaned hard towards the ocean…Things I can’t see during my usual pre-dawn drives…So far so good…
When I finally got to the beach, and climbed to the top of the dune to see the ocean,
I knew that passing on work was the right decision…
Six to eight foot waves, offshore winds, only two guys out…!!!...
I’m out there…!!!...
So I suited up in winter rubber, picked up the “seems too light” 7’11”, and jogged to the waters edge…
Iwaded out a bit,slipped into the rip, then hopped on and paddled out…
The 7’11” felt as I expected as I made my way to the lineup…
Floats great, feels stable, balanced…
Once I was at the peak next to the jetty is wasn’t long until the first wave came through…A solid right, walled up with a tapering shoulder…I committed, paddled a few strokes, got under the lip, penetrated the offshores and had it…I dropped straight, eased a backside bottom turn, leaned towards the hollowing wall, adjusted my trim line and went 50 to 75 yards locked into a great first wave…As I kicked out a smile crept over my face, a validation of the design and build…
Subsequent waves were all minor epiphanies, revelations of the quad fin design…I rode almost all rights, backside to me, without any regrets of the boards dimensions or bottom set-up…It simply worked great…Surprisingly, I built the boards as a summer board, not for waves with this size or power, yet the design had no drawbacks…That, was a pleasant surprise…
The rides revealed a few things…The firmness of the all balsa hollow design is strong…Very little board flex…Yet the Basswood fins do have flex, which rode comfortably…The 12.5# all hollow balsa feels a lot lighter when paddling and during the ride…I still see the need for weight in big waves, but this board will be well suited for average conditions…Finally the quad set-up is PREDICTABLE…a very good thing…
I stayed out for three hours, snagging a bunch of waves, getting and giving hoots, just having a super fun day…!!!...Life is good…
Below are some pictures I shot after my session...
No, it's not Kirra...
...it's what known as 100% Pure PNW Fine Silver...
Board 14 is in the collection of Victor Soares...
Read more about the final destination of Board 14 ---->PortugalTrip