Water is compressed over the hole. As it passes over, it draws air into the Chunnel (channel/tunnel). It is the principal of the U class racing boats on pontoons. Each side panel is veed out with hard concaves toward the rails. Check out the pic of the hole.
How do you think this one is going to go? Will it make it’s debut at Snapper Rocks? What are your thoughts?
Posted by Jason Miller.
Filed under Channel Islands Experiments, Kelly Slater, Team
Posted on Sat, 23 January 2010 at 12:43 pm
Subscribe to RSS 2.0 feed.
Where’s the motor at?
23 Jan 10 at 9:02 pm #Kelly is probably on a secret quest to revolutionize surfboard design now that he’s done all he could do in performance surfing. When one knows Kelly admires a guy like Tesla who has 100s of patents in his name, some of which are ground breaking and classified, it’s no wonder Kelly sees another path to fulfill his creative drive and thirst for recognition and glory. I hope he opens the door for more experimentation and better design, and more eco-friendly as well.
24 Jan 10 at 7:26 am #id like to see kelly ride it at snappers……… it looks very interesting
24 Jan 10 at 9:36 am #I am usually not a sceptic when it comes to surfboard innovations, but I’m really not sure about that one. He’s Kelly, so he’ll probably ride it successfully, but there is a lot of things that seems wrong with the logic that initiate such a design. The first one that comes to mind is the fact that U class boats are powered by massive engines, and the hull of those boats is design to channel that kind of power. If those boat were to go slower, it just wouldn’t work. But maybe it’ll work just fine, and kudos to Kelly for trying to push the design to the extreme. Would love to see some footage too. It’be cool if CI was to put some vid anytime Kelly and Rob come up with a new design.
24 Jan 10 at 11:43 am #So unique and funny
25 Jan 10 at 1:14 am #Kelly!!
Please, try it at Snappers.
That’s very cool. I can see the stringers on the sides, but is there also a stringer down the middle?
25 Jan 10 at 10:47 am #I sincerely hope not.
25 Jan 10 at 12:26 pm #Mr Slater has a long life after he retires to experiment & probably help us all in opening our eyes to new tec hnology or design in surfboards, however… For now, PLEASE try to keep him on track to a tenth (or more) world title, using tried & true equipment!
The other guys are hungry. If he’s looking for an edge, I strongly suggest that he remembers, he already has an edge… His ability.
My prediction for Kelly when I spoke to him surfing at Ulu, was that he would win the ninth based on his then amazing stats. I am an Aussie but he is the greatest professional sportsperson of all time!
Get back to basics & start the year with winning, not guessing!
hmmm i like my thruster just a little concave is all i need
25 Jan 10 at 2:17 pm #Had that idea in my head for some time now, just not the resources to make it happen, looks sick!!! hope they make production… love to ride one!!1
25 Jan 10 at 3:13 pm #Well it could only go one of two ways and I hope it’s the good one!!! Can’t wait to see the results!!!
25 Jan 10 at 3:19 pm #Thaught about having a v shape from 1/3rd of the way down, pitched from the flat into the channel though… kinda looks like may have been attempted that way, hard to tell from pic. why am i giving away my ideas?
25 Jan 10 at 3:20 pm #you have to do extreme things to get noticed but if you are Kelly and you do extreme things you get noticed extremely. Good on ya mate at least it is a quad so it has more chance of getting to the speed where it may have some of the effect desired. muzz
25 Jan 10 at 3:56 pm #That looks sickkkkkkkkkk. Damn I am really looking forward to how its going to work and try one out one day. Keep it up Kelly your the best
25 Jan 10 at 6:46 pm #Yea what do i know right…
ASYMETRICAL TAIL
This is what im talkn about. You had my attention before all this, but
now your regot my attention. Hey (don’t eve …I see you looking at my” Regot”word) if you want to trade, ill give you “regot” and you hand me one of those ASYMETRICAL TAILs…then we all good.
but really im with what Greg said – go for 10!
25 Jan 10 at 10:17 pm #You’ve been noticed a long time ago Muzz, and you’re designs are not only extreme, they also seem to be working quite well. Never had the opportunity to try one, but one day maybe (someone said Fatbullet?).
26 Jan 10 at 1:59 am #Anyhow, as a professional shaper, what’s your take on that design? Do you think it could work? And by that I mean also for somebody else that Kelly.
Cheers.
[...] via Channel Islands Surfboards Blog [...]
26 Jan 10 at 7:07 am #Hey Alex i don’t want to get caught up in this but i aggree with what you said.There is a fine line between things working hydrodynamically and that is the sum of speed applied and the pressures created. This is why we who shape surfboards must keep our heads when we see some of those far out boat hulls and must contain our excitement because everything we do has to be subtle due to the lower speeds we are dealing with. This is why tow boards have me excited as they are a relatively new frontier.
26 Jan 10 at 2:44 pm #tail looks unic, i like the tail maybe my next short board it will be just like it.
26 Jan 10 at 5:22 pm #greg, and that other clown who agress with him.
26 Jan 10 at 6:07 pm #you guys are absolute tools, who cares about him ever winning another world title on the same old boards? seriously.
if you had any idea about surfing you would know that it’s about the feeling and im sure he’s raped the same old feeling out of the same old boards for years. some of the new stuff he’s coming up with will have him feeling things he never thought possible on a surfboard. can’t wait to see him ripping on that thing.
maybe you should try it sometime.
kelly, you the man.
shredder…
if you and I ever surfed together, you never say that….ive been surfing since my mentor put me on his board with the top ( the beaver tail old school ) of a wetsuit and took me out for my first ride in the cold north pacific ocean . I must have been 7, now 41 , yea the feeling, im there with you. As for calling me a tool- I and Greg and the others clowns – got your attention, that makes you a clown, since you want to hang around clowns then, lets get one thing streight right now ( Mr want to be a clown president )….we love to surf and thats what this is all about. Easy on the surf lingo dude.
26 Jan 10 at 9:23 pm #I’ve done a similar design on lots of my favorite boards. Haven’t tried it on a quad but I’m sure the speed will be easy to generate. It’s the fastest design I have. I love it and so do the people who have one of my shapes. I believe this simple flow of water through the bottom of the board and done correctly between the fins, will change the performance of the surfer and where the surfer wants to be on a wave!
26 Jan 10 at 11:25 pm #Ummmm, I’ll bet a lifetimes free CI surfboards that part of the marketing plan is for Kelly to become one of / the principal designer at CI in years to come. I’m stoked he’s experimenting but the free press on every move is genius. He’s already moved to ’some friends wanting some’ next will be ‘by popular demand from surfers everywhere’. Go Kelly, I’d love to ride one of his boards……..
If it’s not the plan email me and together we’ll make it happen.
27 Jan 10 at 12:22 am #designs of late have been extremely subtle.. this being the first truly innovative alternative.. i liken it to the 60’s when vinnie bryan on kauai developed for bunker spreckles the air hole boards that were short thick and full of lift.. leave it to kelly to BREAK DA MOLD.. then again changes and names and designs are two fold..either driven by board companies to keep things $fresh$..or by surfers to put new changes on the line.. kelly represents a combination of each.. CONGRATULATIONS..HOPE IT WORKS OUT
27 Jan 10 at 9:50 am #Toad, for sure.
27 Jan 10 at 5:53 pm #The fin placement looks really far forward
27 Jan 10 at 8:39 pm #the glasser is the hero on this one good job from what i can see …
27 Jan 10 at 10:38 pm #Stringers moved to the rail? Reinforcing strip down the center? Looks like…wait…wait…a Firewire! Sorry but these shapes and ideas are already out there if you guys open your eyes.
27 Jan 10 at 11:24 pm #When I was working inthe Basque Country at the Pukas factory 20 years ago, a towering, monster sized shaper arrived in a bright orange BMW racing version with gloves on to boot.He used to work for ‘Surfers Alliance” amongst other places.. Played guitar like Jimmy Hendriks, used to balst out the neighbours on Sunset Point and used to be a wrestler too.. He told me about his design which was similar to Kelly’s model here, only that it was located further forward.
28 Jan 10 at 12:13 am #It had a wider tunnel with a perspex cover over the dispersion point where the air came through the deck. Wasn’t such a deep tunnel though as the kelly one but wider.
Not only that but the boards were moulded.
Mike Zeh Croteau (or Jolly Green) as we used to call him was just one of those talented guys out there who make amazing stuff. Much based on Hydroplane racing boats or sea-plane hulls with their step-hulls and tunnels.
It just goes to show what you can come up with when you think laterally and study other water sports.
The idea in this case is to reduce wetted surface area to increase speed.. the rest of the control issues, side benefits and negatives are all what make doing a wild board interesting. The fun is in the testing.
This is what Kelly a great champ and leader in the sport of surfing.. his open mind.
Well, cheers to those who push the boundaries.. Conformity gets a bit boring..
Ah but the contests… yes.. better play it safe… well maybe not.. can’t decide… you win you’re a winner, you come second ..a loser.. a winner’s board works.. a loser’s doesn’t.. or am I lost…
smoke much mate?
28 Jan 10 at 2:19 am #I like the carbon fibre stringer, that stops half way. Gives the tail quite a bit of flex. The design looks very similar to Daniel Tomsons concepts.
http://www.dantomo.com/
28 Jan 10 at 3:18 am #It’d have more chance of working if it was a weighted tow board methinks…
28 Jan 10 at 4:27 am #This was done in the late 70’s already. Back then it had a vent that let air be drawn into the front of the chanel from the deck. It worked too well and the air made it too loose in big surf as I recall. It didnt last long that time. Kelly could rip on a 2″X4″ piece of lumber. But can a Wilber ride it that is the test?
28 Jan 10 at 10:44 am #Looks like a KELLY only type of board. Plus think concave not channels,ding that channel no more performance.
28 Jan 10 at 10:44 am #Let’s see…., we got some tapered rail stringers, a concave entry with carbon band, a tunnel with concave side panels, a spread and forward quad set up with looks like heavy cant on the rears and whatever on the fronts. And finally at the start of the tunnel there appears to be a port of some kind? Is that for the internal and adjustable carbon tension rod? OR the faucet?
28 Jan 10 at 10:45 am #this design reminds me of how ben aipa came out with the stinger. same template of the power boats. playing with the bottom and the fins is the next step and fine tuning may take years as wave types and conditions the board will be used in differ. kelly will accomplish it, as he rips on anything he rides, but as far as money and corporate stuff, i think that is not even on his mind. right on kelly for trying and for being out of the box.
28 Jan 10 at 11:53 am #Interesting! – Hull design has always been as much of an artform as it is engineering… I wonder if they created a virtual model of this and ran it through fluid dynamics sim software to tweak it first… With the technology we have available and the fact that Kelly isn’t opposed to taking advantage of it, I’m willing to bet that a lot of thought went into this design… it’s one thing to have a channel, but for it to work properly it has to be exactly the right dimensions for the speeds that are expected without sacrificing control. I can’t see this board for small-wave surfing, but I bet for larger waves it will provide significantly more acceleration than more traditional designs… Only time will tell. Good luck with it, Kelly – look forward to seeing ya again next time you’re back in the area!
28 Jan 10 at 1:29 pm #hey it just may work! But will the judges like it?
28 Jan 10 at 4:26 pm #Ok, yeah yeah the board is pretty cool, nice design…but seriously whoever glassed that thing is the real hero…the sander too.
28 Jan 10 at 5:43 pm #Alomst looks like there is no need for rear fins…add Fronts shaped like Ulua bottom fins 3″ max. Top end design combo-ed with nature inspired inside da water. All i see is them boat tro some mean roosta tails cuz. Axeperimentation iz good.
28 Jan 10 at 9:13 pm #you cant patent a surf board design – you can only get design rights.
Unless there is an inventive step.
sharky
29 Jan 10 at 4:40 am #I like that no engineering goes into these ideas, 140mph powered boat principals do not apply here.
29 Jan 10 at 9:33 am #Kelly’s doing a good thing. There is plenty of experimentation in shaping but not much of it gets headlines. It’s nice to see that a famous rider has an interest in design and is sharing his results with us. I’d love to see him post the results of his experiments on Swaylocks. No matter if it’s been done before. As we all know, little tweaks on a design can make it work or stop working. So, don’t waste too much time theorizing about it. Lets find out if works, or not.
29 Jan 10 at 2:29 pm #Since I taught Slater and Al everything they know, I’ve very proud of them.
29 Jan 10 at 7:06 pm #where do the coordinates on the bottom put you? I think they are 34N 23′ 21″ 118W 29′ 04″
30 Jan 10 at 9:46 am #Not a glasser, but that thing is going to be a nightmare to work with.
I see that thing going fast in a straight line. It’s going to grab alot of water when you try to slide the tail out.
30 Jan 10 at 11:36 am #First, to sharyky….I actually own a utility patent on a surfboard design. I just won my patent called, “surfboard with channels”, so I guess your statement, “you can’t patent a surfboard design”, is now no longer a true statement.
Secondly, everyone knows there are endless combinations of old and new ideas that you can add to any board shape. However, just like a race car or boat, there are actually only a few things that actually will make it work perfectly and beat the competition. You can add all the “stuff” both past and present to your board and make it feel “different”, but only a very few things in perfect combination will make it actually “better”.
Have fun Kelly and keep on experimenting. I’m sure all your boards will ride “differently” for sure. However, ride my “Patented” board design and you will see why my perfect combination of ideas actually makes the best board concept, the quad, a “better” surfboard. All the other stuff just makes them “different”. I hope you win #10! Peace.
30 Jan 10 at 12:29 pm #What are the coordinates on that board http://goo.gl/iQji ?
30 Jan 10 at 1:28 pm #Surfers are very eco concious. Surfboards need to be eco friendly too! Interesting design and maybe only Kelly can ride it. But true glory to the one who designs and eco friendly surfboard. Think of it…every fiberglass and foam or epoxy surfboard that was ever made will NEVER biodegrade! Bits of fiberglass and foam and plastic floating forever in our seas and panet…
30 Jan 10 at 9:38 pm #i guess its the same concept as a step bottom, drawing air & creating air pocket in the tail for skatey feel & quick pivoting. i guess the novelty comes from the integration of the big forward concave pushing water into the chunnel and the side concave v panel for better performance on rail.
i can see the logic. but as mentioned above, not all of it is new. prob because his contract with CI limits him from working with other shapers, so he has to create mutations of the originals. but you have to admit, sometimes it takes someone like a kelly slater to push an idea through, even if he’s “copying” it.
30 Jan 10 at 11:26 pm #When working with a CNC machine, the top and bottom of the board are both attributed a number. I might be wrong, but I think that’s what those numbers are. Sorry guys, it’s not the coordinates of Kelly’s favorite secret spot.
To Jonny,
Regarding the debate about what CI has stolen from whom… Guys, just chill. Shapers are like Jazz musicians who constantly play with sounds they’ve heard others create. A shaper sees something interesting and he’s gonna try to play with the concept to adapt it to his own philosophy of design, or to make is batter. It’s all part of the dynamic of creation. The manta is a copy of the gemini surfboards? I’ve seen some of those and they have nothing to do with what the Manta looks like (mainly a tangent with a funky nose). The DD a copy of the Roberts Squish? Even if it where the case Roberts doesn’t have Dane Reynolds, and only the pro surfers have the ability to shed some light on new designs. An even Ci has copied some stuffs, how many shapers have copied the Flyer? Every single one of them.
So just chill man, it’s only board design we’re talking about.
31 Jan 10 at 1:01 am #Also, to Fasterquad,
I find patenting a surfboard design disgusting. If Glen Winton had patented the quad design, where would you be with your “perfect combination of ideas”? Nowhere, that’s where. Because you would never have had the freedom to develop your design and get it tested.
I whish I knew your brand so I could avoid it at all cost.
Get lost.
31 Jan 10 at 1:06 am #Kelly Slater esq.
31 Jan 10 at 4:30 am #Harddartz is a keel driveline watercarriage recently designed and tested at Shipsterns Tas. This project is the brain child of Jay (The Wizz) Wissing, Old guard “Dee Why”. Now living and based at Shipsterns. Marti Paradidis and Mikey Brennan smashed it at shipterns first wave each on the dart!! Tim Bonython productions arrived with Koby and the rest of the bra boys, Mathews, Morrison plus crew. They wittnessed Harddartz first test!. That night after the shipsterns session Koby rang Wizz asking him to shape a “Dart” for “Ours”.! I have seen your air channel board and I think we need to talk. Harddartz team shoots it straight, Kelly. I’ve cracked what they call finless with some pretty simple technology. It works, we have tested several prototypes advancing in leaps and bounds in a mere 4 months. We have a design registration on a similar looking carriage (surfboard) We need to talk, Would appreciate if I could talk to you about this personally. Please contact Harddartz for my personel email and contact no. Thankyou for your time and attention, Wizz.
Made something like this back in ‘75 a 7′6″ with 5 fins. Very fast off the bottom or in a trim, but in negative flow situations like stalls water would come out of the intake on the deck and squirt me in the face. Worked ok, but did not really revolutionize surfing, or I would be rich and famous by now.
31 Jan 10 at 11:34 am #Well Alex A, Glen Winton didn’t file a patent and I did so I guess I am somewhere instead of nowhere. Furthermore, in my many years of experience, the only people that have your reaction are cheaters and liars that are used to cheating and lying. Also, Hobbie Alter said it best about patents when he said, “The reason I file patents on my designs are not for the purpose of keeping people from building my design, it’s to prevent them from stopping me from building what I want to build.” Do you hate Hobbie because they own patents on all types of craft? Do you hate Surftech because they produce a patented surfboard manufacturing process? Did you hate Clark Foam for monopolizing the entire blank world? Do you hate people from all walks of life that own patents on many of the products you use every day? Do you hate all the guys that patented the technology that allows your Ipod, Iphone or mp3 to actually work? Probably. Like I said before, people that hate for no justifiable reasons are nothing more than haters, liars and back stabbers. Alex A, you have been exposed as just that. Thanks for your input though, I’m sure everyone of earth will listen to you. Have a nice day!
31 Jan 10 at 11:37 am #Fasterquad,
31 Jan 10 at 3:41 pm #You’re were you are because the likes of Glenn Winton and Simon Anderson did their work for free and shared it with the rest of the world. Not because of your patent.
I could answer any of you rhetorical question one by one, but really I’d hate to waist the time on debating something we’ll never agree on.
Althought I have to say I didn’t know that about Hobbie owning patents, and yes, it’s disappointing.
As for calling me a cheater and a liar, well I’m straight forward enough to call it like I see it. And if we were to debate it in person, I would stick to the points I made. Have a nice day too.
I never said I wasn’t thankful to all those before me. On the contrary. I am hugely humbled by all the talent that came before me. After reading your response Alex A, I would now give you the benefit of the doubt as you have a nicer tone. You just need to think about what you said to me about patenting an “original thought”. You should realize that all products everywhere that you use every day all have patents on them. The whole US was built on and by inventors in every walk of life from Tesla to Billy White. You should actually be thankful to those that invent and earn patents not hate them because they don’t share.
Look bro, I have been surfing for over 40 years and shaping my own boards for 15. I’m not saying that I am anything other than a humble inventor that happens to own several patents, one now being on a surfboard concept I came up with. Since I have been riding quads since 1982, I have a good feel for all the varieties. I found something that worked better for me and also now for many many others. I believe in this patent process not because I want to sue people, but because I’m just a tiny little peon in a big arena just trying to make a name like all the others out there. I’m not here to offend anyone. Just here to make my mark like the many thousands out there. Peace.
31 Jan 10 at 4:58 pm #To Fasterquad, When did you patent this idea? I have seen variations on this design for a long long time now. What does your patent state you are the rightful owner to? I am interested in why you chose to patent a surfboard design? Have you ever sent money to Simon Anderson for using his design, even though he didn’t patent it? Just thought you would be the first guy to give Simon a few dollars for using his ideas, or are you in the process of patenting his thruster for yourself and saying you invented it yourself?
31 Jan 10 at 5:17 pm #A Better surfboard you say? If it is in fact a better surfboard then why is it a quad? All good surfers know that a thruster is the better board and quads have a limited type of waves you can actually make them work in.
Mate you really need to tell the truth as to why you invested in the patent in the first place’ “GREED”. You are seriously not cool bro!
Dream on crap ! What about hole in tennis ball ? Be basic !Shaper trying to make name of himself using Slater as show board ..Phooey !
31 Jan 10 at 5:44 pm #Who cares what it looks like, all that matters is how it surfs!
01 Feb 10 at 12:40 am #Kelly’s becoming a Cheyne??? Keep focused on the Titles…..
01 Feb 10 at 1:24 am #i’d like a go . whats the front of the chunnel look like ?
01 Feb 10 at 9:43 am #I think by concaveing from 10″ from the top of the nose then pulling 3/4 down the bottom til you hit the last quater of the board as hits the channel would flow more water out the bottom for a even faster ride . It looks like a fun board to ride even in big waves. Ahui ho Aloha
01 Feb 10 at 12:24 pm #Kelly rode it at Pipe and was insane loose 5′11″ Wow
01 Feb 10 at 12:44 pm #just wondering how do you compress water?
01 Feb 10 at 2:44 pm #Im not positive, but I think Kelly rode this design at the pipe masters this past year. if i remember correctly he gave an interview where, among other things, he described the board. Its awesome to know that kelly slater is active in developing products.
01 Feb 10 at 5:50 pm #i see now that steveo, only two posts up, has informed us of the kelly, chunnel, pipe experiment.
01 Feb 10 at 5:51 pm #cheyne horan tried to ride a boat and it sucked.
03 Feb 10 at 10:20 am #Kellys chunnel looks interesting but would it work better having a wider entry at the front of the chunnel and narrower at the tail creating a hydraulic ram effect by compressing the water and giving more squirt out the tail.A soft angled entry and exit point may be good too….Dunno just a thought…Bob
06 Feb 10 at 10:21 pm #Had another thought,What about if you made the chunnel wider at the front with an angled tapered water entry,then stretch a layer of glass across the channel so the water is trapped and compressed.Then,the water can travel thru a sealed tunnel and out a narrower squarer exit for squirt at the tail . Water can also flow across the flat surface as well for normal flow and pivot in turns.You could also make the glass cover of the channel slightly curved outward like an exaust pipe..Wide at the front narrow at the tail ,It may even provide some hold like a fin..Dunno just a thought….Bob…PS somebody come up with a self healing Bio skin for boards so I dont have to fix dings any more.
06 Feb 10 at 11:21 pm #Air that is..
It’s a nice experiment though… fun to glass and sand..
07 Feb 10 at 1:35 am #In response to Gilly’s question.. I probably should smoke.. maybe he can lend me some. Take the edge off the caffeine.
Staunch.. Maybe Christian Bradley can tell us where the fin positioning came from.
07 Feb 10 at 2:19 am #stop it please.
08 Feb 10 at 11:52 am #Kelly, Al, and others,
Thank you for taking the experimentation to the next level, despite the close minded, conservative majority. It’s this type of thinking that gave us Simon Anderson’s thruster.
09 Feb 10 at 6:42 pm #The two fastest boards I’ve had were a Bonzer and a quad. This board seems to be a blend of the two. I would really like to try one.
14 Feb 10 at 11:19 am #I like. Go Kelly Go!!!
15 Feb 10 at 6:43 pm #Kelly is the only one that thinking in the right direction (pushing the limits), would like him to take the whole thing 1 step further and see him trying his hand at strapless kitesurfing on this board. If ya wanna have a go Kelly “off the record” drop me a line at garybenet@mac.com and I will teach ya. Aloha.
17 Feb 10 at 2:50 pm #Jon,
24 Feb 10 at 1:27 pm #where have you been buddy, everything in surfing is a rip off. get with the times.
Ok, let’s step back in time a little. Kelly may know this, and Al certainly does. This concept was started 30+ years ago when Bob Krause, who used to be a ghost shaper for CI in the late ’70s, made the Space Opera. A nearly 8′ single fin(that’s what we road then to a large extent)with two fabricated manifolds thru the deck to create a venturi effect, drawing air from above, and dispersing it under the tail. The theory was, there is less resistance to air than to water, and if you can create a layer air under the board, it goes fasssster. I thought it was a reasonable theory and had Bob shape me a modified version. The CatHull, very similar to Kelly’s Chunnel, but without the manifold was a very fast board, and definitely presented a different take on what could be…W
26 Feb 10 at 11:01 am #What do you know,
27 Feb 10 at 12:40 am #Kelly was riding conventional equipment today at Snapper and top scored the round. Surfed flawlessly and said his board was going really good. No wizards sleeve or Chunnel was mentioned.
I like what he’s up to. I even took my Gemini Speed Freak off the wall, blew the dust off and rode it. Hell that board is fast despite it being 10 years old and delaminated to f***. XTR back then wasn’t the best!
27 Feb 10 at 10:20 am #It’s good to see someone with the skills and respect riding the boards that Joe Public used to laugh at. The WCT riders have never had the liberty to do this as results count too much. Kelly doesn’t really need to worry. He’s more than made it in the surfing industry. I’m stoked to see someone of his prowess, give something back. I hope finally the public can start appreciating some of the more genius, but less normal ideas out there, such as Jeff Alexander’s. He’s had his shapes ripped off for past decade. A few years back his shapes were seen as some of the ugliest by Surfermag, but then Stretch comes up with his F4 quad which was a blatant copy of the Gemini’s tail and fin set-up. Anyways, the more these crazy shapes get accepted, the faster surfboards and surfing will evolve. Free your mind as they say
Racing boats go relatively faster than regular shortboards. Reducing surface drag on a regular shortboard by minimizing the surface will probably not have a significant effect. Form drag due to rocker, outline and fins are dominant. I totally agree with Bourton that with the high speed of tow boards the concept is interesting. Nevertheless, thinking out of the box (and trying it out) is really great.
27 Feb 10 at 3:02 pm #Kelly could ride anything from Lay’s potato chip to a 10ft soft top and rule Pipe with it. Having him test out this board honestly is pointless.. he will make it look like the next best thing no matter what. Pass it down to the local groms and see what happens..
01 Mar 10 at 8:11 am #