Sweet green machine Tardy. Looking forward to hearing how it goes in the water!

Yo Tardster - what's happening with the new stick man??
Any updates/photos you can share brus?
Gotta be close now eh?

I don't know what you are growing out on that island of yours but no potato farmer can afford so many boards ...

Love me a gun shape. Following with green interest.

forgot to say it has speed to burn ..

Looks superb BUT why are Sunova still using FCS 1 box's instead of FCS 2's. I,m struggling to find decent large FCS 1 fins these days

Rossall said..
Looks superb BUT why are Sunova still using FCS 1 box's instead of FCS 2's. I,m struggling to find decent large FCS 1 fins these days

shapers have a good range ,also wetfins.com.au if you order a custom you can request any fin system you like .

i have a sheet load of FCS 1 double plug fins now which i change around all the time ..but your right there is more range in the future style

mainly because surfboards use them .I've hit a few rocks on mine and a plug is way easier to fix than a whole fin box .

but then i like the push in of the future fins rather than grub screws .both have their goods and bads ,you can get the fin system that takes both even better ,maybe on my next custom

Yew Tardy, that is one gunny beauty. Gets the imagination stirring.

Thanks surfinJ. and Rick I might try that combo out ...but I reckon its going to be hard to loosen up a gun to much as 9,11 is a long board
I was on the tail yesterday and it turns pretty good for a longer board ,because of the length and speed of the board It didn't really sink the tail
as it had great glide ,it still takes a bit of skill to ride it as its narrow ,also you had to walk up the tail to spin it around quick to catch a jacking up peak .
but i had a good day on it yesterday in waist to shoulder high waves ,15 knot off shore wind ,so the length helped me paddle faster onto the waves ,i didn't relies how fast i was going on it ,as i came off the top in some white wash and it just kept powering through it ,and it took off down the line .
You have to ride guns different ,like get well in front of the wave before planning a cut back ,as you need more time to flick it off the top .
its great for getting out the back through the waves. couldn't believe i was still standing up after busting through a few broken waves .
I'm set for the big winter swell this year

colas said..

Tardy said..
he seems to know what he's talking about ..lol.and it makes sense .FCS 1 fins are also lighter .

To be honest, I believe at at his weight (I read he was 125kg) and ability he can make a prone shortboard tail flex, even between FCS 1 plugs. But I would be curious on how many people can actually feel the flex difference between these and fusion or FCSII plugs (or future boxes), especially on thicker and thus stiffer SUPs. I definitively can't, and I know no pro-level people having said that either.

Plus glassed-on fins made the board have absolutely zero flex underneath them. If a 1" plastic box could kill the flex of the board, imagine what a 4" stiff fiberglass would do.

Don't you think about cross flex instead of longitudinal flexion allows with FCS 1 ?
It seems to me that it's more a torque effect inducted from fins cross-reaction in the tail rather than a bow flexing effect along the whole length.
Anyhow the flex-direction really is, the FCS 1 type fin attachement remains the best to me.
As I work on my own idea about Flex tail, I did attach the FCS 1 plug to the bottom lamination to let the fin follows the bottom move whatever its direction.

SunnyBouy said..
Fabulous looking board Tardy.
That green really looks ace, I can imagine it'll glow in the sunshine.
Sounds like it was designed for Exactly what you wanted it designed for.

Pretty awesome..

Need moar updates obvz...

i think i should make a short movie .

As a matter of interest, I bought one the same size as Tardy's (9'11 x 28.5) - it arrived on the same shipment. Mine is plain old XXX construction.

I had it out in lumpy conditions (at Flinders) in a building swell.

As always, it took a bit of time to "dial it in".

My first reaction was surprise at the instability - it is tippier than I hoped. I expect it is a combo of 29.5 width and 140L (a tiny bit corky) - most of my boards are just over 120L, 30.5 wide - I am 100 kg and 6'3.

My second reaction was surprise at what it took to turn it around to paddle for a wave. It is 9'11 and tippy so it took more time/effort/care (of course) to turn it around when compared to my 9'1 Acid (or shorter boards)

Where I surf is very often lumpy, so all of these factorts lead to a bit of frustration initially.

But once I learned how to get back on the tail to pivot the turn (in preparation for the wave), and generally mastered the feet position to deal with instability, the board was fun to ride.

At 9'11 it is easier to pick up the wave earlier.

With its rocker I managed some pretty steep drops without nose-dives/pearling.

The swell picked up to overhead size so it was not quite at the "insane" size recommended - but I wanted to try it out before trying it in insane conditions.

I was very pleased with the manouverability. I managed some turns that I didn't expect I could do, and that was without having to get too far back on the tail.

So, overall, I was pretty pleased.

It is maybe worth sharing a bit of my recent journey.

I am not getting lighter, and my favorite spot is almost always lumpy (it is 1 km off-shore) and I was sick of ****ty sessions or missing sessions because of conditions. They are powerful waves (especially when compared to the Westerport waves) so they will punish you if you f&ck-up.

So I bought a 9'4 x 31.5 136L Acid. I figured that would be good when the conditions aren't great but there are still waves.

And I bought the 12' x 32" Point break for when the conditions weren't good and the surf was small.

I have had the Point Break out a few times, it is fun, but ****ty conditions are ****ty for all boards, and while it is very easy to stay upright, the surfing is largely point and shoot. You can certainly turn it, MUCH easier than the 14' Search, but it is 12'... It is perfect for the clean, small wave days - small out there are still waist high.

I have had the 9'4 Acid out a few times. It does what I wanted it to do. As always, when you switch from board to board it takes a few waves to figure out foot positions and how the board will respond. Of course, it does not respond like my 9'1 Acid or the other smaller boards, but I am still having fun on the 9'4, and on those other boards, in those crappy conditions, I would not be having fun.

So, it has been a fun journey.

Tardy said..
good and interesting to see i have found out similar findings ..

yes turning for waves ,i found it easier to stay on the tail to spin it ,but it will hook onto a full wave ,

I was screaming down these big over head waves on my 8'7 placid ...and the quads where humming ...so it hit its wave height limit
with quads ,i went in and lucky had put my 9.11 insane on ....i waited for the big ones out the back ,and had a ball,making every section and some
took off on some gnarly drops and the rocker and rounded rails played out their part and took the scare out of big wave riding ,i ended up wanting bigger waves and turned into a animal ...

after leaving the water ,taking my leg rope off ...the knot came undone in my hand ,I think i dodged a big swim .

You are turning into the Hulk

lucky all right ...I don't think i could ride the next size down ,tiz a good size for me ,

Looks great on the water !