New Ideas

I have been looking at recent posts about downwind foil boards.  Initially I was intrigued, but in my mind the downwinding gets good when the wind is up, and that is exactly when I want to be winging.  With that said, I have consciously avoided DW SUP foiling posts and info.

But recently guys are taking those boards, making them even narrower and are now using them to prone surf foil catching green unbroken waves, and even light wind wing foiling with smaller wings.

With that turn of events, I've got some ideas in my head that I want to get shaped.

This bigger blank is going to be my first prone/wing narrow foilboard.  It is going to be modeled after the old stock 12' prone paddleboards on the nose, and the Amos Sultan on the tail.

With all the small surf and lack of wind, I should have this one finished in no time.

More Blanks

Marlon and I went to Fiberglass Hawaii up in Wahiawa this past Friday and picked out blanks for our next projects.  He picked up a 9'8" Y blank in polyurethane with a laminated stringer.  He is going to make another longboard (purple colored????)

I got a 9'8" XX in EPS.  I'm going to chop it in half and get two foilboard blanks out of it.  I think it is 3.75" thick at the middle - these boards will be sinkers for sure.

Have I said I really like this truck of mine???!!!

Marlon Getting Close

I got Marlon through the 80-100-180 sanding.

Almost time to glass (but going to have to make some logo laminates and define fin positions first).

Cutting Out the Templates

We skipped an afternoon surf (too crowded and too small) - but came back home and cut out the templates transferred to the blanks.

Mine was first.  Started with the Japanese Pull Saw so I can show Marlon the technique, but then I jumped to the jigsaw (because I'm impatient).  I'm not totally sure this is going to be the final template - I may adjust the tail and the nose a bit still...

Marlon cut out his template entirely with the pull saw.

Now on to skinning the blanks.  I'm going to have to cut out a foilboard from one of the EPS blanks so Marlon can practice using the planer.

Template Transferring

Yesterday afternoon I was feeling really tired after work - long week.  Normally where I would be running to get an evening surf, I figured I'd just rest.  I took a nap and Marlon did go out.  After I got up, there was still daylight - I ended up fixing the ding on my 5'2" Foilboard, plugging up the pinholes in the 4'10", and putting a last fill coat on the ama that I'm fixing.  After that - I brought in the 6'5" fish blank and transferred the templates for the asymmetric.  Yes I know this is old school, but to me there is a better connection made with a board the more you handling it at the beginning.  CNC is fast and accurate, but I'll stick with the old school.

Marlon also templated his shortboard.  Trimming fat is next.

Blanking Out

Getting started on this year's shaping projects.  First up, splitting this big 10'-4" blank in half.  One side will be a narrower, faster paddler - probably a 5'0" - for getting into waves earlier.  Will probably stretch my 4'6" template for this.  Since the back half of the blank is straighter, this will be the paddler.

The other half with the nose rocker profile will be a narrower version of my current 4'10" (on the right side of the picture).  You can also see the 3 polyurethane US Blanks sitting behind me.  One of these will be an asymmetric fish.  Another will be Marlon's to shape - 6'0" standard thruster.  The last one will either be a stubbie twinzer (if Marlon goes slow), or a fish (if he gets to it fast enough).  If we work on the last one together, might make it a stubbie single fin (easier than a fish).

Cutting Out the Holes for the Track Box Reinforcement Block

I had some time today, so I got some work done on the new foil board.  This is the line up for the fin (track) boxes - for this length, I'm setting the trailing edge of the foil to sit around 7.25" up from the tail - eyeballed to allow for adjustability back and forward.

I used the big router to cut the deep voids.  Kinda messy with the polyurethane foam dust blowing all over.

With the holes cut out, I'll cut some fiberglass to use as the hole liner, then use epoxy (with some milled fibers) to set in the two blocks.  

After that, I'll fair in the d-cell blocks and move to the top deck (have to use the vacuum bag to laminate the d-cell sheets I want to place to prevent front foot pressure dings (I'm much to anal for my own good...)

Catch Up Posts - Tuesday Template Making

I need to get these templates transferred and trimmed.  Primarily to clean up the garage again, but equally to get the new blank cut up.

Trying to maximize the usage of the 4x8 sheet - in some cases I'm making full length half templates as well as spin templates from the same paper template.

Going to get a wide 4'6" and a stubby 4'10" out of this blank.  Both will have tapered rear rails and tails.  This is a difference from the first two boards - and is in direct response to getting bogged down after the aft portions of the boards contacted the water.  Not sure how dramatic I'll make the back end chamfers, but we'll see together over the next several weeks.

Finished Shaping Marlon's Longboard

Small surf this morning - so we decided to use the time to finish shaping Marlon's longboard.  Used the planer to cut in the rail bands, and a surform to blend to top to the rails.

We broke out the dragon skin and sanding screens to dial in the rails, and then sanded the decks.  When we were done sanding, we broke out the random orbital sander and carved in the nose spoon.  We actually made it pretty deep, so Marlon should have the ability to park up front and eat a few ham sandwiches.  La bought me some Dapp's Lightweight and I closed up all the shaping mistakes.  THis thing is ready to glass (for tomorrow).

Taking a Short Break By Shaping

Knowing Marlon is anxious to get another board in the water, we decided to skip surfing and foiling to get moving on his new longboard.

We felt most of the foiling should be done to the bottom - getting it as flat as possible to make it a super fast paddler.  I'll put a spoon in the nose so he can get 10 toes over (but later after the top is dialed in).

We used the surforms first - and Marlon was comfortable with using it.  But I switched to the planer because we had to remove about a 1/2" of material.  After a couple of hours, the bulk/rough shaping to the bottom is done.

Now the question is do we work on this all weekend and knock it out, or do we go surfing....

Garage Works - September 13, 2018

Got the board shaping racks put together.  Still need to cut up some carpet and tack it on, get the sand/buckets and do a little sanding.  The two blanks are sitting and waiting for these to get finished.

I got the fiberglass squares cut out for the mast-fuselage joint.  The table is setup for the epoxy work - will try and get this part done soon.

Commitment

Against my better judgment, I have just become committed to shaping two prone foil boards.  This is a 11'2" (Model B) 1.5# density EPS blank from Fiberglass Hawaii.  The darn thing barely fit inside the Odyssey.

My plan is to split it right in half and shape something between 5'0" and 5'6".  Probably going for 3.5" thick and flat as I can possibly get it.  22" to 23" wide.  These boards are only to get the foil lifting, so paddling speed and release from the water surface are the design targets.  The thickness and width are such that paddling speed is maximized (planning surface, minimized rocker and overall volume), and squared off rails will enhance release.

Now I need to build a couple of shaping racks and grab a couple of buckets of sand...