y2 = 4ax

Haven't done a post involving skateboarding or mathematics in a while, so here you go. I'm off to surf the quad in one of those tiny windows of swell and weather we currently have. Check out friend of the family Mike Machemer's new blog, Lenape Joking- it's good.

Surfing Around The World

Somewhere...



...North Island NZ (and I left this place why again?)...

...West Island, NZ...


...some very fine style in the UK (please note excellent lumber array on the Morrie's roof)...

...and the Netherlands!

But there's no surf here so I sit and gaze longingly at my quad and send thanks to the many correspondents who have shared their day at the beach with us.

Twinnies via Wegener and Beck

Jeff Beck goes hi-tech and lofi at the same time.


Jon Wegener's Handiwork

Ah, surfboard pictures- I love 'em. Since we've had 3 fins and 4 fins lately, here's a set of twins both look decidedly rideable. Jon Wegener again shows he knows what to do with fins on a board that seems to involve some very classic design elements used to great advantage, while Jeff at Ninelights goes all out modern construction (compsand 1lb EPS, balsa and cedar skin, cedar fins if I remeber rightly) on a supposedly outmoded setup. I don't deny that the thruster came along at the right time to completely reshape surfing, especially in the high performance arena, but the twins are rightly seeing a resurgence. The progress that was happening then seems to be continuing, and with all the new concepts that have come along since the mid-eighties, it's getting really good. There's some very interesting alternatives for those that are willing to venture along these paths.

Lost In The Ether

Mick Mackie riding one of his sidecut rocket fish, image Kidman from 'Lost In The Ether'


Garth Dickinson with a Mackie sidecut fish, reworked image Kidman from 'Glass Love'
Frame by Joe Curren who will do just as nice of a job framing art for you if you'd like.

Lost In The Ether is Andrew Kidman's new film. It further develops the themes he's worked on in his last two films and it features some brilliant surfboard designers. Here's Garth Dickinson talking about Mackie:

Garth: Peak moments he calls them, “I’m always looking for Peak moments,” he says. I think the other thing that’s unreal is; having a shaper that lives around the corner and he’s your mate and he sees you surf all the time. I think that’s a real privilege to have that kind of situation. Also he’s such a great surfer, he’s just a classic guy to hang out with.

The film is initially only available from Andrew directly by going here and it's in a signed and numbered edition of 1000 copies, packaged with an 80 page hardbound book. It will be very good indeed I'm sure.

Simmons Style

I doubt that just a few years ago when John Elwell, Richard Kenvin and Joe Bauguess collaborated to re-envision the legendary small Simmons board they had any idea what they were about to unleash (although I'd bet they all claim they did). The mini Simmons has become a bit of a cult inside alternative board design circles, probably the most copied board of the last few years (and worst copied- how may of those purported legit mini-Sims out there were shaped from nothing more than a photo on the internet and a vague idea of who Bob Simmons was?) It's also provided a new design springboard for a lot of people to work from, and some very cool cross pollinating has taken place. Here's probably the earliest re-envision of the re-envision, and RK 's crew are still making them beautifully. Keels out on the wings for that planing goodness, pulled in tail that's still within Lindsay Lord's specifications for clean water release, and a little trailing fin for added bite. I like these boards a lot, they're fast, responsive and feel really solid in the turns. Hank Warner shaped this one and it's a beaut. Although it's hard to get a good idea from a bad photo, I can assure you this board (a 5'8" I believe) felt very, very good under the arm. As with the quad from the previous post and the asym a couple back I really wish you could actually heft the thing yourself, see how the rails blend so nicely into the deck and how the foil works, feel the lovely balance of the board and get that surge of 'I want to go surf' excitement. I'm getting that quad in the water tomorrow finally. I'm stoked, surfboards are things of great beauty.

Post surf quad update:
Yes.
Yes,yes,yes.
Yes indeed, yes.
And that was a short session in smallish but OK waves with a few longboards clogging it up.
The quad is a thing of great beauty and amazing function.
Stoked.

The Fruits Of A Decade Of Flex Research

EPS Quad. 6'0" x 21 3/4" x 2 5/6". Hand foiled fins. $750 but I think I'll be keeping this one. We'll sort a custom for you if you want one.



PU/Carbon Fiber Flextail. 5'9" x 20.5" x 2 7/16". Hand foiled keels. $900. Again a custom can be done but may run a little more due to exchange rates. info@foamandfunction.com for any questions


???? Full images soon enough.

Mick Mackie delivers. (Well, actually Jeff delivered them but you know what I mean.) The boards arrived and exceeded all expectations, and those were some very high expectations. The quad is one of the most fantastic surfboards I've seen, it's like a totally clean MotoGuzzi, the thing looks fast and lethal just sitting still. The foil on it is pretty amazing and it weighs next to nothing. The flextail is the essentially the same dims as the one that has given me several of the best sessions I've had in the past year, except this one sports some handmade keels that are foiled to a knife edge. The Project board (dubbed the WTF? on being unwrapped) is essentially ground zero for this stuff, the beginning of the path and damn near impossible to adequately describe. Mick Mackie is the real deal surfboard shaper, a genuine innovator who is lucky enough to be able to build the boards that interest him and do it by hand. There's no pandering to the mass market by cranking out machine shapes or slightly modified versions of whatever is currently hip. These are his design concepts that he's quietly refined and tested, and I'm very proud to be involved with it in any form. My enormous thanks to Mick and all the others that keep surfing interesting- you guys are doing a great job at the moment.

More Kidman

She Was a Girl - New Music by The Windy Hills from Andrew Kidman on Vimeo.

Yes, I just pulled these from the site but they're really good. Wayne Lynch with a serious surfboard. Mick Mackie with a serious surfboard. Go to the site, check it out, buy something (or come bacjk here and buy Ether) You'll be supporting these people and what they do. I'll have mind-frying new and old Mackie boards on Monday, stay tuned.