Sunday 4 May 2014

Recycled Arc Tail Fish

So you may remember a lovely little single fin called "Merluza" that was made from solid Balsa and Red Cedar. She was a great looking board and a lot of fun when the waves were hollow, clean and packed a punch. On less than ideal days, Merluza was not the right board.

So I made a very hard decision to reclaim the balsa blank and remodel that single fin into something that would work in a wider variety of waves. This is the end product - the Salmon - inspired by some of Tomo's tail designs combined with a tri-planing Alaia hull this little (5'7") twin fin should be a lot of fun. My idea was that I wanted something that would "light up" on the bigger days when the alaia was out of the equation. I made a similar alaia hybrid back in 2011 that was just phenomenal in solid surf, but it lacked buoyancy and responsiveness in smaller surf. So this board was hollowed out (using a honeycomb structure) and enclosed in 6mm paulownia shell.




There is no doubt this board is heavier than I would like, if I make another I will definitely look to drop the weight substantially. That being said, surfing here in the Southwest Coast of Victoria we are blessed with an abundance of swell and are exposed to the raw Southern Ocean power and a bit of extra weight in the board will be hardly noticed.

I give you a ride report when I get an opportunity to really test her out.

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