Olo of the Sun million dollar surfboard: the first resin coat

Olo of the Sun is pervasive in its power, blazing with its message of vitality, life force and the unlimited energy that is within us waiting to be used and expressed. Olo of the Sun gives strength and positive radiant energy which brings happiness and joy.

J class legacy 

Inspired by J Class yachts and the wooden olo surfboards of the ancient Hawaiian Kings, Olo of the Sun captures the essence of adventure of the 1930s. Its unique long low profile combined with flowing lines and elegant proportions, gives a sense of spirit and momentum even at rest.

The first resin coat on the Olo of the Sun million dollar surfboard:

Roy Stuart Makaha 12'9" voted 2010 surfboard of the year !

The toxic Surf Industry Manufacturers Association Cartel nominated an inflatable SUP as '2010 surfboard of the year', but we are pleased to announce that the prestigious Olosurfer Surfboard of the Year award  has been won by Roy Stuart's Makaha 12-9, which is not only one of the most hydrodynamically advanced surfboards in the world but also one of the most expensive at US $528k.

http://www.olosurfer.com/makaha.html

"An intricate linkage of over 400 small component parts, Makaha's graceful structure has a delicacy which belies its mass and power, revealing the velocity and weightlessness of its flight.

State of the art

Nothing should distract from the pleasure of riding Makaha. Nothing does. It is a simple pleasure, offering a seemingly endless surge of power."

Olo of the Sun 19 foot surfboard: rail shaping.

The bottom of the olo has been faired, it has a concave through the nose and mid section which diminishes and runs into a flat area four feet from the tail. Hand sanding the bottom has taken approximately 14 hours.

Now the rail faceting continues: a continuous 50/50 slightly elliptical section.

Surfboard fin guide part 3: The dreaded flat spot, fin flex.

This example of the typical flat spot showed up today on magicseaweed.. . a great example of how not to foil a fin:

The flat spot shown above extends over three quarters of the fin base and half the height of the fin, it will cause flow separation, a decreased ability to handle high angles of attack, stalling,  and unnecessary drag.

With care and a sanding block the fin could be fixed in an hour or two. .  something most people, even the supposedly 'best' fin makers usually can't be bothered to do. 

http://olosurfer-woodensurfboardsatpipeline.blogspot.com/2009/01/surfboard-fin-guide-part-one-flat-spot.html

http://olosurfer-woodensurfboardsatpipeline.blogspot.com/2009/01/surfboard-fin-guide-part-two-flat-spot.html

Flexy or stiff ?

The main factor which will increase stiffness is the thickness to height ratio of the fin ( regardless of the type of glass orcore used). If one prefers the fin to be stiffer just make it thicker, and keep greater thickness into the tip, tapering it less.  Extending the fore and aft length of the fin will prevent the chord ratio from becoming too low. Bringing the position of maximum chord thickness back to about 40 to 45% aft will help lower drag on a thicker fin also.

Fin flex on an upright pivot fin as shown below is not beneficial, it only works to advantage on a low, highly raked fin where the flex gives a motion like a fish tail.  Even the standard Greenough/Liddle dolphin fin shape is insufficiently raked for beneficial flex. We prefer to use a fore and aft rake to height ratio of less than 1:1, the pivot  fin is closer to 1:3.

Northern Light organic beeswax surfboard wax

Northern Light organic beeswax surfboard wax is the original organic wax, which we first made in 1996. The recipe was published on Swaylock's surfboard design forum in 2004 and a host of small wax companies sprang up using it. Several of those companies won awards for 'their' supposedly original idea....

http://www.olosurfer.com/wax.html

'Building the Dragon Board' article by Roy Stuart from Australian Amateur Boatbuilder magazine.

by: Roy Stuart as featured in the Australian Amateur Boatbuilder 2004

Riding a huge timber surfboard is a great way to surf. The pilot of an Olo longboard is able to open up virgin territory and ride previously unsurfable breaks. Even normally crowded surf spots can provide epic solo sessions in conditions which are outside the range of normal surfing equipment.

A really big board like the olo is able to connect scattered breaking wave sections together so efficiently that surf which appears to  irregular or blown out, often proves to be easily cruisable.

Gliding on big unbroken swells is another relaxing pastime, and if the craft well designed it can also slot into hollow waves when they occur:

Shown here is the 13'9" Dragonboard, part of a quiver which includes a 12' and a  17' model. All three of these boards have proven themselves over the years to be capable of riding just about any wave that comes along.

The extreme pintail design is usually associated with paddle boards, but is really he best possible tail shape for an Olo. By providing the most planshape curve over the longest distance , the circular arc rail line of the extreme pintail allows better manoeverability than a board with a more parallel outline. These boards are ridden from the middle of the board without walking up and down.

Early hollow plywood boards built in Australia show similar planshapes to the Dragonboard.
The Dragon differs in that it has more rocker curve, a much more substantial fin, a lower centre of gravity, a round rail, and fore and aft flexibility.

By departing from the usual system of fore and aft taper (viewing the board from the side), in favour of a parallel profile, the board gains a swooping deck curve which exactly matches the bottom curve, giving a lower riding position and far better control than the ponderously thick,  flat decked  types.

Construction wise the machine is a simple four layered  'sandwich' built over a mould.

The plans shown here have been developed from the original Roy Stuart balsa pp system to allow the boards to be built from heavier timbers. Using a double diagonal internal layer torsion box construction  we get a strong flexible hollow structure. Plywood can be substituted for the fore and aft planking on the deck and bottom if a more tradtional look is desired.

Unlike foam or balsawood surfboards, with a board built from a harder timber ( Redwood, Cedar, lightweight pine and Paulownia are favourites) glassing with cloth is optional.

Turning a continuous round rail is the only shaping that is required.

There are possible variations on these construction layouts and the board dimensions can  be quite easily altered over a surprisingly wide range. The thickness of the board can be tuned for more buoyancy and less sensitivity.

The bottom curve can be increased by up to two inches for hollower waves and more manoeverability, or reduced by the same amount for maximum paddle speed, wave catching and glide.

By building the board as drawn, however, satisfaction is guaranteed.

To a builder with a boat or two to his credit, the board building procedure should be self explanatory. For first timers there are step by step instructions at this link.

Low aspect ratio spitfire cutaway box fin, completed.

Custom Roy Stewart hand made wooden longboard fin with fibreglass base for a standard singlefin box.

The fin shown is a 10.5" low aspect ratio spitfire cutaway fin, other templates include D fins, Hatchet fins, pivot fins or any custom shape of your own.

The elliptical spitfire' fin has the lowest induced drag of any planar fin shape. This means more drive, more power, better control, and greater speed.


http://olosurfer-woodensurfboardsatpipeline.blogspot.com/2010/12/low-aspect-ratio-spitfire-cutaway-box.html

Elliptical wing explanation on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliptical_wing

Milling paulownia wood for surfboards

On the 12th of August this year we harvested some 20 year old paulownia trees which were growing only a few hundred metres from the workshop.

http://olosurfer-woodensurfboardsatpipeline.blogspot.com/2010/08/harvesting-paulownia-for-surfboards.html

Yesterday the logs were slabbed by Ian and Roy, an operation which went very smoothly in the welcome  drought breaking light rain which fell all day.

Here the big Stihl 064 chainsaw makes light work of the small diameter logs.

A slow growth rate in the diameter of these  logs was the result of them being planted very close together. The wood has close growth rings and more contrast in grain colour than most of the paulownia wood we have seen.

Two cubic metres of wood were cut into 3 and 4 inch slabs over a 6 hour period

Ian also brought us  a load of dry surfboard wood  from his site in the Kaimai ranges where he's been harvesting 20 acres of paulownia and blackwood, there's enough here for about 20 alaias or 10 hollow longboards. 

A low aspect ratio spitfire cutaway box fin

This low aspect ratio paulownia spitfire cutaway fin is 10.5 inches deep and has a fibreglass fin tab, 5mm brass rods will be inserted to strengthen the connection:

Nearly ready for installation: the  tuberculed spitfire fin for the Olo of the Sun...

The addition of leading-edge tubercles

"The addition of leading-edge tubercles to a scale model of an idealized humpback whale flipper delays the stall angle by approximately 40%, while increasing lift and decreasing drag"
Fluid Physics

"a staggering 32% reduction in drag, 8% improvement in lift, and a 40% increase in angle of attack over smooth flippers before stalling"
http://www.asknature.org

"The swirling vortices inject momentum into the flow," said Howle. "This injection of momentum keeps the flow attached to the upper surface of the wing and delays stall to higher wind angles." 
http://www.scienceagogo.com

Channel Islands and Kelly Slater, the experimental realm ?

From the 'iPhone Diaries': A Peek into the Experimental Realm

  The claim is that moving the stringer will change the axis of rotation of the surfboard.  This is incorrect, as the axis of rotation is determined by the surfboard's area distribution and the position of the rider's feet, not by the stringer position.

According to the diagram below the surfboard will rotate around the stringer position, It will not. 

Leverage cannot be increased by moving the stringer position ! The idea is laughable.

The premise is ridiculous and shows a complete misunderstanding of surfboard flex and hydrodynamics in general.  

Any stringers should be on the perimeter of the board, this is just a weak excuse for a new fashion, fed to the extremely gullible and brainwashed surfing masses.

The  idea  follows the usual BS industry pattern of brain impaired rubbish with a famous name attached, so as far as the myth making marketing machine ( MMMM ) agenda goes it is perfectly valid. . . . it's just complete BS as a design concept.

Most people are so dumbed down and cowed by the corporations that they don't even attempt to think for themselves on this or any other subject.

Olo of the Sun 19 foot surfboard , Spitfire cutaway fin, foiling tubercules

Foiling tubercules on the spitfire cutaway fin,  for the Olo of the Sun 19 foot surfboard ,

http://olosurfer-woodensurfboardsatpipeline.blogspot.com/2010/12/olo-of-sun-19-foot-surfboard-spitfire_02.html

Surfboard flex and pressure distribution in planing hulls part 2

kayu wrote:
Pressure distribution is mostly controlled by the rider and where he applies it. When the tail is buried , the pressure is on the tail if tapered will flex more"

Yes that is true  however the greatest pressure will still be near the leading edge of the wetted surface area even when the board is trimmed aft during a turn. Trimming aft during a turn has the effect of shortening the wetted surface area. By shortening the wetted surface area the length of the beam has been shortened, this stiffens the surfboard and reduces flex.

That is why boards which require a rider position extremely close to the tail in order to turn are not ideal for flex. Compensating for a shortened wetted surface area during turns by making a short section of tail very flexible is not efficient due to the fact that it makes a kink in the rocker, and also it creates a drag inducing reverse rocker.

In addition to this, making the board very flexible over a short distance is ineffective as the soft flex and resulting rocker curve when bent further reduces pressure on the part of the board which has the least pressure, thus reducing the ability of the rider to store and release energy via weighting and unweighting. It also reduces feedback to the rider by placing the stiffest part of the board beneath his feet.

For the greatest benefits from flex the board should be designed to turn from a more forward position, which should also be the trimming position. If the rider has to walk forward in order to trim the board, and aft to turn, the weighting and unweighting motions required for efficient energy transfer become time consuming, ungainly, and lacking in both subtlety and power.

Keeping the fore and aft movement of the rider to the minimum also prevents the problem explained above whereby the wetted surface area is shortened, reducing flex at exactly the moment when the board is required to bend in order to store energy. Long flexible tails are more efficient than very short flexible ones as they can collect more energy with less increase in rocker curve

Of course there is a lot more to it than this, I'm just covering the basics.

http://olosurfer-woodensurfboardsatpipeline.blogspot.com/2010/12/surfboard-flex-and-pressure.html

Surfboard flex and pressure distribution in planing hulls

Pressure distribution under the hull is a very important topic when discussing surfboard flex.

The simple entry level scenario for planing hulls is shown below. It's  implications include those related to  full hull flex vs tail tip only flex.

In the water pressure distribution is obviously different from the typical land test scenario whereby the board is supported at two points, with all the upwards 'beneath the hull' pressures located around those points, with none in between.

The diagram below applies to a steady state planing situation, pumping the surfboard and turning it will alter the pressure distribution and position of the stagnation line.

Those who advocate tail tip flex (as opposed to flexing the entire hull ) should not that there is very little pressure at the tail of the board ( at least for a typical surfboard, I'l explain exceptions to this rule later ) thus there is little force available for tail deflection.

If on the other hand the entire board flexes then much more of the water pressure can be used to flex the board, thus increasing efficiency dramatically.

Rider stance and board length complicate the issue somewhat, particularly with shortboards, but the basic analysis is correct, and is a good place to start.  


http://www.bluejacketboats.com/planing_boat_theory1.htm

Olo of the Sun 19 foot surfboard , Spitfire cutaway fin, adding tubercules

Tubercules being added to the Olo of the Sun's spitfire cutaway fin:

Olo of the Sun 19 foot surfboard , Spitfire cutaway fin

Here's the 13 inch spitfire cutaway fin for the Olo of the Sun taking shape,  when set into the board the tab below the cutaway won't be seen.

The faceted cutaway is a development of the radial cutaways used on previous fins, and is of the type used in 1940's spitfire tailplanes.

Leading edge tubercules will be added next...