Luxury Toys for Men by Rebekka Wangler

“It’s a man’s world,” sang James Brown in 1966. Honoring this maxim, this book was made for men who relish the finer things in life. It spans everything from neat technological gimmicks and exclusive watches to extraordinarily fast cars, focusing on exactly the type of luxury that makes the “stronger sex’s” heart beat faster.

See Roy Stewart surfboards 12 foot olo surfboard collection in 'Luxury Toys for Men' published in English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian.

http://www.teneues.com/shop-int/books/lifestyle-boulevard/luxury-toys-for-men.html

The parlous state of mainstream big wave gun surfboard design and why the FP 13 Hawaii challenge board is light years ahead: spherical rocker, displacement tails and other magic remedies.

Even as late as 2004/5 the level of understanding of big wave guns was so low that much of the carnage at Mavericks was blamed on a mythical 'suction zone'.  I wrote some long essays on Swaylocks on the subject and how it was really to do with too much toe in and cant which was stopping the boards from turning. The typical  side fin cant and toe in which was used in smaller waves was cut and pasted on to big wave guns and couldn't handle the speeds involved at Mavericks. Of course the industry legends all denied this and I was abused  for saying it but the message got through after a while and now it is common knowledge that zero or low toe in and cant is required for faster speeds and bigger waves.

At present most big wave paddle in guns are still based on the tail riding shortboard concept. This is a fundamental mistake in my opinion, as the tail riding position is inherently unstable and gives poor control.  With a more central riding position far better control can be achieved. In addition the wider tails used in such boards have the problem that because the planing lift produced by the tail  ( and fins) increases by the square as speed increases, it becomes increasingly difficult to turn the boards at higher speeds, as the rail to rail leverage exerted by the tail increases drastically. That's why we see riders having to slow down at the bottom of the wave to turn rather than turning as they go down the face, and it's also why we see so many riders failing on the takeoff, parachuting down the face into oblivion due to inability to control the planing area which is all concentrated at the tail where they are standing,. .. . the nose is uncontrollable from the tail particularly  if wind gets under it. Nose weights do not solve the problem.  Tails ( currently I'm the only one doing this ) which are extremely narrow ( thus having low planing area and very little rail to rail leverage ) but which have substantial buoyancy avoid this problem completely regardless of speed, as buoyant lift does not increase as speed increases.

Rocker wise the central riding position can be achieved with variety of rockers including those with very flat tail sections, but the board we sent to Hawaii follows one of our most successful rocker and planshape combinations which we've been using since 1995 ( the circular arc or 'spherical' rocker whereby the nose and tail rocker measurement is identical and the widepoint in  planshape as 50% back from the nose ) This rocker and planshape combination is ideal for the central riding position. I've been consistently mocked and attacked for using this setup ever since the beginning,( and I've been publicly singing its praises for the past 15 years ) but the fact of the matter is that it's a very good system.  I noticed only last week that  the maker of 'Stretch' surfboards has announced a new innovation ( supposedly new anyway) namely the spherical rocker and  50/50 planshape proportion  inorder to achieve a more forward, central riding position on his guns. So the message appears to be getting through again !

I've been singing its praises for over two decades  and it's good medicine provided that it's matched to the planshape correctly ( widepoint around halfway up ).The continuous ( also known as circular arc or spherical rocker ) rocker was bagged by shapers for many years because it isn't complicated enough, it's like the crew cut of surfboard rocker no curling pins or hairspray required !

I use two kinds of spherical rocker, a true spherical rocker and a tweaked one. In both cases the nose and tail rocker measurements are identical, and the widepoint is at halfway. The true spherical rocker is just that, a circular arc. the tweaked version is spherical from the wide point back but has a slightly elliptical rocker forward of the wide point.... this doesn't affect the overall nose rocker measurement.

There's a lot more to this particular design ( the Roy Stuart surfboards FP13 which is in Hawaii ) for example the displacement or sinker tail which allows the tail to be sunk for control during steep drops or turns, and the use of large elliptical planform 'spitfire' fin area with a narrow tail and circular arc tail in planshape for presentation of the fin at angles which provide significant planing lift when angling and dropping on steep walls.

The use of a longer wider board with a parallel profile enables good paddling power while keeping the board thickness down as much as possible ( the FP13 is only 2.25" thick ) for greatly improved control and superb flex .

Weight distribution wise the distribution is approximately proportional to the planshape area, thus there is significant weight in the nose. This, combined with a long nose, provides penetration and control by allowing the nose weight to guide the board's glide path via the releasing and engaging of the rail. This rail release is best achieved via extremely soft rails, I use a continuous 50/50  rail section for smoothness and predictability. A 50/50 rail behaves the same way when entering or leaving the water. Predictability and control lead to confidence and ease of correct wave positioning, which in turn leads to speed and wave making ability.


The central riding position of the Future Primitive 13 footer and the 12 foot Ghost is all about balance and control

Roy Stuart

The 13 ft Olo Hikoi continues

This 13 foot board has been travelling since 2007, passed from surfer to surfer. All went well and everyone was stoked until some surf industry guys ( three of them to be exact Randy rarick, Bill Ward and Garrett McNamara ) got hold of the board. They kept it locked away for two years during which time it was ridden only 4 times, I was also unable to get it back, and had to put up with a lot of lies and unsolicted promises which weren't kept. The politics of it all was not what it was supposed to be about. In all three cases I hadn't asked these influential people to get involved, they just took control, and then mothballed the project while posting bad reviews based on their own incompetence and skullduggery.

 Well I finally managed to get Garrett to hand the board over, it wasn't easy he kept stalling saying he really wanted to ride it on the next big swell in order to 'blow some minds' . . . then he would ride his SUP instead, this went on for a long time but now the redoubtable Mr XYZ  has extracted the beast from Garrett's garage where it was stored with the vent closed. Thanks Garrett for doing the decent thing.

She's now in Waikiki for a while !

A free spitfire cutaway surfboard fin template

Here's a free spitfire fin template suitable for mid sized longboards from 9 to 11 feet long, it can be scaled up and down for shorter and longer boards.

Planing lift and displacement lift in surfboards

 what makes a full nose fish catch waves better than a 5-10 glass slipper ?

A combination of greater displacement lift ( due to greater volume) and greater planing lift ( due to more area)

The two kinds of lift are planing and displacement lift, these occur in varying proportions but both are always present whenever the board is moving.

The board does not have to be 'planing' ie.e leaving the stern wave behind in order to produce planing lift, planing lift will be produced even at paddle in speeds.

Also the amount of planing lift produced by the board will not only depend upon speed but also on the angle of attack, thus more nose rocker for example will produce more lift at a given speed. It will also produce more drag in order to produce that lift, but in reality the greater lift can mean that the board takes off earlier, thus lifting the nose area out of the water, thereby reducing  drag.

So a board with greater area and/or rocker in the nose will have greater accleration on takeoffin many cases. Often we hear about low rocker making the board faster on the takeoff but that's only true in some situations.

Olo of the Sun, wet sanding and polishing continued

Day two hand sanding the 19 footer: 120 grit, 150 grit,180 grit, 240 grit and 280 grit, only three more to go.

All sanding is done fore and aft in the direction of the water flow.

Olo of the Sun, wet sanding and polishing

Having cured for about a week the olo of the sun is ready for wet sanding and polishing, the ideal place for this is in the shade of paulownia trees in the plantation which are destined for future surfboards. It's a big job, so far over 5 hours have been spent just to get through 80 grit and 100 grit

Master class: Tips for rolling a longboard under waves when paddling out

Roy, when you are surfing one of your long boards in triple overhead conditions, could you please provide details of your duck diving technique when caught inside ?

The correct technique is to  roll under, it works as well as duck diving although it sometimes takes a bit more energy.

For successful rolling under longboards need to be reasonably heavy, have rail cross sections which are able to be gripped strongly ( i.e. lowish volume, not like an SUP ) and not too much thickness.

Rolling under must be done from the middle area of the board or behind the middle,not the nose, doing it from the nose is a dangerous method and can lead to cartwheeling.

In bigger waves when rolling while going up the unroken face it's best to grab the board behind the centre and thrust it forwards as one rolls so that it punches through the lip, the nose drops down the back of the wave and pulls one through the wave.

I have the most trouble rolling on broken waves. Any specific technique to that Roy?

 Don't grab on to the board with the legs as the horizontal bodily position will allow the board and rider to be pushed backwards, this can be followed by the tail digging in and the board flipping up vertically, and possibly cartwheeling.

 Try to keep the body vertical under the board so that it will act as a sea anchor. Extending the arms high above the head increases the sea anchor effect but reduces grip strength. Extending the arms won't work if the board is too light as the board just gets lifted into the air

 If the wave breaks very hard then the board can be pulled down on to the head, this increases the grip on the board a lot, I do this wth a helmet though, so I'm not sure how it works on the unprotected head.

Timing helps, rolling too soon is the main thing to avoid, it's best to roll with some paddling momentum, rather than waiting motionless for the wave. Rolling too early also wastes time which should be spent paddling.

If the problem is that the wave is getting under the nose and ripping the board out of your hands then you are either holding on too close to the nose, or the board is too light. Some nose rocker helps as it keeps the nose down when the board is inverted.

Distal taper on the tuberculed spitfire fin for the olo of the sun

The tuberculed spitfire fin for the olo of the sun showing non linear distal taper.

The evolution of the Laird tunnel finned surfboard

Here are the original 11'8" 'Laird' prototypes. We built two identical prototypes at the same time ( 2004) , one equipped as a singlefin and the other with a 6 inch diameter tunnel fin

 The singlefinned version, which rode well.

The tunnel finned version, which rode amazingly well:

The first fin setup, with a very thin 12 inch base bulb tipped keel fin  , and only 6 inches deep. The entire fin system was 16 inches long foreand aft. This combination resulted in one of the fastest boards I've ever ridden, a ridiculously fast section making rocket. Turns were easy and precise, but restricted to very long arcs. Shorter radius turns could be accomplished with a lot of effort, but were only required if paddlers got in the way.

Here's the second fin used for the MkII prototype, which was a great all round fin, many waves were ridden with this one in conjunction with the 6 inch tunnel and I was very happy with it. 

MkIII sporting a new bulb tipped flex fin with carbon fibre upstand, which is still on the board today.

Olo of the Sun, surfing gold !

The fourth resin coat on the deck of the olo of the sun.

The swooping rocker, revealing the low central riding position which is unique to Roy Stewart surfboards and which contributes greatly to their superior peformance.  

 The mighty longbow like tail has a powerful twang 
 

A constant 50/50  2.25" slightly elliptical rail profile ensures that the rider's feet are never more than 1.125" above the rail apex or 2.25 above the water, ensuring surperb control.

From a paddler's perspective this view means that the olo is passing safely by !