The making of a model.

I’ve got a couple new models that just got to Wave Front Surf Shop. And I’ll have them on display at the Ventura Sacred Craft Expo on May 16 and 17.

One of my most popular boards in Hawaii was a mid length tri. I made them from 7’10 to 8’2 but most were right at 8’0. This board worked great for bigger guys and guys that didn’t get in the water as much as they’d like. It paddled well, and had the right foil and dimensions so guys could surf it in small surf as well as stuff up to 6 or 7 foot. A very responsive board.

When I returned from Kauai in 2004 I decided to make myself one of those 8’0s but had a little mix up at the glass shop and instead of a tri it was fitted as a 2 + 1. I didn’t have a trailing fin the size of the available side fins so I thought I’d surf the board as a single fin, put an 8 inch in it… what the heck.

The board worked great! After surfing it for awhile with the single fin I decided to try some side bites. I was amazed at the drive and distance I could get with the 2 +1 set up. I loved getting to the beach when the surf was overhead with that board… it was so much fun in waves with a good face.

After I made the Perimeter stringer quad long board… PSQ… I thought I’d retro fit the 8’0 for a quad. I really liked the way the PSQ handled so why not see how the 8’0 goes as a quad. WOW! The board worked great with a quad set up. I’ve not changed back and it’s been at least a year of surfing that board.

So here’s a board that works great with 4 different fin set ups. Depending on what the surf is like on any given day the board can be changed around to meet the need or interests of the moment.
A fantastic travel board because it’s fun in small surf as well, hold it’s own in bigger stuff too.

Because of all the ways the board can be fixed up we’re calling it The Gadget.

D.R.