Convex Affairs
Shaping is an art form which the artist needs to prove his art through performance. Shaping is derived from the passion of understanding dynamic flow & from the rock jazz of the early '70 with powerful bass line. Surfboards must be groovy. They need to show their move while standing still. The surfer must see himself charging with it. The rail needs to sit tight in hand. The eye needs to hunt the proportion and to answer the question of how?
A Surfboard needs to have the aesthetics of nature. As it to be live in. it could be rough or subtle. the surfer must feel its spirit.
There is a whole section of time in the process of building Surfboards without even using the hands. The idea can emerge from watching a pelican gliding its way across the windshield of your car, With that rock jazz in your ear.
That is the real "shaping things to come"
Execution needs devotion. In a hand shaping process, the hands can be the perfect tool. If they are skilled enough to follow the idea. They need to know how to work hard while creating things. They need to be trained before they can deliver a decent result. If you’re looking for a book of shaping lessons, there are none. Only Knowledge and crafts exist.
?? Where but for a simmons would I
There are two major physics in the act of surfing. These principles will determine in a way the behavior of your surf.
The first one relates to Archimedes and his afternoon at the bathtub. While lying there motionless, wondering aloud, he discovered the principle of Displacement. Every object will displace water according to its volume. As for ships, thus for surfboards. They are displacing water. This principle allows them to float. While in motion, the object will push the water against and create what it called a "bow wave". This bow wave is responsible for two majors. Lift & Body speed. The lift is due to the "climbing" to the bow wave. The more power you put, the higher you get on that wave which translated to lift. The body speed refers to, what speed the designed body can achieve while at displacement mode. At displacement the speed is limited because the body is not designed to overcome the bow wave, therefore its speed is determined by its own bow wave (and stern wave). The speed is derived from the body length. Displacement surfboard are design to glide on the crest of its own bow wave, which lead to a smooth and relaxed ride, you are not surfing against but along with the wave. Your speed is determined by the board, and you can't exceed it. It gives you the ability to let go… and become philosophical, just like Archimedes. Wonderin' wondering..
Not all hulls are born equal, some are more equal than other…
The second principle is Planning. Planning will occur while generating enough speed on a body that is naturally designed to overcome its own body speed. In other words, to overcome its bow wave. If the body passes the bow wave, it means that it is planning on top of the water and stop pushing them. For that reason alone, speed is unlimited. (sort off). A planning hull Is the kind of surfboard that sits high on the water and has enough body surface that allows it to create lift even at low speed waves. That is the main principle behind my beloved one the SIMMONS designs.
These two principles, if valued philosophically, create a unique and soulful class of surfboard design that offers fundamentally different approach and experience to surfing. Trim, flow and natural energy are the main criteria of that experience. If you ride them well, that kind of boards offers the unique frictionless feel of flying
ONCE.. WHO WAS SLAGHTER A PIG
The "Pig". Born in the mid-1950s. Up until then surfing was still in its infancy. Surfboards were quite "raw" and heavy, made of balsa and rosewood, with very limited maneuverability. Like surfboards, surfers were quite limited in their ability to maneuver and mainly tried to master the descent in a fast lane along the face of the wave.
By the end of World War II and the advent of revolutionary materials at the time (fiberglass, resins), various industries began to develop in parallel, including the surfing industry, which had not really existed until then. By the end of the 50's, surfing was already deep in what would later to be called the "counterculture" in the United States. Deep – tanned Beatniks were hanging out along the West Coast of America and spending their time developing this miracle of a practice which called surfing.
With a strong desire to outmaneuver on the wave and allow for sharper turns, several designs were developed. The most revolutionary of which was the "Pig". With the width at the aft of the board and a narrower nose relative to the board's out lines, the great Greg Noll made it possible for surfers like Mickey Dora to surf and control the board's trail and sit deeper in the pocket. The fast and most powerful area of the wave.
With the introduction of revolutionary materials in those years, surfboards began to become increasingly lighter in weight and thus easier to maneuver, surfers began to make sharper and tight turns until completing a "cut back", the maneuver that essentially returns you to the "power" of the wave and today seems so elementary. Once who was slaughter the pig.
The "Pig" design has accompanied the surfing world since then and over the years the shape has evolved and refined but remained faithful to the original shape born by Dale Velzy. A legendary shaper to whom we all owe a great deal.
Pelican Dreams
By observation only one can dream. Not to dream as one is asleep. But to dream by a different understanding that emerges from observation in a particular moment. To dream by feeling the instrumental body that is to be observed. To make the transformation from one body to another. The same function in a different use.
What would a pelican to be in a surfboard? What criteria should it carry. The beak piercing and delivering the flow to the under-hull body. It should be light and strong enough to carry any maneuver. The body should be wide and balanced well to maintain the long-distance glide. The ratio between arms and length is designed to build lift when at a low speed. The stance of the pelican while gliding gives the observer the look and feel of the "Simmons of the Sky". Large and wide enough to catch the waves that will carry for a long distance.
BeelZebub
What is an AIM of a man?
The search and find if the impossible is possible – that is when life becomes real. Not of an illusory world, but of a nonfantastic one, of exciting and existing one in reality. Through the search for the impossible which is not created yet, the learning and finding of a new objective result that arise from the path. The search is for forgotten knowledge; the find is for whatever path you choose to roam. To acknowlege the material of a new creation and to prove the soundness and quality of it. We come to a time where the impossible is by far possible
