Discussing Roy's surfboard designs.

[Roy Stuart]

I have a friend in Galveston who is an artist who has built five wooden boards now. The first one was with his teenage son for a school project and it was soooo awesome he built 4 more different size and shape boards. They are completely functional, inside is hollow airplane wing type support. He added a removable thumb screw on the back of the deck to relieve the pressure so if it is out in the sun so they will not split but put the screw back in so it is water tight when used.

I bought two of them from him over the past year and placed in my house as works of art. They are beautiful and everyone is amazed at these when they see them. He spent hundreds of hours on these things and I paid him $1000 for one and $800 for the other.

He got the plans from some builder in Cali, paid for the stuff, talked to him over the phone several times and off he went. We surfed the first board he made just to make sure it actually worked. Well, it works, kinda.....by some way different standard. Things are made as light as possible and they are still tanks that will take your head off. Once up they hold a wave much differently than anything else you've every surfed but it wasn't fun AT ALL!

Point is if you want art, pay for art. If you want to surf pay for the latest and greatest proven technology like any other sport. You don't see football players wearing leather helmets any more...do you.

More than happy with my 2 wall hangers and they even mean more to me since they were built (not shaped) by a friend. $1800 well spent in my opinion but that's where it stops.

I'll snap a couple pics of the tonight and post so we can see what ole Roy thinks about them!

Post them up by all means.

You seem to be making a case against wood as a material, and that can be assumed to be a case against heavier boards. Weight is just another design parameter,and it isn't the case that lighter is always better as we have been told for the past half a century.

On my last board, the 13-9 Dragon, my standard paulownia construction would have made the board at 35 pounds. I deliberately brought it up to 48 pounds and have previously ridden the same shape at 70 pounds.

The designs I use are able to take advantage of greater weight if desired. Mainstream 'Malibu' derived longboards are limited in that regard as they are very weight sensitive due to their unbalanced turning position.

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[Roy Stuart]

. A guy in vancouver is making some high performance boards out there with modern designs.

High performance is one of the most BS misused terms in the surfing industry.

'Modern' is outdated due to it being based on a raft of hydrodynamic handicap rules, mass mindlessness , bureaucratic hierarchy, trick surfing and other useless assumptions.

Post modern design is where I'm at. We distill what is essential and trash the rest.

The experience is what keeps me doing it, I have such a large advantage over the other boards and the ride feels so much more liberating, that I would never go back to anything resembling the mainstream modern junk.

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[brewengineer]

Not at all, I don't agree with the 'ripping off' accusation.




Why do you assume that wealthy people are stupid?

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Wealthy and stupid would describe anyone that would pay $500k+ for one of your boards. You are ripping them off. The only people buying this board would be idiots that just like it because it is expensive and other people don't have it. Wealthy people in general are not stupid, but your customers (if you have any) are.

[Zeroevol]

I think it's time for a BENCH OFF!

[ClemsonSurf]

High performance is one of the most BS misused terms in the surfing industry.

'Modern' is outdated due to it being based on a raft of hydrodynamic handicap rules, mass mindlessness , bureaucratic hierarchy, trick surfing and other useless assumptions.

Post modern design is where I'm at. We distill what is essential and trash the rest.

The experience is what keeps me doing it, I have such a large advantage over the other boards and the ride feels so much more liberating, that I would never go back to anything resembling the mainstream modern junk.

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OK.

Please back this up.

Please tell me why you "have such a large advantage over the other boards and the ride feels so much more liberating."

Terms like "feel" are completely subjective. Please tell me what advantages your boards provide and what design aspects of your board provide theses advantages.

[brewengineer]

I think it's time for a BENCH OFF!

[Zeroevol]

chanel-surfboard.jpg

Are these Roy Stuart models?

[Roy Stuart]

Wealthy and stupid would describe anyone that would pay $500k+ for one of your boards.

All you are saying is that anyone who doesn't share your taste in surfboards and opinions on value for money are stupid.

Unfortunately for you those who spend huge amounts of money on items of art, sporting equipment or fashion are often very intelligent, are spending a smaller portion of their disposable income than people like yourself would be when buying a cheapie, and are happy with the purchase.

You are ripping them off.

How do you feel about Damien Hirst selling 'limited edition of 50' moulded plastic knock offs of his 'For the love of God' skull for GBP35,000 each.

Then there's the round piece of plywood daubed with house paint by one of his employees which sold for a million.

The fact is that the ultra rich do not necessarily share your grumpy poor boy communist attitudes to spending.

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[cresto4]

Post them up by all means.

You seem to be making a case against wood as a material, and that can be assumed to be a case against heavier boards. Weight is just another design parameter,and it isn't the case that lighter is always better as we have been told for the past half a century.

On my last board, the 13-9 Dragon, my standard paulownia construction would have made the board at 35 pounds. I deliberately brought it up to 48 pounds and have previously ridden the same shape at 70 pounds.

The designs I use are able to take advantage of greater weight if desired. Mainstream 'Malibu' derived longboards are limited in that regard as they are very weight sensitive due to their unbalanced turning position.

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I totally respect your equanimity and logic and don't really understand why people are name-calling and demanding pictures. For me, though, a 70 pound board isn't going to work. I spend my time riding waves (and mountains) in places that aren't easily accessible so my equipment has to work on the approach (or uphill) AND in the waves (or downhill). Strapping a 70 pound board on my pack and hiking 15 miles over mountains and down boulder-strewn cliffs to get to a break is like skinning up mountains on super-fat skis: the ride in (or down) MIGHT be more enjoyable, but the ride is only half of the experience for me; getting to the ride is the other, equally important, half. I need a balance between performance in both arenas and in both directions. So while I'm sure there's a place for your boards, it's not in the backcountry.

[seldom seen]

I think it's time for a BENCH OFF!

....It's ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!