Speaking Of DIMPLES.....

I haven't gotten mine wet yet but I will let u know probably next weekend

 

When you ordered it with the dimples, what did Mike Daniels have to say about that design feature? I've read up on the tech, but was curious what the shaper himself had to say.

 

Stop the constant Coil bull. Its crap

 

Great question, 1st i'd like to say that he refers to it as "Kick" (not dimples). Here's a couple quotes of his when I and others have asked him about it, as we all are skeptical at 1st.

"The only people skeptical about the Kick are the ones who haven’t ridden it. All the people who ride it don’t want to go back."

"You know how we do it - we let the surfboards do the talking. "

"But rest assured we wouldn't introduce anything as different as Kick without having testing and feedback that has extremely positive results."

"It's a significant leap in fiber-to-resin ratio, so Kick is both lighter and stronger."

"The Grid schedule is still offered, but Kick is lighter and stronger."

"Solid test results up to DOH+ all over the Caribbean. Of course, if someone wants more weight, we can add. We've always had a heavier schedule as an option for bigger surf."

"The way the Kick waxes up is a big bonus, and for those using booties you may not even need wax."

"I know that the golf ball analogy is going to be used, but it's not applicable in a strict sense. Tripping the boundary layer on a golf ball reduces the drag on a sphere moving through air, by allowing a smaller ''wake'' behind the ball. On a planing surface the effect is a little different. Any planing surface is going to have transition points between laminar (no boundary layer) and turbulent flow. We are just tripping the boundary as soon as possible. All our feedback from testing and initial customer reports indicates it's working."

"As usual, we're not going to do any big claims. We'll just let the surfboards do the talking. It wasn't sharks that specifically inspired Kick. I have to plead the fifth past that."

"We started this thread so people would know it wasn't hype. All these guys paid for their boards and they get no prodding from us to post on here. There's a 260K+ thread about us on the erbb and I don't even post there. We don't engage in hype but I will say we welcome comparisons to any other surfboard out there."

"If you could see my inbox... I wouldn't publish peoples emails, but I'll paraphrase one we just got from a skeptic in the Caribbean. He's reporting the boards pick up speed quicker and are more sensitive and responsive. Something about he knew he should have trusted us lol"

"With new fibers, an increase in fiber/resin ratio, and a new finish, Kick is a bold step."

"Big bold changes are going to produce skepticism. We don't have a problem with that because we have a lot of confidence in the product. That hasn't changed."

"Kick Tech allows us to streamline our process and increase fiber-to-resin ratio while still getting the physicals we want from the skin. Lots and lots of background work and testing went into Kick - we've been heading this direction for a long time. Extremely gratifying to finally ''get there'' and be able to release to the public. Can't wait to send some more up there, but in the meantime I'm sure people will be looking at M's board like it's an alien spacecraft - which of course it essentially is...."

 

haha, nice!

 

I posted some pics in the Coil thread, but here's a few others...

 

just checked out their website. hey DawnPatrol, did you meet up with the shapers and get a board specifically for you? or is yours just off the rack?

either way, that board you got looks really good. let us know some feedback on how you liked it in the water. thanks, take it easy man.

 

Hey Johnny, I actually went directly through Mike Daniels, ordered custom and drove over to his shaping room to pick it up from him. He's a really cool dude, down-to-earth, and really knows his stuff. He did a great job on the board, and was very responsive when I had questions or wanted to get his opinion or feedback on anything.

 

What size dimples are the most effective, larger or smaller? I was thinking about this and wondered if you would get a similar "dimples" type result if you didn't hot coat the bottom of your board. Would the slight depressions from the weave act as dimples?

 

Look no further then the skin of the mako shark. saw some discovery science type of show explaining how the mako shark's skin traps tiny tiny water molecules thus creating a water on water surface allowing it to travel with reduced drag. I think the closest thing we can get to that on a surfboard is very fine grit sandpaper rubbed back and forth on the bottom of the board, not side to side.

 

The optimal grit size depends upon the speed. I use 400 grit blending into 600 in the tail.

 

The weave might act as dimples, but you wont have long to enjoy the effect, as the board falls apart.

 

I'll remember that next time I'm hanging out with a mako shark....

I think I read somewhere that the indentations or dimples would essentially trap air reducing drag by cutting the viscosity (right term?) of the water.

Speaking to you and Roy, the fine grit sanding doesn't add any dimples. I think this thread was comparing dimples on a board to something like dimples on a golf ball.

 

Why? You could saturate the weave with enough resin to make it pretty strong. The hotcoat definitely adds strength and continuity to the total strength of the board but it's pretty strong with the resin/weave combination.

 

the dimples would have to be miniscule (think NJShredmachine's biceps)... how would you go about creating that? I think golf ball dimples would not trap the water molecules but just give the water something to get slowed down on instead.
I guess maybe you could glass your board, then get a surfboard sized fine grit sand paper and layit ontop of the glass job while it dries??? then maybe you'd have tiny enough dimples. but that probably wouldnt work.

 

Straight from the horses mouth... Mike Daniel:

I know that the golf ball analogy is going to be used, but it's not applicable in a strict sense. Tripping the boundary layer on a golf ball reduces the drag on a sphere moving through air, by allowing a smaller ''wake'' behind the ball. On a planing surface the effect is a little different. Any planing surface is going to have transition points between laminar (no boundary layer) and turbulent flow. We are just tripping the boundary as soon as possible. All our feedback from testing and initial customer reports indicates it's working.

As usual, we're not going to do any big claims. We'll just let the surfboards do the talking.

 

Very good observation Fitz, however, Mike Daniel answered this question as well...

"it wasn't sharks that specifically inspired Kick. I have to plead the fifth past that."

 

It might be "pretty strong" but i believe a board glassed and not hotcoated would be really prone to water seepage through the weave, small punctures, and real significant dents if you wiped out and the bottom of the board took an elbow.

Ever pick up a board thats only been glassed and not hotcoated? They are pretty fragile.

 

Noted... I have to admit, my only experience with a board that wasn't hotcoated was my HWS which is naturally harder and stronger than foam. Good point on the punctures/seepage thing.

DawnPatrol, so what was Mike Daniels saying? They're not using golf ball style dimples but didn't say what they are using.