Well, any board can be broken under the right (or wrong) conditions. If you’re breaking a board through heavy riding, that’s materials failure. If you’re breaking a board due to a heavy wipeout and an exploding lip that’s another issue.
I think FireWire makes a great board. They were the first to engineer flex as a component of surfboard design and they’ve continued to progress the technology. The Feb. ’08 issue of “Surfer” has an interesting article on their latest developments, carbon fiber (CF) wrapped rails with a suspension system for removable fins. The CF rails allow for more dialed in stiffness and the CF fin suspension spreads the load of forces on the fin boxes to the entire board to more closely mimic the response of glass-on fins. Pretty cool stuff.
The March ’08 issue of Surfing has a nice piece on a fit and trim Taj and his carbon fiber FireWire. Taj was breaking a PU board a week through tailsnaps and landing airs. Since switching to FireWire, he’s buckled a few in the beginning but now hasn't broken any at all for some time. It’s hard to imagine anyone putting more stresses on their boards than Taj with the way he rides.
If you’re talking about Surftech’s Tufflite 1 style sandwich boards, Stretch was already making his own proprietary sandwich “Ultimates." The Ultimates are now reserved for his tow boards and they run $1500 and up. That kind of sandwich epoxy is great for strength but are a little stiff for paddle high performance riding. Stretch has a few more tricks up his sleeve. Stay tuned. Things will continue to be very interesting.
To be more specific, traditional center stringered boards can be faster on small to medium sized waves due to the warping at the edges if the rider knows how to work board through the sections the right way. Center stringered boards can feel unstable in larger waves especially if there is texture or chop on an open face. Parabolic stringers minimize torsional flex and cuts through the chop of larger waves a little better. Speaking of parabolics, I've added a few pics of the newest member of the family in the boards section under Stretch!
Sometimes, words just fail...
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On Jan 25, 2008, at 7:03 PM, Patrick wrote:
That bullet idea is interesting, but I'd have to disagree w/ Stretch himself on the idea that a center stringer board is faster, or has better flex properties.
I know someone who regularly gets comments about how flippin fast he's going, and who has made sections while surfing under and around other people on the same wave. He rides a home made board, sunova (bert burger) style.
I'm no engineer, and don't have the technical depth to know why things work the way they do on a physics level. But I know that perimiter stringers, when done right, are incredible. Having seen a snapped firewire recently, I would not say that firewire is doing it right.
If you ever want to take out my 7'1 1/2 sandwich let me know. It's thin, and floats/surfs more like a 6'9. I know that's still a lot bigger than what you ride, but it could be fun.
I really admire stretch as a shaper and artist. He understands subtle things about the way boards work that I'll never grasp. But like any artist, he knows the media he works with the best. I bet that if he wanted to take the time and money to invest in boards that took a lot more labor to produce (sandwich construction,) then you'd see a whole new level of magic coming out of his shop.
Oh, what the heck… I know I've been delinquent in giving you Stretch news… so here it comes. First off, I'd like to congratulate Cuth on finally getting...
yup, after 4.5 months of waiting, i finally got it. its a great board. fast, fun, turns on a dime. very predictable and handles elevator-like drops with...
Oh how I love Stretch boards, let me count the ways... There's a new article on Stretch in the November issue of Transworld Surf, pg 86. Complete with Andy...
Lest ye think I’d forgotten about Stretch! Also attached and in the Stretch Boards section of the pics you’ll find the new member of the family. 5’6”...
I think we're overdue for some Stretch! news. I spoke to Bill "Stretch" Riedel just before Christmas and ordered a custom, 5'10" parabolic stringer Fletcher...
Hi Max, Thanks for that link. I'm really impressed by how humble stretch is, and how he really attributes everything to those who came before him. The fact...
I love Stretch boards. Pat, If you or anyone else is interested, I have a slightly buckled Stretch Four Fin 6’1” x 19” x 2.25” The stringer is snapped...
That bullet idea is interesting, but I'd have to disagree w/ Stretch himself on the idea that a center stringer board is faster, or has better flex properties....
I would agree with Pat on this that the placement of the stringer does not make a board faster or slower per se as the string does not have significant impact...
Check out the new updated Stretch website: http://www.stretchboards.com/boards/surfboards/ Some cool new boards in there. For longboarders looking to move...
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