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 on how
the water
flows on the boards surface. What the stringer does impact in addition to
adding a
strength member is board flex/flex memory - this can have significant impacts to
turn
performance and rebound/drive during certain maneuvers - bottom turns, cutties,
etc...

I find that with my boards that how I have the bottom shaped as far as contours
makes a
much greater difference, along with fins setup, on speed on the boards. My
fastest boards
are quads and have single to double barrel concave and about 1/8" of V through
the fins.

Just my humble opinion...

drew

--- In norcalsurfing@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick" <livingwaves@...> 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.
>
> Pat
>
>
>
>
> --- In norcalsurfing@yahoogroups.com, Max Tom <Maximooo@> wrote:
> >
> > 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 only on the bottom and the buckle goes up
> > just around the rail. The deck is intact and fine. It is epoxy with
> > EPS Styrofoam so will need to be repaired with epoxy resin only.
> > Cost should be about $100-150 to repair. I got an estimate of $135
> > from a very good repair guy. If done properly, a buckled board will
> > be as strong as new and ride just fine and provide oodles of
> > enjoyment. I would like to get $50 for it or best offer. My first
> > introduction to Stretch was also a repaired buckled board.
> >
> > I think one of the best things about Stretch is he takes feed back
> > from his riders and continues to refine all his boards.
> > I think that's what great design is all about, good ideas,
> > refinement, open mindedness, adapting to feedback.
> >
> > Here's something mind blowing that Stretch imparted on me. I asked
> > Stretch about the parabolic stringer, how they work as a board. He
> > said that traditional center stringered boards are faster because
> > they flex on the sides. It took me a couple of days to wrap my brain
> > around this idea. If you've ever seen a bullet shot at a steel plate
> > on high speed film on a show like say Mythbusters. You can see waves
> > propagating through that steel plate like waves in a pond. The flex
> > on a traditional stringer board works the same way, propagating from
> > the nose and stringer of the board toward the back and outside rails,
> > getting a big boost of energy just under the surfer's feet. That's
> > one of the ways a surfer induces speed when pumping their board.
> > Other ways are through the use of the fins, bottom and rails at the
> > right times. The parabolics won't allow for this kind of flex from
> > the center to the outside rails, not in the same way and not as fast
> > and so it rides differently. Parabolics ride more stable in larger
> > choppy faces and give great projection from the bottom to the top of
> > the wave.
> >
> > So anyways, that's one of the things I took away from our conversation.
> >
> > My name is Max and I approved this message.
> >
> > !!
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Jan 15, 2008, at 10:20 PM, Patrick wrote:
> >
> > 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 that he can take these components, and put them together
> > into a great board is the sign of his skill as a craftsman. It's time
> > for me to ride one of his boards. I feel like I need a good point of
> > reference for the crazy stuff I'm turning out of my yard.
> >
> > Pat
> >
> > --- In norcalsurfing@yahoogroups.com, Max Tom <Maximooo@> wrote:
> > >
> > > 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 Four Fin bat tail, yellow
> > > with red halo custom graphic. I thought it would take 2 months but I
> > > just go word it's almost ready. It's been laminated/glassed and only
> > > needs the final "hotcoat." Dude, I am like so stoked! The
> > > parabolics get 100% Stretch attention.
> > >
> > > This really comes at a good time as I've buckled my Stretch 6'1"
> > > Quad, courtesy of a thumping left at Steamers and my FireWire 5'11"
> > > needs repair courtesy of Sunset beach's inside reef in Hawai'i.
> > >
> > >
> > > Check out some cool insights from Stretch via Surfline courtesy of
> > > Thomas:
> > > http://www.surfline.com/surfnews/photo_bamp.cfm?id=10040&ad=1
> > >
> > > It's gonna be so awesome!
> > >
> > > Mahalo!
> > >
> > > --Max--
> > >
> >
>