Musing Hot Buttered Surfboard Design

Musing Hot Buttered Surfboard Design

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Sunday, October 24, 2010

2 + 1 | Modern Double Wing Swallow



Many a surfing folk will pick up a Single Fin relic, water logged, wide point too far forward, combined with long straight rails, and walk away from their Single Fin surfing experience with a miss conception, that Single Fins don't turn.
79, 80 , 81 Double Wings, in many variations, were incorporated into many a high performance surfboard of the time. Especially in Australia. The Australian surfing mentality was uber aggressive in the water, almost fever pitch. Surfing was about attack , and shortening the rail length as well as pulling in the tail with a Double Wing combo, it became easier to pivot tight in a powerful, critical pocket.
Single Fin design was reaching a performance pinnacle with the Double Wing design, only to be dashed by the Tri Fin in 81 . Almost a shame, as further Single Fin Design development became somewhat pale in significance.

The idea behind the 2 + 1 Fin set up in the Double Wing Swallow is to take the board a step further into design progression, a step forward in time that the Double Wing Swallow never really got to take.

The Medium Sides and the Small Single Fin draws the board a lot closer to a Tri Fin feel. Out of the tail, little extra squirt. Downside, a little extra squirrel. A small variation to the base of the side fins, reducing the surface area, increased the waters free release feel off the side fins and through the forward wing seemed to bolster a smoother flow that i was looking from this particular 2 + 1 Fin Set.

The experiment re affirmed that Terry's boards are high performance vehicles when surfed with the right mind set. Which is the "Attack the Lip" mind set of the early 80's.








3 comments:

Marty Ware said...

I really like the look of the board. You can see the acceleration it receives through the turns.
Top Stuff!
Marty Ware

Unknown said...

Were totally stumped on this surfing clue over @wheresandrew on Nat Geo whose board is this, is it a doublewing swallowmawhatchit? http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/wheres-andrew/

The Drop said...

Can you post the dimensions of this board pretty please. I'm keen for one of these boards, I'm about your hight and weight. Thanks in advance.