One of his latest creations is an ultra large mat named "Shirley." The red one on the left is around the size of a 4GF Standard. (My lawyers are looking into that!) So that makes the mat on the right massive. And with no non-skid on the deck, it might be a little slippery! :)
The other project is a plywood Paipo. Following the lead of Surf Sister, and apparently a number of other prone riders of late, Paipo mania has struck!
In truth, I'm intrigued by the concept of a plywood prone rider. They seem to be a really interesting counterpoint to mats. This summer may see a few coming out of the 4GF skunkworks.
5 comments:
El Lilo Grande!
Ha! Thanks for posting that.
Shirley now has grip, etc. Will be fully cooked on Thursday.
As for the Paipo (AKA "Sputnik"), really fun ride. Kinda like a really holdie bodyboard. It'll be interesting to try it in chunkier stuff.
Cheers
G
Ride report HERE
G
That 'paipo' looks a lot like what Brits call a 'bellyboard'! The British Surf Museum in Braunton has old ones dating from the early twentieth century, around the time of the Great War. The dimensions are all pretty much the same, from then till now: 4' high by 1' wide, dead flat apart from a little lift in the nose.
I've been riding these for about 40 years; they're super-fast in little, steep waves.
As a Brit I can confirm that this paipo is only like a bellyboard in terms of materials. It's 15.5" at the nose to 20" at the tail.
Not as fast as a bellyboard but locks into the pocket really well and planes on anything.
My bellyboards are faster and probably more immersive but lack the solid drive through turns.
I rode Sputnik (this paipo) today in thigh to waste high glass and discovered that it makes snap turns like a shortboard. The only problem was, I nearly snapped myself in half finding that out!
:-0
G
Post a Comment