BLAST BIG WAVE KNEEBOARDS
For big waves we offer several designs, short and long.
The Blast Fish Hybrid
This is the style board we used all through the 1980s and into the early 1990s. At the height of our physical fitness and surfing abilities, we didn’t feel the need for anything more. During that time, I built a bunch of bigger boards (up to 6′ 5″) and enjoyed them. But the Fish Hybrid big wave models, averaging around 5′ 8″ – 5′ 10″ long, were the most fun and effective. Slight modifications such as a bit wider, single or double bumps in the tail curve etc. were made just for fun. With such a wealth of great surf to try them on, they were perfected over a fairly short time of 2 years. We found that a simple V bottom worked best, in the very powerful often rugged surf. That being said, “simple V bottom”, isn’t actually so simple to shape. These need to be precisely tuned so that the boards do not drag and plow through the water. The V planes have to be shaped to enhance the boards efficiency, not detract from it. All other design aspects, such as rails, bottom curves etc. ,must be considered and blended toward this goal. There are so many subtleties involved that it isn’t practical to discuss on this page.
Big Sunset is intensely demanding and challenging to ride, on any type of surf craft. Simply racing along, at break-neck speed, skidding, bouncing and barely hanging on to your board desperate to survive the wave isn’t enough. Your ability to effectively make accelerating turns, projecting across vast stretches of wave face with power is crucial. You need to drive full rail bottom turns, carve up, carve down, blaze around huge sections, cut back and stall. You need to negotiate the rapidly changing wave form as it churns and roars across the reef toward the channel with power and authority. These boards allow you to do just that.
Mike McGuire riding a Blast Fish hybrid 4 fin 5′ 8″ X 21 5/8″ X 2 1/2” at Sunset Beach, North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii.
The board shown above 5′ 10″ X 21 5/8″ X 2 1/2″ Blast Fish Hybrid V bottom 4 fin. This is the same type of board being ridden in these photos of Mike and Lee. They both are approximately 5′ 10″ X 180 lbbs.
Lee Pattison carves off the bottom then tears off the top of a solid Sunset Beach West Peak, riding a Blast Fish hybrid 4 fin 5′ 8″ X 21 5/8″ X 2 1/2″ at Sunset Beach North Shore Oahu Hawaii.
Lee Pattison riding a 5′ 8″ Blast Fish Hybrid V bottom 4 fin at Pipeline North Shore Oahu Hawaii.
Blast F2K Fish
This board shown is Greg Holzman’s 5′ 7″ X 22 3/8″ X 2 3/8″ V bottom 4 fin Blast F2K Fish built for Hawaii winter surf. Greg is 5’8″ X 145 lbs.
I dreamed up this design in 2000. Hence the designation…F2K.
The F2K Blast Fish can be built for big powerful surf. We ride them in various lengths 5′ 7″ to 5′ 10″ for thick, heaving, double up barrels and longer versions, up to 6′ 3″, for big open water breaks.
Greg Holzman North Shore Oahu
Bill Lerner riding his 5′ 7″ X 22 3/8″ X 2 3/8″ Blast F2K Fish V bottom 4 fin at Cloud Break Tavaru Fiji Islands. Bill is 5′ 8″ X 150 lbs.
Some kneeboard surfers revel in riding short kneeboards in seriously big and hollow surf. Confident in their boards, combined with supreme waterman skills and excellent wave judgement, they enjoy taking on the challenge closer to the power source.
Some big wave spots are best approached with short boards. Waves at some spots, break so abruptly & violent, that a longer board can be a liability. As these types of waves instantaneously stand up and cave out over mere inches of water over shallow sand, rock or coral reef, they transform into the gaping tubes we all so dearly cherish. Getting in and under the lip quickly becomes your main priority. The “the big drop and bottom turn” option isn’t always possible. I know of many surfbreaks such as these, where it doesn’t matter how long your board is, you simply can’t catch these waves any easier.
A couple of things can hinder one’s ability to make, survive these very dangerous types of waves and enjoy the thrill of being so deep in the tube.
#1. Too much length. This can cause you to spear the bottom of the wave before you can adjust your angle of attack. Often, as the wave suddenly doubles up, and you launch over the ledge, the board’s tail is being lifted at the same instant levering the nose down. You are likely to “spear” into the bottom of the wave before you get the chance to set your rail to drive through the barrel.
#2. Too much board width and over all volume. This an cause you to be caught up in the cresting wave unable to penetrate and drive the board down and into the tube. You could easily be pitched over with the lip into very shallow water hitting sand, rock or reef and very possibly sucked back up over for a second beating. Also too much or too long of a board, makes it more difficult to duck dive under these types of waves. Both aspects can cause your board to break.
This is where a short low volume, properly designed Fish kneeboard excels. The design has instant acceleration and superior traction for the most critical situations. Yet compact enough to fit in the deepest barrels, maneuverable enough to allow the rider to adjust their angle of attack as needed, with drive, speed and control. Take off further back, whip and go at the last second, wait for the wave to start to break over you and take off side ways across the waves face as it starts to barrel. This is all possible. Kneeboard surfers dedicated to the “School of Fish” style of riding and boards, are all too familiar with the joys that style brings.
Greg Holzman air drops, then powers off the bottom with confidence, into the pit of a super charged Hawaiian sand dredger, on his Blast F2K 5′ 7″, V bottom 4 Fin fish.
photo sequence shot by Matt Holzman
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