6’2” x 20 1/4” x 2 7/8”
This board went beautifully at several breaks, Nipussies, Macaronis being the stand-out sessions. Just as fun back-hand as forehand. A definite performance oriented bonzer with a unique fin set up that defies the norms but relates to all the hydrodynamic theories. It’s the sort of board that will really surprise you… very at home getting into the pocket (and staying there) but equally loose off the bottom and top… best way to sum this board up is that it felt very free.
6’7” X 20 3/4” X 2 7/8” this Riddler comes a little different to the norm being less barrel oriented, so less V, harder rails for more drive, a little less tail rocker and a thicker foil. Designed for Peter for easy wave catching without the normal nightmare of duck-diving a wide nose egg at somewhere like Polzeath. Set up with EVO 5 fin bonzer and EVO 6 fin bonzer options. A pair of custom wood CRV rears to be sent as soon as my blasted pinkie heals (yes it’s still a mess and not surfing or power tools for a while longer – sorry Pete!).
Hope to have a review from Roachy in the near future.
Been playing with 3/4 width free-lap resin tint stripes recently. Here’s my new Riddler for Mentawais with its own personal version in army green with a little ink-work highlights…
This ones off to Indo with me, so the good news is the original Riddler is up for sale… If interested give me a shout.
This one is exactly the same (which says it all really) except for a slightly thicker rail for the slightly heavier surfer (13 1/2 stone)… ME! It’s still the barrel focussed shortboard it was intended to be, together with a REVO5 bonzer fin set up and a gullwing McCoy rear fin. Pics of it in action at HTs (hopefully) coming from a boat in the Mentawais soon.
Sometime you get a board that seems to fit the waves just perfectly, the Riddler is such a board. I had the pleasure of trying it out in some local reefs after Christmas and it even surprised me. The combination of the tail shape and the subtle rails makes the board fit beautifully into the face whatever your angle of attack. It comes off the bottom with drive and speed, yet you can suddenly direct it up the face with no concern of it spinning out. The only drawback was that the rails were a little too thin for me, so i was overturning it and virtually stalling it on my backside bottom turns… of course this did draw me up into the pocket nicely but i prefer to choose when i do that, so i have immediately started another one ready for the Mentawais.
The reverse bonzer fins made a noticeable difference paddling in, it felt much easier to catch waves that my other models, (despite less volume and more rocker) so the theory of less drag with the upright bonzer sides seems to hold true.
The board did amazing roundhouses with no loss of speed and i was able to keep it on the same arc, even on slow waves, without the need for the double pump that most thrusters seem to require.
So i can say that i would recommend this board without hesitation to most surfers, especially for steeper waves.
This board was inspired by some of the most significant influences on my shaping… Malcolm Campbell’s bonzers of course, a little bit of McCoy’s loaded dome Nuggets and a healthy dose of Cheyne Horan’s boards and the spitfire theories from Revolution...
6’2” x 20 1/2” x 2 7/8” – rolled deck with pinched rails. Rolled V boat-nose into vortex channel inside rolled V, exiting into a panel V through the tail. REVO bonzer spitfire sides and a McCoy gullwing centre fin. Can be ridden as a Single fin or as a REVO5.
The REVO sides are using the fluid dynamic theories more popular in sailing after the Ben Lexcan keel led the Australia II to the America’s Cup victory in 1980. One part of the theories is that a vertical keel has less resistance than a sloped one due to its reduced initial contact area. Anyways thought it was time to apply some of this to a board and inspired by something similar on a Revolution Board and with encouragement from Noel Whitman of Revolution the Riddler was born. Watch out for tweaks in the near future after its first wetting.
Hope you enjoy.
6’2 x 20 1/2” x 2 7/8” with “spitfire” Bonzer 5s and a 10” single fin box…
Name was inspired by the board itself being a bit of an enigma… McCoy inspired Nugget with my take on Geof’s original loaded dome, but with my vortex channels under the front foot and bonzer 5 set up, with the spitfire profile. This is a pretty out-there board and i can’t wait to try it in some sucky stuff soon. It looks like it will fit into the pocket beautifully.
The big question is do i add the rear EVO6 plugs too… tempting but maybe a bit plugtastic? Any views.
