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Messages - JonathanC

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31
Random / Finally finished the tandem trailer !!
« on: July 09, 2014, 10:56:43 PM »
After cluttering up the shed for a few years finally had a real need for the tandem trailer, pulled the finger out, got it galvanised and here it is. Initial idea was something heavy enough to put my ASV Positrack (tracked bobcat) onto, it's about 2 1/2 tonne, but it's really just for carting around "stuff"!

Trailer has 16" Landcruiser rims with Cooper ST's on it. 50mm square axles, 4 electric brakes, breakaway system. Roller rocker suspension. Trailer frame is all 65 x 35, perimeter 3mm and cross bars 2mm, the suspension is mounted on 8mm plate and most of the side rail of the trailer has another run of 65 x 35 x 3 fully welded to support the 8mm plate. Drawbar is relatively short - can't remember exactly and is 100 x 50 x 4 with quite deep ladder type bracing underneath with 50 x 6 black flat as the tension member. Full pipe rails welded beneath for tying down and a perimeter frame of 30 x 30 2.5 to support the guards etc. Guards are bolt on in case of damage but hopefully the design of the 30 x 30 will tend to push any branches whatever away before the guards cop it.

Galvanised the chequer plate separately, it's fully Sikaflexed on after doing the full recommended primer/activator treatment, and because the cross rails are only 395 apart it's pretty bloody secure. No other fasteners seemed a bit scary but when I did some calculations based on the shear and tear strength of the sikaflex 252 don't foresee any problems.

It has a 3600 x 1700 tray, with the big off road wheels overall is a smidge over 2300 wide.
Surprisingly, the tare weight was only about 850 without the spare on. Thought is might have been more but with the tie down rail underneath and the perimeter frame it's really quite rigid, almost a space frame in bending.

Was fun building it but of course more work than I planned on, when will I ever learn...

But the great thing is that now I can get stuck into the off road camper/caravan project without the family telling me I need to finish one thing before I start another...of course there are always about 10 projects on the go but a tandem trailer frame and a pile of wheels tends to be a little more visible.

(sorry about all the metric measurements...actually wrote this for an Oz camper trailer forum but couldn't resist sharing it with my other family!)

32
SUP General / Re: Great White Encounter in Sydney Harbor
« on: June 12, 2014, 12:24:17 AM »
Whaddaya mean fake, that always happens when you jump into the sea in Australia ;)

33
SUP General / Re: stonetaco-v2
« on: May 04, 2014, 10:43:53 PM »
Dropped off my old one and picked this up.....going out to put my racks on....now I just need to get replacements for all my stickers... 8)

Step one, buy a mig welder and a spoolgun for aluminum. Step two...

Seriously though, Dave Kalama's approach of steel cable inside a rope with the rope permanently tied to the center of the rack is simply brilliant. I'll never go back to straps. No climbing up on tires to reach the clip, no fumbling in the wind. No camlocks smacking your window or paint (like I care). Toss all four ropes to one side, load whatever you want on side one--including a nice stack of three boards and noodles--toss all four ropes over and tie two, stack side two, toss ropes, done.

It looks kind of lame until you try it and realize you can control boards in high wind, load big stacks, secure against theft, and have a much more secure load without the friction and dodgy clamps of straps or fussy latching systems. The tossability of rope is part of what makes it so great, but also the simplicity of wrapping and tying and the much lower friction. One twist in a strap and you're climbing all over the place to get the buckle in the right place.

Try it. You'll never go back to goats.

Yeah those goats...

Do you simply tie the rope to the rack to fasten the boards, or use rope cleats?? What size and style of rope and cable?? Any pics...

34
Gear Talk / Re: Fin Replacement for Starboard Allstar 2014
« on: March 20, 2014, 03:29:12 PM »
Is it the red fin that came with the board? The fin that came with my Turtle Bay All Star is perfectly symmetrical and well finished. I'm sure there is a warranty issue there.

Saying that, I've gone for a bigger hatchet fin with a broader base than the stock fin, seems to surf better and give a touch more stability, which is important with the narrow and fine tail Turtle Bay.

35
Gear Talk / Re: I'm a Cutter - Proteck fins?
« on: March 03, 2014, 07:44:57 PM »
I'd only look at this link to a cut calf over on another forum if you have a strong stomach. Big fin on a 12'6 but gives you some idea of what a fin can do.

http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/SUP/Gash-of-the-week-WARNING-It-aint-pretty/?page=1

I managed to get a double cut in my early SUP surf days from the quad fins on my 9'6 Naish, came down on top of my head in 2 foot water and small waves, 8 stitches on the back of my head and three on my forehead, from different fins. New FCS Simon Anderson fins, razor sharp, fortunately my wife is a doc, she got out the 5 year out of date local and stitched me up lying on the floor, I get queasy when I hear the thread being pulled through!

36
Sessions / Re: The last day of Summer vid.
« on: March 01, 2014, 05:03:38 AM »
Hi Ron,
The other board which I considered was the 8 x 28, only slightly more volume but quite a bit more stable than the 7'7. I may still get one for windier days, I've had the 2012 8' x 28 but the 2013 or 2014 are a big improvement IMO. I do have the 7'10 x 31.5 Airborn, it's obviously a totally different board and really fun in small waves.
I'm sure you have read the posts about the 7'7 in the gear section, it's certainly challenging but not nearly as much as I thought it would be. Feel like my sup surfing has improved dramatically since I got this board. I've had the 8'5 Pro but realise now that it was way too big for me. Surfing the 7'7 is like a whole different experience for me.
The other board I really liked was the 7'4 x 28.5 Airborn, seems stupidly low volume at 85L but it's very well balanced and probably similar or slightly more stable than the 7'7. Probably better suited to max head high waves, but I haven't surfed it in anything bigger to really know how it goes.

These low volume small boards are amazing, maybe not a one board quiver solution but so worth the effort to come to grips with.

Cheers, Jonathan

37
Sessions / Re: The last day of Summer vid.
« on: February 28, 2014, 04:39:34 PM »
Hi Ron, that was me on the Starbie. It's a 7'7 x 27, 92l, I'm 5'8, 145lbs and 55. Love the board ;D but it does prefer a little more juice than was on offer yesterday!

38
Downwind and Racing / Re: The smokin spring and summer Maliko report
« on: January 12, 2014, 07:51:13 PM »
I can answer that since I've been browsing (no, Larry, not buying yet). Most skis and OC-1's weigh less than a downwind SUP, certainly less than my 38 pound Bullet 17 V2. My scorpius weighs 21 pounds. The heaviest Epic V8 weighs 39 pounds, the performance version weighs 27.

Do it do it do it, is my subtle response to even the slightest interest  ;D

Did a paddle a couple of days ago in quite large side-on ground swell, maybe 20knots of wind behind us, distance of about 10 miles, choppy, confused conditions. I was on my V10S, old model in the heaviest Club construction, my buddy who is 10 years younger and very fit and strong was on a new Fanatic Falcon 14 x 27 in carbon construction.  

Honestly I was idling pretty much the whole way so that we could stay in touch, its a very exposed stretch of open water and no fun to be left behind there. I would wait for him, then with a few strokes pick up one of the big ground swells and take off laughing like a fool, then stop and wait...
He must have fallen off 8 or 10 times, he still had a blast but nothing like the fun I had. A ski turns mediocre SUP conditions into huge fun. Had to come in through 4 foot beach break and even that was a hoot despite my trepidation.

I've had my ski for 2 or 3 years now and the learning curve is certainly pretty steep starting from scratch with something like the V10S, I remember the hours in the marina when the ripples from a passing boat would make me tense up with apprehension of the impending dunking! But now I feel quite relaxed in big ugly open water with waves coming from different directions, amazing how the body learns new motor skills. It's also great cross training for SUP.

I love down-winding in good conditions on a sup, love the ability to get right back and surf, but anything less than optimal a ski leaves it for dead in the fun department imo.

I'm looking at the new V10L which will be in Oz in a few weeks, probably go for the black tip middle weight version, hoping that may be a little tougher for coming in through surf. Keeping my old V10S, the family love it. Totally agree with LPB, V8 would be the perfect entry level boat for most people and probably a great keeper for friends and really rough conditions.  

39
Downwind and Racing / Re: The smokin spring and summer Maliko report
« on: December 29, 2013, 03:39:56 PM »
Great video LPB, wow, how relaxed does Kathy look, not that I'm surprised of course...

Interesting to see the rudder come right out of the water at one point.

Such a good angle to see the way the boat reacts to the swell.

And couldn't agree more about ski's allowing marginal SUP conditions to be really enjoyed. I'll never forget that Kihei run we did in September where the wind changed 180 to become a head wind but the waves were still running. Strangest feeling catching wind waves going into the wind, but even stranger was the guy doing the downwind run on the OC1 coming towards me!

40
Gear Talk / Re: New 'big-boy' Hokua's from Naish.
« on: December 20, 2013, 05:10:58 AM »
Well I prefer smart to soft but it all gets a bit blurry!!

Love that steamer, 2mm unsealed keeps the cold wind off and the water is still only 63 degrees right now ;D

41
Downwind and Racing / Re: Finally.. got my new DW board.
« on: December 19, 2013, 01:41:18 PM »
 Geeze DJ, could have cleaned the barbie  ;D

42
SUP General / Re: Maui SUP Today (pics)
« on: December 17, 2013, 12:09:25 PM »
Great shots, love number 5, Connor in the greenroom and big sis Ashley looking like she is out for a flat water paddle with the gals.

43
Thanks for the comments folks....

From my pov, their boards are designed for fair weather paddling in warm countries.

With the biggest range on offer I would expect a broader mix of designs.

Cutting volume from boards is surely a step backwards, in a sort of 'shortboard mentality'.... Smaller must be better, right?.......wrong!

Its as if they are selling prototypes and testing them on customers.

Hmm cutting volume from surfing boards and at the same time making them more stable and way better to surf   - not wrong,  RIGHT !! The 2013 and 2014 8'5 Pro for example did drop 16litres from the 2012, but it is a more stable and way better board. Same story with the 8'0 Pro. The 2014 Airborne range achieves incredible stability from very low volume boards with all the surfing benefit a thin board with fine rails provide.

Sounds to me like you are making assumptions about the performance of a range of boards from reading a catalogue.

Releasing a huge range including small low volume niche boards IMO shows a determination to please all shapes and sizes and weights of customers, is that really such a problem? Larger higher volume boards are also offered if that is what you prefer.

Starboard has always been a company that takes risks with bringing new, sometimes 'out there' product to the market. Should that be criticised, well that's your prerogative of course, but their innovative thinking has led to product that has changed both the windsurf and now SUP world over the years. Dramatically different race boards, Widepoint surfing boards, the Whopper,  tiny surfing boards, K15, 17'6 etc etc. It doesn't take much imagination to see the ranges from other companies that have taken many of these concepts, construction techniques and shapes and tweaked and rebadged to become their own latest and greatest.

The 2014 All Stars are amazingly fast and efficient open water boards, refined to allow a flatter rocker 'work' in rough open water, capable of efficiently downwinding in big conditions. The subtlety of rocker line and profiles refined over years of evolving models and hundreds and hundreds of tested prototypes and profile can't exactly be summed up in

"For paddling in a 'sea' you really need a shallow arch profile to the hull"

The discussion is great, every manufacturer should be challenged and critically assessed by the market and this is what great forums like this allow us to do, but criticising a new range because it doesn't fit your idea of how and what boards should be, wow, why don't you try some of the new product then come back with a real basis for discussion.

Maybe there isn't a board labelled as an open water touring model, but surely that is a very specific niche product. Bart de Zwart may be the best person to talk to about the lack of suitable open ocean touring boards in the standard Starboard product line, I think he is back from the Arctic crossing   ;)

Everything above is just my point of view, the funny thing is that after being associated with Starboard for the last few years I feel like the 2014 range is far and away the most complete and refined range they have ever released.

44
Gear Talk / Re: Sub 9' winter beach break board for big guy
« on: December 04, 2013, 03:17:06 PM »
I don't know about the JP and the Fanatic but the 2014 wider Starboards seem to be much improved this year.

Here is a vid looking at the 8'2 x 32 Widepoint and I know Scotty McKercher keeps banging on about how good the new Hero is!! There is the 8'10 x 32 Widepoint as well. My brushed carbon 7'10 x 31.5" Airborn is a revelation in crappy small beach break waves, but I'm only #150.

There is a guy in Australia who won the over 50's NSW SUP surfing titles on a carbon Whopper. he is a big guy (much more than 220) and it's just amazing how much drive and energy he gets out of small crappy waves.

Just going for a lighter carbon board in these wide shapes makes a huge difference IMO

2014 8'2" Widepoint

45
Gear Talk / Re: Lets see your RACK!
« on: December 01, 2013, 04:10:25 AM »
14' , 12'6 and 7'7 elsewhere but you get the idea!


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