lets see 'em...

[HaleiwaBill]

GREAT pics everyone!........I will try to take pics later tonight and post em.

[Blane Chambers]

I'd love to see some of Blanes 8 footers...  ;

Me too!!     Haha!    I have at least 15 various 8's getting glassed as we speak...    I made a 8'-6" that my friend picked up to glass the other day...    Going to be a quad.    It looked pretty sick...   Will get pics soon...

Aloha,
Blane


www.paddlesurfhawaii.com

[supguam]

Cool Blane cant wait to see them 8's

[alap]

dw, whats this black part on the very tail, close to the leash plug?

also, what's bottom looks like? under your foot, where you stand, is it flat? vee? rounded?

[Dwight (DW)]

beautiful board, dw, and i can't wait to hear how the transition is, from 11 to 10.  i've got the jimmy11 and it's still plenty challenging, but one day i hope to go smaller ...
   otoh, winter's coming to the great northeast and when the water gets down to the lower 40s, i'm sure i'm going to be wishing i had the aircraft-carrier stability of the 12-1 laird. brrrr.

A month ago I thought it would have "never" been possible to ride this board. Each time I tried the wife's 10 it was choppy and I couldn't even stay upright paddling on my knees. Then last weekend she was out of town, the water was glassy, and I managed to catch some waves standing upright on her board. I was so stoked I took AM and PM sessions on it each day.

Lucky for me this weekend was glassy too. I need time on the water to gain my sea legs with my new 10. I have good balance and catch waves easier than on the 11'. But I do tire quickly, like when I was a newbie. I surf for 30 minutes, then return to land to regain my sea legs. I found if I rest out on the water, I don't regain my balance as well as sitting on the beach for 10 minutes. I feel confident enough now to sell my trusty 11'.

I let a friend try my 10 today. This guy is similar age and weight as me (53, 200 lbs), so his balance is not like the young guys. He could not stand upright on it, so he surfed it on his knees. He was stoked. He could feel the SPEED and ease of catching a wave. He felt it caught waves easier than his Mistral Pacifico.

We don't have anything in its size range around here to compare it to, but compared to bigger boards, we're all amazed. Easier to catch waves than any larger board we've ridden. Super surfy compared to larger boards. Fast and fun. Maybe someone on the forum can compare the JL 10 to something else in its size range?

I think it will be awhile before I can do northeasters. Those on the east coast will understand "northeaster". 
On my 11 footer I was doing 20 knot northeasters with overhead surf. I threw that in there to give you an idea of where my paddle skills were when I made the jump.

[Dwight (DW)]

dw, whats this black part on the very tail, close to the leash plug?

also, what's bottom looks like? under your foot, where you stand, is it flat? vee? rounded?

The black part is just the leash. It does look odd in the photo.

The board has some vee under the feet. Jimmy says that means nothing, you can't judge a shape on one feature. Its everything combined that makes a board work or not.

I can tell you if "you" stand still, the board stays still. When I relax, the board is stable. In some ways, the Naish 11'6 is less stable. I know that sounds odd, but some boards have very different wobble feel. Ever notice sinkers are more stable that corky high volume boards? This is part of what I think I'm experiencing.

[alap]

DW, I am sure you will do downwinders very soon. you just need time to adjust. remember, you said: "I went from catching one wave an hour to catching anything and everything"? btw, it was a lot of encourangment for me.

one more question. this board is sandwich construction? does it have airvent? can't see it...

I am thinking myself of going something smaller than my 11'*28", but I don't think I can graduate there yet...

[Dwight (DW)]

.....one more question. this board is sandwich construction? does it have airvent? can't see it...

JLs are full sandwich without air vents. You don't need air vents if the construction allows it. Windsurfers pioneered this construction and know it better than most. Jimmy's an old windsurfer.

Same with Laid Surftechs. No vents. Surftech is Randy French's company, an old windsurfer who pioneered this stuff with lots of mistakes in those early years. Glad those days are gone. Had one of Randy's boards blow up 20+ years ago.

[alap]

DW,

what means: 'if construction allows it?'

I mean modern windsurfing boards, aren't they build using the same sandwich construction? My *board free formula, couple years old, it has a vent, so two my exocet boards, cross 103l and original wave 75 liters, also 2-3 years old (all three are very nice, very light, comparable to my 2000 Bic Saxo and Bic Techno); they have vent; and it says: open for airtravel and when it is hot (40 celcius or 115 Farhrenheit). No airvents on Saxo and Texchno, but those ASA skin.

For me its a bit of an issue. We have some hot days here in the middle of the summer in Southern Alberta and despite all my boards are bagged, I try not to leave them in direct sunlight; I never keep the bag inside the closed car, and so on. Leaving SUP without an airvent on my roof in the bag can get a bit spooky. Also when I travel to Vancouver Island, I have to go through really hot, desert like area. While I am driving the board in the bag is not overheated (when I stop, I open the zipper and check), but if I leave it in the bag while standing in direct sunlight it gets much much more warmer inside the bag. Also this hot area is followed by a mountain ridge. As an example, my wife has a neck pillow, inflatable one. So before this ridge it is usually soft, and on top it can be solid like a stone. The air inside expands! But so is the air inside the board, isn't it?

I understand, that probably Jimmy knows better and probably he tested things, but I just trying to understand why the windsurfing boards require the vent, and his doesn't, especially if both use the same sandwich construction... or it is not the same construction? just curious...

[Dwight (DW)]

DW,

what means: 'if construction allows it?'

Two things make boards blow up. Materials off gassing. Or large volumes of air inside the board coming from super light (not dense) styrofoam combined with more mass (windsurfers) in the core, creating more air volume to expand. Windsurfers requires the light non dense EPS to avoid weighing too much.

Surftech's and others, have pushed foam technology such that no, or almost no, air is entrained in the core. Add a strong sandwich over the EPS and it can survive heat and airline flights without a vent. I've seen more boards damaged by vents taking in water, than boards blown up by heat. I don't want vents in my boards.

I have flown many times with EPS sandwich boards without vents. Never a problem.

If it has a vent, use it. If it doesn't have a vent, it doesn't need one.

Brands are so confident in their construction they paint boards RED now. Remember when all windsurfers were white to avoid blow ups. I could fry an egg on my RED Laird's skin.

[alap]

thanks, DW.
your argument about color actually is very strong.
BTW, how much your new board weight?

[Dwight (DW)]

BTW, how much your new board weight?

I have not weighed it. All I know is it feels like a feather after lifting the 11 footer. The wife can carry her own board to the beach.    I used to carry it for her when she rode the 11.