A couple of days ago we posted a clip shot by Vincent Laforet of Jamie O'Brien doing a Backdoor Switchfoot (which you can vote as Surfer Mag Web Clip of the Year here) and today we have more clips from the upcoming film. This footage shot on the Canon Red camera is jaw dropping and the project looks like it will revolutionize surf cinema.
Check out Vincent's blog here with more of his incredbile work.
Willian Cardoso (BRA), 23, has won the first edition of the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) 6-Star Azores Islands Pro pres. by Nissan today after defeating fellow finalist and ASP WQS No. 2 Jadson Andre (BRA) in a 100% Brazilian final. Cardoso, who made the best out of the clean but tricky two to three foot (0.6 to 1 meter) waves on offer, clinches 2500 ratings' points which rocket him from No. 31 to No. 14, a seventeen-places jump to get back into the race for the ASP World Tour qualification while Andre's runner-up consolidates his No. 2 spot reaching 14663 points.
Cardoso, who posted a good 13.57 point heat result in the final battle of the Azores Islands Pro including a 7.17 point ride, had defeated local favorite Tiago Pires en route to the final with the best scores of the day using his unstoppable powerful backhand attack, led the final from start to finish with smart tactics and wave choice reading the conditions perfectly to wait for the better waves and end-up winning his second ASP WQS title ever.
"I am over the moon right now, that win was unbelievable and I have made it all the way through to the crown," Cardoso said. "It's been a hard week with several close heats coming down to one wave many times and I have had big names on my way so to win this one after such an intense draw is just perfect. That board I have been surfing all week was working so well in the solid conditions and I am stoked."
Cardoso, whose first career win on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) was at Pantin last year, struck back today impressing the ASP judging panel with his control and commitment on each of his turns, and grabs US$ 20.000 for his performance at Ribeira Grande, main location of the Azores Islands Pro.
"It's been a tough first half of the year for me and I feel like I got back to my level this week," Cardoso said. "I had a third this year but I wanted to win an event and the atmosphere here suited me so well in and out of the water. I am looking forward to keeping that roll going in the next events in Spain and hopefully grab another big finish."
Placing runner-up for another exceptional result this year was 19-year-old Jadson Andre (Santa Catarina, BRA), the ASP WQS No. 2 consolidating his overall ratings' points total to go above the 14.000-point mark and go closer to his ASP Top 45 ticket for 2010. Andre, who displayed the most progressive surfing of the week popping massive airs and flying floaters, was not able to get the better waves in the final but leaves the Azores Islands confidently knowing his finish today unofficially qualifies him for the ASP Dream Tour.
"The conditions were hard today and there wasn't space for the two of us in that final," Andre said. "William (Cardoso) go the longer waves and I didn't find any launching ramps to try and get airborne so I am just stoked for him because it makes a huge difference for his ranking and it's still pretty amazing for me. I want to thank the immense support we've had here and from Brazil and I can't wait to get back to work and keep that good feeling going."
In the spotlights since his arrival on the Portuguese island of Sao Miguel in the Azores archipelago, Tiago Pires (Ericeira, PRT), 28, placed equal 3rd in the event after giving the local crowds a great show throughout the week with the only perfect 10.00 point ride of the event in Round 5 and the best heat score of 18.00 points in the Quarterfinals. Pires, who was not able to best Andre in their 30-minute exchange, left the water disappointed but with solid confidence before heading to Lower Trestles where he will compete in the sixth event of this year's ASP World Tour.
"I didn't surf as well as the previous heats today and Jadson did well picking up the good waves," Pires said. "I am pretty happy though to make it through to the Semifinals of the event and get a third as I came here to train and get back into competition mode and it seems like the hard work since Jeffreys Bay has paid off."
Pires, who is on his second year on the ASP World Tour, has been focusing on the elite ASP Dream Tour this year leaving his ASP WQS ratings' campaign aside to try and shine amongst the ASP Top 45 where he has already shown he had the skills to go big.
"I have been injured the last couple of months and it seems like things have healed pretty well so I am confident for the next event," Pires said. "As I said before, the support has been great here as anywhere else in Portugal and it was great to get back under pressure and get to surf well this week."
Pires's result will not make any significant change for his WQS ratings but may have given the Portuguese Tiger a solid confidence boost before he competes against the world's best surfer in California in a couple of weeks.
Austin Ware (Califonria, USA), 28, was one the best performers in the event this week making his through to the Semifinals to place equal 3rd and get a significant result which rockets him to No. 10 on the international WQS ratings. Ware, who reached the 11575 point mark today, his career best total ever, came short of one wave in his Semifinal against Cardoso, their encounter coming down to the one first wave of the heat that was taken by Cardoso leaving the Californian in the chase through the whold battle.
"We had pretty similar scores in that heat but that one wave I let William (Cardoso) paddle into in the first minutes made the difference and there is not much I could do about it. I could have sat right next to him for the very first minute but it went the other way and Ihe deserves his result here. He has been surfing well all week and I am still very happy to get that 3rd."
Ware, whose ASP World Tour qualification campaign has been rolling well this year, managed to confirm his consistency this week securing another significant finish that pushes him a bit closer to his goal.
"I haven't been thinking of the ratings actually but more on winning an event or getting to the final," Ware said. "This is why I am going to the next couple of events in Spain because I am definitely hoping to make a final this year. It's looking good at the moment to be up there but this is not really a major concern and I am focused on my heats."
The ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) caravan now moves to the Basque Country where another 144-man field will get back to work for the ASP WQS 5-Star event starting Tuesday, September 1 and running until Sunday, September 6.
AZORES ISLANDS PRO FINAL
1st, Willian Cardoso (BRA) 13.57 pts
2nd, Jadson Andre (BRA) 10.80 pts
AZORES ISLANDS PRO SEMIFINALS
Heat 1: William Cardoso (BRA) 14.00 pts Def. Austin Ware (USA) 10.36 pts
Heat 2: Jadson Andre (BRA) 13.27 pts Def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 11.94 pts
ASP WQS RATINGS' TOP 10 AFTER AZORES ISLANDS PRO
1st, Daniel Ross (AUS) 14975 pts
2nd, Jadson Andre (BRA) 14663 pts
3rd, Owen Wright (AUS) 13588 pts
4th, Adam Melling (AUS) 12801 pts
5th, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12513 pts
6th, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 12150 pts
7th, Joan Duru (FRA) 12050 pts
8th, Brett Simpson (USA) 11863 pts
9th, Travis Logie (ZAF) 11851 pts
10th, Austin Ware (USA) 11575 pts
11th, Dusty Payne (HAW) 11425 pts
12th, Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 10950 pts
13th, Blake Thornton (AUS) 10826 pts
14th, William Cardoso (BRA) 10026 pts
15th, Nathan Yeomans (USA) 9925 pts
To view the full story, photos, and video highlights check out ASP EUROPE.
I call the back third of a board the business end. Rocker, fins, foil, and outline curve all work in harmony, ideally, to provide the rider with a desired feel.
Questions about tail shape seem to get asked most frequently. Understandably so, because in the last decade or so there has been a proliferation of "new" tail shapes. Tails are easy to separate and the visual differences are easy to identify.
To understand how tail shapes have evolved, I'll offer a little history. I don't profess to be a historian, but here is a little overview. At some point in time, thousands of years ago fishermen started standing up on their small hulls on the way in through the surf. Canoe? Kayak? Reed hull?
It's almost like speculating if there is life on other planets but it's safe to say that there were quite a few early fishing communities around the globe that were comfortable going out through surf and coming back in. Whimsical thought, children would play in the surf with small flat pieces of wood and some would stand on them.
A few hundred years ago, prone craft got supersized so adults could participate in the fun. Someone flew at a higher altitude and realized that the outline of a boat made sense but they didn't need all the volume. Once propelled by a wave's energy, volume becomes less relevant and early board shapers became intrigued with outline shape.
Eventually, the penny dropped and the importance of the planning aspect of a craft built specifically for wave riding clicked in and surface area became more important than volume -- a craft in motion.
How does a slab of indigenous wood (or flotsam from shipwreck for that matter) become a wave riding craft? If you look at the most primitive of shapes from early wave riding cultures you'll see that the shaper of the period has taken a rectangular plank and rounded the nose off a bit. As boards evolved, the rectangles became trapezoids of sorts: rounded nose, wide point was quite far forward. The board gradually tapered, on some designs almost imperceptible, to the tail section. Tails were wide and square with slightly rounded corners.
A designer's inner dialogue boils down to striking a balance between planning surface (area, lift) and control. Sometime in the early 1930s designers began cutting away area between the corners. Possibly to make it easier for the prone paddler to kick while still maintaining rail length for lift and control. These inverted arc tails may have been the precursor to a "fish" tail.
Tom Blake is credited with putting the first fin on a surfboard in 1935 to facilitate steering and is said to have built a two fin board in 1943. Simmons, quite possibly unaware of Blake's two fin board, built some two fin boards in 1948. Simmons built bigger, wide back, rounded square twins and a few shorter ones in the 50's. Tom Blake reshaped a Simmons square tail into a split tail, "The Makaha Wedge" around 1954.
An early Tom Blake design. Photo: Tom Blake\Surfing Heritage Foundation
This was most likely the inspiration for the Mirandons to build a single fin with a fairly wide split in 1967 called the Super Board and followed it with the Twin Pin: a double pin tail twin fin, in 1968. Arguably, the Twin Pin was the inspiration for Steve Lis to incorporate the fish tail and two fins into his very short kneeboards. Richard Kenvin has been working on a project, Hydrodynamica, that weaves all this rich history together.
Traditional fish have roughly a 10 to 12 inch split. Area and volume is removed between the corners. Maximizing rail length, enhances drive, adds traction, and releases quick. The further apart the corners, the less continuity there is in rail transition. The notion was to have a long, straight rail on a very short, wide board. Typically, the wider the gap, the deeper the cut. A round pin template can be used for the inside part of the curve so a deep cut doesn't lose too much area and the inverted pintails don't get too pointy. The deeper cut also allows the individual tail, the one in the water on a turn, to flex more readily.
Rewind just a bit: in the 1950s, with materials changing, boards becoming lighter, fins accepted and evolving, outline shapes and tails shapes were experimented with as well.
In 1954, Dale Velzy, bored with the same old outlines, used his nose template for the tail. This pulled the wide point well behind center and, while it may not have been the first round tail, "The Pig" popularized hips pulled back, and very curvy tails; rounded squash, round tails, and round pins. More curve equals tighter arcs and surfers found themselves accelerating out of turns. The era of angled takeoffs and straight line trimming was transitioning into the early days of modern, maneuver-based, performance surfing.
Velzy's "Bump" (1956/1957) featured an exaggerated hip which was arguably the precursor to the wing, or sting. In 1960, Velzy had a go with some ski inspired outlines, inverted parabolic midsections, and a version with an inverted midsection, with the wide point 2/3rds back, pulling into an almost nippled pin tail which he dubbed "The Stinger". Then in 1963, Velzy designed the Banjo/422 that featured possibly the first modern version of a step down type wing about 2/3rds back.
So this gets us into a period where experimentation with outline curves, hips, and tails is accelerating. With the short board revolution, single fins (and straighter tail rockers) arguably impacted tail widths and shapes. With shorter rail-lines, designers were searching for ways to build speed and drive back into the boards and still keep them from spinning out.
Tail widths and shapes in the late 1960s and up until the inception of the modern three fin were somewhat constrained by the limitations of a single fin.
With the Mirandons and Lis resurrecting interest in two fin boards, tail widths expanded. Also, in 1970 Hobie and Bing both marketed wide square tail twin fins. These incorporated totally different approach with fins.
In 1971, Brewer, Reno, McTavish and others start experimenting with three fins. These early versions were primarily two plus one setups: a single fin with small side-bites glassed on the rails, roughly about mid-base to the main fin. This allowed for a shorter main fin and wider tail blocks and experimentation with wider, "closed tail" designs, ie. squash tails and diamond tails. That same year Gary Goodrum won the US Surfing Championship at Huntington Beach riding a three fin.
The mid-1970s saw a lot of split tail design incorporated for small wave designs. While pin tails, and diamonds were left for larger surf. The fish, swallow, dove tail, allowed for wider tails on singles fin boards. Width, with the area removed between the corners, provided drive and hold with a quick release on tails. A more modern, split tail twin fin moved into dominance in the late-1970s.
In 1981, the modern three fin changed everything. Hot dog boards with wide squash tails took over. Squash tails maintain dominance for most small/medium wave designs. By mid-1980s more roundtail three fin boards were working their way into the mix.
Today, what I find fascinating is, most of the short, "performance" boards that I build, and other designers boards that I look at, have remarkably consistent width numbers the last 18" of the board. Width at 6", 12" and 18" up from the tail are very similar between shapers and designs for boards that are ridden in everyday conditions.
A few years ago someone came to me with a concept board that would allow the owner to change out the tail of the board. The width at approximately 18" up from the tail is around 16 ½" so the designer had interchangeable tail sections that joined the board at the 16 ½" width mark, wherever it fell, and allowed the owner to put in slightly shorter or longer and different tail shapes. He had some working prototypes and the thinking was sound. Depending on conditions or mood of the rider, the board could be modified to perform accordingly.
All things being equal here's kind of a basic breakdown on tail differences:
Square: Probably the grandfather of all tails, maximizes rail length and area in the last foot or so of the board. It adds stability, drive, more angular turns, quicker release, and less continuity in rail-to-rail transitions. They are used by some shapers as a small wave design and were used by some shapers in early big wave designs -- gun pioneers like Pat Curren used small square tails on guns.
Fish Tail, Swallow Tail, Dove Tail, Split Tail: A square tail with area removed between the corners, fish is a catchall name. Split tail is a name that doesn't initiate semantics debates. Fish used to be a wide (10" to 12") split with a fairly deep cut about half the width number. Quite often, shapers will use a round pin template to create the inner curve. Swallow was a used on more of a standard hotdog type board with a 5" to 7" split. The depth was an inch, give or take and the inside cut had curve. A Dove tail was similar width and a little shallower depth with a straight inner line. Width, depth of cut, and area (fullness of curve) of the inverted pins can be used to achieve different riding qualities.
An interesting sidebar on splits with deeper cuts is they promote flex. Plenty of shapers over the last few decades have experimented with thinning out the pins to the point where they are virtually just fiberglass.
Baby swallows or baby fish tail refers to a narrower tail on a gun with a split that maybe as small as 3" or 4".
Squash or Rounded Square: Here's where we start getting into semantics and hair splitting on the names. Maybe a squash tail is a round pin someone dropped and a rounded square is a square that had its corners sanded off. Basically, they are both shaped by rounding off the corners of a squaretail. In addition to the usual checkpoints, I track numbers 1" up from the tail and 6" up from the end of the board. An average squash tail is about 10 ½ wide 6" up. The 1" number reflects how much curve there is because it's difficult to measure the end of the board unless it has distinct corners, like a fish tail or a square. An average squash is somewhere in the 5 ½" to 6 ½" wide at 1" up.
This is probably the most common small/medium wave tail shape. It offers a nice blend of area and curve. It became the go-to tail shape when three fins took over the world in the early 1980s. There were wide squash tails built early in the shortboard era. The problem with wide tails on single fins was that the wider the tail (block) the deeper the fin needed to be. The deeper the fin, the more the frontal drag. With three fins, it really enabled designers to go wider and shorter, moving area aft because of the hold and drive three fins brought to the game. The tail shape provides lift, support, and drive.
The balance of release and smoothness or continuity depends on how rounded the corners are.
Diamond Tails: A blend of round pin and squash with the corners moved forward a bit maintaining area, shortening the rail, finishing with a subtle point, and a very clean exit for a board with some tail vee. Diamonds were used quite a bit in the early 1970s on a wide range of boards all the way up the ladder. A nice blend of aesthetically pleasing yet, still very functional.
Bat Tails: Take a squash or a diamond and invert the last inch of the tail. I did 'em in the early 1980s. They are all the rage for quads now. The area removed and little corners add some bite and help give the boards without a rear fin in the middle a little extra drive.
Round Tails: Uber-smooth turns. Make a clay model of a hollow wave, use a wire to slice it along the speed line in the barrel, and the cross section will probably look something like this. Or Google conic sections. This tail is a clean, natural curve that fits the pocket. It's a great tail for a performance shortboard, good in head-high to double-overhead waves. Also, a good option for next one-up type shapes.
Thumb Tails: Look like the tip of your thumb -- a blunted round tail with little less curve between front and back fins. Area in last few inches can vary compared to a roundtail; a little less than a squash tail. It's an excellent all around tail shape with the smooth transitional qualities of a round tail and a little bit of release that you might feel in a squash. Combined with a slight hip or subtle bump, it makes an excellent tail for everyday conditions and into the good stuff. Probably the second most popular tail, behind the squash, for performance shortboards.
Round Pins: Are typically used on longer boards for bigger waves. As the board gets longer, the curves get stretched out, it becomes a bit of a juggling act for the designer to maintain a balance of curve and area.
A tail that is too narrow sits too deep in the water, compromising the board by creating unnecessary drag. A tail too wide creates the opposite problem.
Once again, remember that rocker, fins and foil all come into play as well.
With 1970s style single fins, the wide points up, long rail lines in the back, and pinny pintails (low area) were necessary to keep the tail in the water in bigger surf. Tri-fins allowed designers to go a little wider and use more rocker because of the hold and drive created by the three fin setup.
With quads, it opens more doors.
Arc, Half Moon: I seem to do a lot of tow boards with this tail as well as some guns. Back to maximizing rail length, maintaining some width, and removing some area behind the fins.
Toad Tail: This is when the line starts to blur on "is it a wing or a tail?"
I worked with Will Jobson on Twinzers in the early 1990s. The Twinzer was a not really a four fin but a twin fin with little fins in front of the main fins that help feed the water onto the main fins to help them work more efficiently. Martin Potter charged to his world title riding a lot of these (Will's and Glenn Minami) designs. Will had a tail that looked similar to this but with the corners pushed even closer to the end of the board. He also had concaves running out through the corners. All these design elements he combined to make his visionary fin setup fly. The wings, or corners, step down the width, create release and hold. They're good for four fin boards. I've made three fin boards with this tail that have had great reviews.
Asymmetrical: Who says tails have to be symmetrical? My first board was an Ekstrom asymmetrical. I've built a few over the years and had a couple good riders swear by them. I made myself one last year and had a blast on it. Swallow wing on the frontside, roundtail on the backhand. Drive and release toe side, shorter, power arcs heelside.
In the mid-1970s, I shaped myself two swallow tails, identical in every way (as best I could do handshaping). When they were both finished, I sanded some of the curve out of the tail between the corner and the 12" mark. Some area removed, but more noticeable, a subtle hip or break in the curve. Any difference in the ride? Night and day. The one with the break in the curve won, hands down.
There were days back then when I was surfing solid winter Blacks on guns with the cleanest, smoothest curves I could make, and sometimes found myself wondering if an outline could be too clean. Beautiful, but vanilla.
Some things to remember:
Corners and aberrations break the line.
Smooth curves beget smooth turns.
Area affects lift and resistance.
Once again, it's the whole package; rocker, fins, foil, and entire outline curve that dictate the overall feel of the board. Tails are embellishments.
No right or wrong. Whatever flavor you are after, there's more choices than ever.
Happy Surfing.
R.
Photos: Brody
Today is the last day to enter Rusty's Punt of the Month Contest for your chance to win a 6'6" and under clear P.U. tri-fin custom Rusty surfboard!
Here's How to Enter:
-Check out Surfline's Punt of the Month to get some inspiration of what a true punt looks like.
-Go out and photograph your sickest punt or choose one you already have on your camera.
-Upload the photo to our site by clicking the "PUNT" link at the top of the homepage or by clicking here
Tomorrow, our panel of aerial acrobatic experts will judge the entries, select the best photo, and determine the winner of a new Rusty surfboard. We will also display the winning punt for the following month on our site so the winner can bask in the glow of victory!
Photo: Brody
Attention groms of Southern California! The Rusty Boardhouse of La Jolla is looking for a new grom to sponsor for the shop surf team! This sponsorship package means you will get great deals on Rusty Surfboards and anything in the Rusty Boardhouse surf shop!
Do you think you have what it takes to represent the Rusty Boardhouse?
Well, now is your chance to prove yourself...
The contest is going on for the entire month of August, so go out and gather your best video clips and photographs!
To Enter put together a "Sponsor Me Portfolio" which consists of:
-a one to three minute youtube clip of you surfing (please upload to youtube.com and email us the link),
-five to ten of your best surf photos (as jpegs)
-a short statistics sheet describing your surfing - Name, age, home town, favorite local wave, competitions, travels, other sponsors, goals and aspirations, etc.
Email entries to brody@rustysurfboards.com
You must be 18 years old or younger to enter!
Last day to submit is August 31, 2009!
Surfer: Jake Halstead / Photos: Brody
KerrAzy Times Episode 9 from KerrAzy Productions on Vimeo
Kerzy goes nuts on his home turf...
There's only a few days left in August so be sure to enter Rusty's Punt of the Month Contest! We're giving away a 6'6" and under clear P.U. tri-fin custom Rusty surfboard!
Here's How to Enter:
-Check out Surfline's Punt of the Month to get some inspiration of what a true punt looks like.
-Go out and photograph your sickest punt or choose one you already have on your camera.
-Upload the photo to our site by clicking the "PUNT" link at the top of the homepage or by clicking here
At the end of August, our panel of aerial acrobatic experts will judge the entries, select the best photo, and determine the winner of a new Rusty surfboard. We will also display the winning punt for the following month on our site so the winner can bask in the glow of victory!
The prize pack will be given to the person who submits the photo.
The photo cannot be of a pro surfer on the WQS of WCT.
Participants must be residents of the US and 18 years or older.
If you upload a picture or pictures and thereby enter the contest you must grant a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free right to duplicate, distribute and republish the submitted photo(s) to Rusty North America or else we will not consider your entry for the prize.
Demon Factory posted an exclusive video of Jamie O'Brien warming up at an unknown lake in Southern Cal. Apparently, JOB's trip to Bali (click for pics) sparked a new passion for the Hawaiian free surfer. He has since developed two new tricks: The JO’B Boost Air, which he pulled in Bali when trying to save his cell phone from hitting the curb and shattering into a thousand pieces, and the Red Bull Shuffle, which has not been seen by the public as of yet. Head on over to Demon Factory for the full story.
Check out this feature in which Josh Kerr tells you what he hates most about his family, Australia, Kelly Slater, and just about everything. Featured in Stab Magazine, check it out by clicking here.
Photo: Brody
Attention groms of Southern California! The Rusty Boardhouse of La Jolla is looking for a new grom to sponsor for the shop surf team! This sponsorship package means you will get great deals on Rusty Surfboards and anything in the Rusty Boardhouse surf shop!
Do you think you have what it takes to represent the Rusty Boardhouse?
Well, now is your chance to prove yourself...
The contest is going on for the entire month of August, so go out and gather your best video clips and photographs!
To Enter put together a "Sponsor Me Portfolio" which consists of:
-a one to three minute youtube clip of you surfing (please upload to youtube.com and email us the link),
-five to ten of your best surf photos (as jpegs)
-a short statistics sheet describing your surfing - Name, age, home town, favorite local wave, competitions, travels, other sponsors, goals and aspirations, etc.
Email entries to brody@rustysurfboards.com
You must be 18 years old or younger to enter!
Last day to submit is August 31, 2009!
Surfer: Jake Halstead / Photos: Brody
Rusty Boardhouse and Surfboards will be hosting the first Rusty Surfboard challenge at La Jolla Shores Oct. 17th. Instead of riding your own board we are going to pick a board for you. No one knows what they will be riding until the heat starts (quad, tri, fish, short board..?) We will be providing the boards so no need to bring your own. Do you think you have what it takes to win the challenge?
To enter come to the:
Rusty Boardhouse
2170 Avenida de la playa
La Jolla, CA 92037
Contest Entry $25
1st Place Prize will include a new Rusty Surfboard and other prizes will include Rusty clothing and more swag!