Rusty Team rider, Matt Beacham, spends nine months a year on the road filming for the Fuel TV show "New Pollution". When Matt comes home to San Diego he is usually in and out: he'll be home for a day or two, sometimes a week if he's lucky, and then he'll have to head off to the next filming destination. Needless to say, it is rare that Matt returns home to San Diego and there is solid swell in the water. Well, this time he got lucky...
Beacham shredding on his Rusty Redline...
Photos: Brody
Jamie locks into a few epic waves and talks about the Rip Curl Padang Padang Invitational. Click the image above to have a look on Surfline.com.
In the Boys 14/Under division, Jake Halstead utilized the rights going into the point to unleash a succession of hacks and blow tails to undeniably scalp the 14/U National Final title and nab $500 in prize money. The powerful regularfoot and decorated G-Search vet fended off Colin Moran (CA), Koa Smith (HI), and Taylor Clark (CA), who finished 2nd-4th respectively.
For the full story check out RipCurl.com
13 year old Jay Christienson started riding Rusty Surfboards a few months ago and has been amping on his favorite board model - the Rusty Redline. However, he proved that is not the only board he can properly shred on because he recently won the 16 and Under division at the Rusty Boardhouse "Any-Board Challenge," where he surfed five different random boards over the course of nine heats.
"I love my family! Love Our Oceans and Respect Mother Nature."
Sponsors: Rusy Surfboards, Southcoast Windansea Surf Shop, FCS, Gorilla Grip, Headhunter, Hemp Hoodlamp, RVCA, Nixon, and Taco Surf
Contests: NSSA South West Conference ,Surfing America Prime, WSA, Sun Diego / Monster Energy Pro-Am Surf Series, Volcom Stone's Crustaceous Tour, Rusty/SD Summer Series, Ripcurl Grom Search, Occy Grom Comp, Revolt Summer Series, YMCA Surf Series, Windansea Menehuene, Sunset Cliffs Gromfest, Jetty Kids Kontest & LaJolla Shores Surf Assoc. Menehuene, MSA Classic, Wildcoast Dempsey Holder & The Rob Machado Experience
Other Hobbies: I play baseball for the Mission Bay Little League, silk-screen custom "T's" with artist and mentor Bryce @ Modele, and I skate everywhere I go - mostly cruisers, but I trick in parks too.
Click below to have a look at a video clip from Jay's NSSA double header this past weekend:
After taking home two national titles last season Rick Takahashi has tasted blood and is on a rampage. Takahashi claimed double wins, for the third time this season, at the NSSA Southwest Explorer conference contest held at Huntington beach over the weekend. The technical regular footer competes in the Seniors and the Masters divisions, but still surfs like an amped junior - making the most of every wave. Takahashi knows how to make heats and get scores. For instance, in this weekend's event he got at least an 8.5 in every heat he surfed (in both divisions) and he even nailed a perfect 10 in one of the finals! Once Takahashi gets his momentum going he is tough to stop: better get out of the way because he is blazing full speed ahead to another pair of national titles!
Four fins are faster than tri fins.
Four Fins are looser than tri fins.
Four fins ride the barrel higher and tighter than a tri fin.
They drop in easier.
They come out of the gate quicker.
Accelerate on cutbacks.
Do better airs.
Can be ridden shorter.
Draw new and different lines.
Josh Kerr is one of the half-dozen or so of the ASP World Tour who regularly experiment with quads.
So why isn't every surfer on the planet riding one?
It's all Hype?
Different strokes?
Media?
The pros don't so I won't?
Maybe shapers don't have it right...yet?
Perhaps if there were a ubiquitous effort, a Manhattan Quad Project, the design would evolve at a faster rate and all would enjoy the benefits.
Sorry, somebody has to win a major friggin contest on one first. (Biggest win? CJ won the Body Glove Surfbout on a quad in '07.)
So at this point, who seems to like them and who doesn't? And why?
Typical first impression of a quad is this: fast and loose, but not confident without something directly under the back foot. It takes a few sessions to trust the setup -- and run with the positive attributes.
The lack of an auto-centering sensation seems to be a common complaint from most detractors. Without a center fin, a lot of surfers miss the instant feedback from the back foot and the ability to do quick adjustments. With quads there is an information gap in rail change that varies widely depending on fin (rear especially) position.
Backhand performance is also a concern of 3-fin loyalists. Going heelside, the rider delivers more power through the rear foot and specifically the heel. Visualize foot angle and where the energy is going...for most surfers pretty much in line with the rear fin, three inches and change from the back end.
Early days of the 3-fin, I'd put rear fins way back on some rider's tail blocks. It was necessary to do this to keep more powerful, rear-foot surfers from blowing their tails out on acute direction changes. Occy's were set at 2 3/4" and some of Tom Carroll's trailers were as far back as 2" from the end of the board. As rockers and outlines evolved, the rears crept up to 3 1/4" to 3 1/2" on an average shortboard.
If a rear fin on a tri is moved up an inch or two from the placement most people are used to, the board loses drive, hold, and moves the pivot point further forward. A surfer would have to completely readjust his rear foot placement. Same holds true with a quad.
Which leads to probably one of, if not the single most important detail in designing a 4-fin surfboard: fin positioning. Not weird-ass tails. Not crazy bottom contours. Fins. How big they are, outlines, and foils. Where they are, their relative positioning with respect to each other, cant and nose vector.
Jamie Sterling is a fan of quads in the barrel at Teahupoo 'cause they go fast and hold at speed. Photo: Tyler Cuddy
Early on I took a fairly simplistic approach to it.
Early quads were an attempt to add drive and control to twins. In 1980/81, Twins were de rigueur. Since 1982/83, tri-fins were most surfers' experiential basis. In my mind, I'm starting with a tri-fin. So I took the rear fin on a tri, and was theoretically splitting it in half. The more the rider wants the feel of a tri, the further back and closer together I'd keep the fins. If a rider was after more of a twin-fin feel, I'd move the rears towards the rail and the front fins.
My common middle ground: for argument's sake, a 6'2" tri-fin has fronts at 11" and rears at 3 1/4". A lot of designers go half the distance on a quad, so that would put the rears at 5 1/2" and the same distance from the rail, about 1 1/8". In my humble opinion, I feel this is a little on the neutral side. I split the difference on distance from the tail (tri vs. quad: 2 1/4"), which would be 3 1/4" plus 1 1/8"...or 4 3/8". Easier math: 7' board. Fins at 12" and 4" on a tri. Half the distance is 6". Split the difference, 5" for a quad. On average, I try to keep my rears about 2" in from the rail. That's a generalization. It becomes a more complicated depending on tail width and board length.
Fin size: Fronts are similar to tri-fins, perhaps slightly smaller. Rears: profiles similar to fronts reduced approximately 10% in overall area. You can adjust drive by swapping out rears with different aspect ratios. More upright fins for tighter arcs. More rake to add length and draw to turns.
Foils: Your preference on fronts...your favorite tri fin fronts are a good starting point. If you are a fan of cambered fins -- stay with them. If you prefer flat-sided fronts, you will probably like them in the trailers as well. Smaller, weaker surf; flats are probably the go as they react a little quicker and provide instant feedback. Bigger, more powerful surf -- most prefer cambered or dual (full) foil trailers. Less prone to cavitate and let go. Some prefer full-foil trailers in everyday surf, citing more "feel"...smoother, cleaner, etc. Not as fast.
Cant on rears: Typically, I halve the angle of the fronts. It can vary according to intended use. Smaller softer surf; a little more cant will add some lift and looseness. Conversely, less tilt will increase speed, hold, and drive.
Nose vector (line towards nose): I typically point all four fins to approximately the same place, which depends on board length and type of surf the board is intended for.
Another shaper's insight into quads and fin positioning: Bruce McKee has done nearly 30 years of homework for all of us and he's quite happy to share it here.
Why not chuck a quad in the back with the rest of your quiver? Photo: Tyler Cuddy
So back to...why aren't more surfers embracing this design?
I suspect that there were probably a lot of takers that might have had a go early on before a lot of work had been done. They may have had a less-than-satisfactory experience and shared it with others that may have at one point been interested.
Some of it may be due to negative stigma. The print media. In an incredibly myopic and disappointing "Surfboard Issue" last year the polyurethane/polyester tri-fin was declared the winner and still champ in a fizzling technology push.
Thankfully, we have the Internet.
Search and you will find. There are quite a few board builders offering quads. Even Simon Anderson himself rides and enjoys quads and has several models in his product line.
My suggestion is that if you are interested, search out a builder who embraces the design and has a solid history with the setup. It's not as easy as just sticking four fins on a board.
More often than not when I let someone demo a quad they are pleasantly surprised.
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Check back later this month for "Part Two: A History of Quads," with words from Simon Anderson, Jeff Clark and more.
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BONUS ANSWER TO A COMMENT FROM LAST MONTH:
Last month's blog on tails, we received a question in response to the Simon Anderson story:
So Rusty - did you build a thruster later that same night? --Munga
Rusty answers:
I tripped on the experience for a couple of days, wrestling with the thought, was it the board or the surfer? My mind said it was 90% Simon.
After a few days, wtf, I stuck a trailing fin on my favorite twin. My first surf on the jury-rigged tri-fin was in decent surf but it was not nearly as good as Blacks on that day I watched Simon. First impression: board was noticeably slower but had a tentative short burst of speed out of turns on the better waves. It felt like the parking brake was on but when I drove off my back foot hard enough the board would come back up to the speed it had as a twin...just briefly, and as soon as I let off, it would slow down again.
I shelved it.
The next board I made myself after the twin to tri-conversion was a 4 fin round-tail. It was a super fun board. It had the speed of a twin but with more drive and a bigger sweet spot. I vividly remember it doing swooping cutbacks at full speed, almost effortlessly. I rode it for a few months.
Thanks to Surfline.com .
Over the weekend 15 year old Jake Halstead won the 18 and Under Division in clean four to five foot peaks at Windansea! He followed his big win with a really fun session at the reefs on his new 5'4" Slayer model. All and all, a pretty good day!
Currently, Jake sits in the number two spot in the NSSA Southwest Open Juniors Division and in the number three spot in the Open Mens Division!
Check out the video clip below to see Jake tear up La Jolla...
Jake Halstead from Orion Owens on Vimeo.
SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Nov. 8, 2009 - History was made today at the conclusion of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 6-Star PRIME O'Neill Cold Water Classic California and Oakley Pro Junior ASP North America Championships. The newly upgraded event offering more points and a larger prize purse than ever also saw record numbers of spectators and the biggest conditions this competition has seen in its storied history that dates back to 1985.
The action packed day culminated with Nathan Yeomans (San Clemente, CA), 28, claiming the main event over Heath Joske (AUS), 20.
Yeomans wasted no time in the bombing surf at Steamer Lane, jumping on the scoreboard early and leading the heat throughout the entire bout against Joske. The San Clemente native capitalized on the solid surf at middle peak, dropping a 15.33 heat total, to earn the convincing win. Yeomans dominated on both his forehand and backhand to take the biggest victory of his career.
"I can't believe it," Yeomans said. "This is the biggest result of my career and I'm speechless. I've been winning 2-Stars for too long and it was time for a big 6-Star win. To have my name up there with all of the great surfers who have won this event over the years is amazing."
Yeomans, who was sitting in the No. 27 position on the ASP WQS entering the O'Neill Cold Water Classic California, catapulted up the ratings and is currently sitting in 8th after his impressive performance. The win helps his cause towards qualification for the 2010 ASP Dream Tour and with two ASP 6-Star PRIME events remaining in the season, the goofy-footer will look to Hawaii to solidify his position amongst the top 45 in the world for next year.
"I'm just floating right now," Yeomans said. "This just gets me so pumped to try and get another result in Hawaii."
Congrats Nate!
Click here for all the photos from Santa Cruz!
Click here for photos from Nate's victory party at the OC Tavern in his home town of San Clemente!
If you ever find yourself in Hossegor, France be sure and stop by the Rusty Surf Shop. It's located just off the main street in town and it has some of the best boards on the market as well as the European apparel line. The shop is packed full of goodies and is a must-see on your next European vacation...
To keep tabs on Rusty Europe click here.
Home away from home
Beacham window shopping; they were closed the first day...
But he returned the next day to dabble with a bit European style
Photos: Brody
Liberian Line Up
"On Surfari" always scours the globe to find the most unique destinations to film their show and this episode brought them to Liberia! Liberia is a country that is rebuilding itself after a terrible civil war and there is a heavy UN presence in order to keep the peace, but there are rumored to be epic waves... In addition to the search for swell, there are organizations and individuals living in Liberia who put others before themselves and their causes are worth featuring. So, in efforts to help change the public perception of Liberia, a country that the U.S. Embassy highly advises against traveling to, Shayne and Shannon McIntyre sought out their next family vacation...
Over the course of the past several weeks the McIntyres (accompanied by their five year old son Banyon and year and a half year old daughter Coral) spent their time between surfing flawless lefts, highlighting humanitarian efforts, and even doing a bit of giving themselves.
Take a look behind the scenes at the making of the upcoming episode, "On Surfari: Liberia"...
Shayne interviews the coach of the Liberian National Amputee Soccer Team...
then he gets taken out trying to play goalie!
Keith Chapman, of Trinity Dental Clinic , is one of the only dentists in Liberia and lives in Monrovia with his family in order to save the lives of Liberians in need.
Long and lonesome roads.
Shayne and cinematographer, Nic Mclean, getting work done...
Hosting a movie night on the beach, with the help of The Strong Heart Fellowship Orphanage , for the small fishing village (which has never seen a movie theatre). They screened an episode of "On Surfari" and the critically acclaimed surf film, "Sliding Liberia," which features their locals and waves and the crowd went absolutely wild!
Shannon lending a helping hand painting the Strong Heart Orphanage.
Drive by shooting.
All Photos (except last): Brody Last Photo: AJ Libenberg