Outer islands flex tails

Blowin's picture
Blowin started the topic in Tuesday, 17 Jun 2014 at 2:49pm

Anybody ridden one ? They look interesting. I've never ridden any kind of flex tail , but I'm specifically referring to the foam and glass numbers with the two stringers that converge in the nose from mid board and that have no stringer in the tail as opposed to the all glass tails.

stunet's picture
stunet's picture
stunet Thursday, 28 Jul 2016 at 1:58pm

Way, way back Mitchell even dropped concaves into first gen shortboards.

Think 1969.

quadzilla's picture
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quadzilla Thursday, 28 Jul 2016 at 3:39pm

69 may be a little amiss....Mitchell was 14 and still going to school when there wasn't any waves.

Glenn Ritchie did most of the early shaping of Outers,Mitchell was the young test pilot.That's when the deep single concaves first emerged in Gows boatshed on Pitt water at the back of Palm beach.71/2.Later when Nana Glen production was happening is when M.Rae began production shaping.

udo's picture
udo's picture
udo Thursday, 28 Jul 2016 at 4:02pm

He he I was thinking about 1969 ...and how old is this Rae bloke now.

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stunet Thursday, 28 Jul 2016 at 4:03pm

Well that's what he told me!

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stunet Thursday, 28 Jul 2016 at 4:05pm

Here we go: "we were riding 1" deep concaves with hard edges in 1969...revolutionary designs."

So maybe he didn't shape them. I was asking him about his late 70s / early 80s concaves - boards that he shaped - and he said the above quote.

stunet's picture
stunet's picture
stunet Thursday, 28 Jul 2016 at 4:09pm

Check the concave in these suckers:

383616_362741530407850_448762001_n.jpg

And this one is a flextail. Said he rode it in the 1980 OM Bali Pro.

13775842_1295238380486204_6642249264558088582_n.jpg

blindboy's picture
blindboy's picture
blindboy Thursday, 28 Jul 2016 at 5:57pm

....it might take a couple of waves to get the feel.

goofyfoot's picture
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goofyfoot Thursday, 28 Jul 2016 at 6:53pm

That concave is full on, not what you see much of these days

blindboy's picture
blindboy's picture
blindboy Thursday, 28 Jul 2016 at 6:57pm

I seem to remember Mitchell Rae hanging around Peter Clarke's Brookvale factory where Ritchie worked around '69. He was a pretty well known grom around the NB from an early age

quadzilla's picture
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quadzilla Thursday, 28 Jul 2016 at 7:12pm

Yes BB,PCs north side spawned outer island....Mitchell was a competitive surfer in his under 18 days.Had some notable victories which included finishing in front of another young un from Newy who shared the same initials.
UDO,born early 1955...turned 61 early this year.

dilmah's picture
dilmah's picture
dilmah Friday, 29 Jul 2016 at 9:17am

What's people's thoughts on the outer island fins?
Switchblades....

quadzilla's picture
quadzilla's picture
quadzilla Wednesday, 3 Aug 2016 at 12:05pm

As far as the history of Outers goes,GR,was still shaping at Peter Clarke's Brookvale factory in October 1970,the month the first Tracks issue came out.I'm doubting that the concaves were done prior to this as Glenn is on the Bitsa page with his latest creation.He describes it as dead FLAT all the way through and designed for Lennox.
My first recollection of Outers was on the Bitsa page in 1971or 2?,there was a photo of a very concaved rail to rail bottom.

BSnyder's picture
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BSnyder Sunday, 28 Aug 2016 at 10:57am
lostdoggy's picture
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lostdoggy Saturday, 17 Sep 2016 at 12:20pm
Blowin's picture
Blowin's picture
Blowin Saturday, 17 Sep 2016 at 7:52pm

Cheers Lostdoggy .

Bit on the thin side for mine , though.

udo's picture
udo's picture
udo Wednesday, 28 Sep 2016 at 9:56am

Blowin - 6'10 x 18 3/4 x 2 5/8 Outer island flextail
Gumtree Mudgeeraba Gold Coast

Blowin's picture
Blowin's picture
Blowin Wednesday, 28 Sep 2016 at 10:04am

Udo - sounds perfect for me.

But I'm 5000 kms away from it and boarding a plane in a few hours.

Cheers anyway cobber.

udo's picture
udo's picture
udo Wednesday, 28 Sep 2016 at 10:06am

Where you heading to buddy ?

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Wednesday, 28 Sep 2016 at 10:18am

If I'm lucky - which I haven't been in the last 24 hours - I'll be heading to Bali.

If I'm not lucky I'll be heading towards a life force depleting encounter with more retardulent airport officials and the heart break of another cancelled flight .

This will in turn lead to either a week on the freezing South or South West coast of WA - sans wetsuit or adequate cold weather clothing - or a week camped on the peripheries of Shark Bay - sans fishing rod.

Either would be fun, I guess.

But I NEED warm water barrels.

Thanks again for the heads up mate.

udo's picture
udo's picture
udo Wednesday, 28 Sep 2016 at 10:25am

Kintamani is belching again.

Blowin's picture
Blowin's picture
Blowin Wednesday, 28 Sep 2016 at 10:46am

I've faced greater adversity than an over active geological pressure release point in the last day.

I've seen the devil himself.

In this instance he appeared as the smug representative of a globe straddling American company that has utter contempt for any poor sap that happens to stand between themselves and a stray dollar or two.

And I was cast asunder and thrown into the abyss of airport chaos and flight uncertainty.

Fear not.

Today is a fresh start.....and I get to do it all again.

udo's picture
udo's picture
udo Sunday, 5 Feb 2017 at 8:31pm

Someone just got a steal...Ebay - bidding just ended on a real nice top cond Bushrat flextail -
$ 400

backhand life's picture
backhand life's picture
backhand life Tuesday, 14 Jul 2020 at 6:28pm

Mitchell mentioning a “semi retirement”

stunet's picture
stunet's picture
stunet Tuesday, 14 Jul 2020 at 7:21pm

Gonna leave a sizable hole in the shaping world. No-one's really doing what Mitchell does.

Terminal's picture
Terminal's picture
Terminal Tuesday, 14 Jul 2020 at 8:17pm

I couldn't give away a bushrat twin fish 18mths ago. I think the lucky punter got it for 250 from memory

Yeah Mitchell's boards are masterpieces, my old man had a matching pair of 6.9 and 7.4, beautiful boards.

stunet's picture
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stunet Tuesday, 14 Jul 2020 at 8:16pm

Wish I saw that being advertised...

Terminal's picture
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Terminal Tuesday, 14 Jul 2020 at 8:21pm

Yeah, looking at some your others over time, Stu, it would've slotted into the quiver nicely

Double carbon fiber stringer, wood nose and tail blocks and those swivel fins Jed uses with beautiful wood fins

stunet's picture
stunet's picture
stunet Tuesday, 14 Jul 2020 at 8:23pm

You're just teasing me now.

Supafreak's picture
Supafreak's picture
Supafreak Wednesday, 30 Oct 2024 at 5:39pm
quadzilla wrote:

if anyone wants to go FASTer than they've ever gone on a surfboard in powerful waves, then get an outer flextail....ive had 4 carbon tails and one V2.....V2 went fast but the carbontails have a turbo effect once the carbon tail springs back...WHOOSH, they are the high point of speed surfing.Mitchell describes his V2 with a carbon tail as the ultimate in FLEX....1500-2000. only invest if you ride grunty waves.ive also had 5 other centre stringered normal outers(mondo/smart/fish/and 2 supamals)....still fast but the more you pay the faster you go.

@Quadzilla , have you ridden the moonraker model with carbon flex tail ? I may have an opportunity to buy one second hand in a fortnight, 6’8” x 20 1/2 x 2 7/8 haven’t settled on a price yet but he paid $2500 , looks to be in mint condition. What do ya reckon is a fair price ? Has switch blade quad fins .

quadzilla's picture
quadzilla's picture
quadzilla Thursday, 31 Oct 2024 at 9:33am
Supafreak wrote:
quadzilla wrote:

if anyone wants to go FASTer than they've ever gone on a surfboard in powerful waves, then get an outer flextail....ive had 4 carbon tails and one V2.....V2 went fast but the carbontails have a turbo effect once the carbon tail springs back...WHOOSH, they are the high point of speed surfing.Mitchell describes his V2 with a carbon tail as the ultimate in FLEX....1500-2000. only invest if you ride grunty waves.ive also had 5 other centre stringered normal outers(mondo/smart/fish/and 2 supamals)....still fast but the more you pay the faster you go.

@Quadzilla , have you ridden the moonraker model with carbon flex tail ? I may have an opportunity to buy one second hand in a fortnight, 6’8” x 20 1/2 x 2 7/8 haven’t settled on a price yet but he paid $2500 , looks to be in mint condition. What do ya reckon is a fair price ? Has switch blade quad fins .

Well, No I haven't ridden this model....But soonish I'll be riding a 7/2 bladeRunner which is very similar...its V2 but no carbon tail.So haven't got any experience at this point in time.

As for the board you are thinking about, my guess its over 3000 now to have one made but he is only making 5 carbon tails per year(ya have to book in).SO, I think 1500-1800 is fair anything less is good value.

In the last month ive bought 3 used outers(because ya have to win the lottery to afford new)....1000 for a V2(7/6 Wolf)..900 for a cedar stringer(Cypher) both 9/10.Also a bargain 7/6 SuperMal V2 only 150 but its 4/10 well used and needs a days work to bring it up to a 7.5 I think.

If, you get to buy the moonRaker you wont regret it.When I come across guys with flex tails,my opening line is"you know how fast a surfboard can go with that thing!"

Supafreak's picture
Supafreak's picture
Supafreak Thursday, 31 Oct 2024 at 9:59am
quadzilla wrote:
Supafreak wrote:
quadzilla wrote:

if anyone wants to go FASTer than they've ever gone on a surfboard in powerful waves, then get an outer flextail....ive had 4 carbon tails and one V2.....V2 went fast but the carbontails have a turbo effect once the carbon tail springs back...WHOOSH, they are the high point of speed surfing.Mitchell describes his V2 with a carbon tail as the ultimate in FLEX....1500-2000. only invest if you ride grunty waves.ive also had 5 other centre stringered normal outers(mondo/smart/fish/and 2 supamals)....still fast but the more you pay the faster you go.

@Quadzilla , have you ridden the moonraker model with carbon flex tail ? I may have an opportunity to buy one second hand in a fortnight, 6’8” x 20 1/2 x 2 7/8 haven’t settled on a price yet but he paid $2500 , looks to be in mint condition. What do ya reckon is a fair price ? Has switch blade quad fins .

Well, No I haven't ridden this model....But soonish I'll be riding a 7/2 bladeRunner which is very similar...its V2 but no carbon tail.So haven't got any experience at this point in time.

As for the board you are thinking about, my guess its over 3000 now to have one made but he is only making 5 carbon tails per year(ya have to book in).SO, I think 1500-1800 is fair anything less is good value.

In the last month ive bought 3 used outers(because ya have to win the lottery to afford new)....1000 for a V2(7/6 Wolf)..900 for a cedar stringer(Cypher) both 9/10.Also a bargain 7/6 SuperMal V2 only 150 but its 4/10 well used and needs a days work to bring it up to a 7.5 I think.

If, you get to buy the moonRaker you wont regret it.When I come across guys with flex tails,my opening line is"you know how fast a surfboard can go with that thing!"

Thanks for replying, hopefully he decides to sell it , he’s here for another 2 weeks and said when I asked if he was interested in selling, that it would save the hassle of taking it home . He’s I’m guessing mid to late 60s , poor bugger arrived with covid and has been laid out for the first week , thinks he caught it on the flight over .

quadzilla's picture
quadzilla's picture
quadzilla Thursday, 31 Oct 2024 at 10:06am
Supafreak wrote:
quadzilla wrote:
Supafreak wrote:
quadzilla wrote:

if anyone wants to go FASTer than they've ever gone on a surfboard in powerful waves, then get an outer flextail....ive had 4 carbon tails and one V2.....V2 went fast but the carbontails have a turbo effect once the carbon tail springs back...WHOOSH, they are the high point of speed surfing.Mitchell describes his V2 with a carbon tail as the ultimate in FLEX....1500-2000. only invest if you ride grunty waves.ive also had 5 other centre stringered normal outers(mondo/smart/fish/and 2 supamals)....still fast but the more you pay the faster you go.

@Quadzilla , have you ridden the moonraker model with carbon flex tail ? I may have an opportunity to buy one second hand in a fortnight, 6’8” x 20 1/2 x 2 7/8 haven’t settled on a price yet but he paid $2500 , looks to be in mint condition. What do ya reckon is a fair price ? Has switch blade quad fins .

Well, No I haven't ridden this model....But soonish I'll be riding a 7/2 bladeRunner which is very similar...its V2 but no carbon tail.So haven't got any experience at this point in time.

As for the board you are thinking about, my guess its over 3000 now to have one made but he is only making 5 carbon tails per year(ya have to book in).SO, I think 1500-1800 is fair anything less is good value.

In the last month ive bought 3 used outers(because ya have to win the lottery to afford new)....1000 for a V2(7/6 Wolf)..900 for a cedar stringer(Cypher) both 9/10.Also a bargain 7/6 SuperMal V2 only 150 but its 4/10 well used and needs a days work to bring it up to a 7.5 I think.

If, you get to buy the moonRaker you wont regret it.When I come across guys with flex tails,my opening line is"you know how fast a surfboard can go with that thing!"

Thanks for replying, hopefully he decides to sell it , he’s here for another 2 weeks and said when I asked if he was interested in selling, that it would save the hassle of taking it home . He’s I’m guessing mid to late 60s , poor bugger arrived with covid and has been laid out for the first week , thinks he caught it on the flight over .

Airplanes and cruise ships are specials for catching covid.An online friend in London has just recovered but he said that while he had it, it was THE worst he has ever felt.

Supafreak's picture
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Supafreak Thursday, 31 Oct 2024 at 10:12am

^^^ yep , posted that my sister caught it on return flight from japan , it was her 3rd time and worst yet , she’s 66 and pretty good health normally, hasn’t had alcohol or smoke for about 40 years, normally fairly active . Knocked her for 6 .

quadzilla's picture
quadzilla's picture
quadzilla Thursday, 31 Oct 2024 at 10:33am
Supafreak wrote:

^^^ yep , posted that my sister caught it on return flight from japan , it was her 3rd time and worst yet , she’s 66 and pretty good health normally, hasn’t had alcohol or smoke for about 40 years, normally fairly active . Knocked her for 6 .

Its a very strange affliction, its ruined some people while others say its like having a heavy flu.Others can have no affects.

Almost 2 years ago my daughter went to hospital to give birth, set up with her partner in a little self contained unit in the hospital.They had both covid at same time a year or 2 previous.As with everybody entering hospital they had a covid test each and both were positive.Neither had ANY symptoms and both were feeling fine.both late 20s and good health.