Dim-Sim(Mini-Simmons) board test.
I picked it up from Steve last Saturday arvo
Had time for a quick paddle in a rip late that evening. didnt get enough waves to comment yet and have been away since Sunday morning
Am back on the coast tomorrow evening and plan to surf it each day till 8th - 9th August then taking it to Sydney for another RSer
cool, hope ya get some fun waves to feel it out in.....
Hey Saltman,
Who's the RS'er? Can you put me in touch as I'd like to take it for a spin after them.
Stu (2nd Reef on RS)
its Captain Caveman... he has 2 or 3 mates who want it too...but I really wanna get it to NC by about th 12th or 13th of August so he can have 1 or 2 sessions on it before he goes to Chopes for the comp...bit hard to work it all out but leave it with ya...maybe you can get it off Captain, then pass it on to NC, and maybe get it back again after he leaves...???
You don't want NC to take it to Chopes for a spin..?
I'll get a hold of the Captain and tee things up with Nick.
By: "markpridmore"
That's a hella good board decal Prids ... You still got it mate ;)
Braithy, you've resurfaced ??? good stuff...thats a fabric inlay mate and its a board I did for a shop up here, think its still there...but have one more piece of fabric like this...I got these from a beach hawker on Koh Tao in Thailand so they arent too common round these parts....this pic doesnt do it any justice...
Braithy, you've resurfaced ??? good stuff...thats a fabric inlay mate and its a board I did for a shop up here, think its still there...but have one more piece of fabric like this...I got these from a beach hawker on Koh Tao in Thailand so they arent too common round these parts....this pic doesnt do it any justice...
By: "markpridmore"
You sure do pump out some functional pieces of art ... I could stare at them all day long!
Yeah I've been lurking, keeping low and doing the uni & family thing with a few good surfs here and there.
How's the sunny coast treating you? I keep getting random text messages from mates telling me how good the banks are up there and how I should drop everything to join 'em ... I only wish!
Take it easy MP!!
Mark
I will get it to Sydney 10th August - and will be on the Northern beaches
I can either drop it to NC or the Capt depending on what works best for their timing and your plans
Surf looks like being small, but clean for the rest of the week. Only had 3 surfs so far but the mini simmons certainly challenges a lot of preconceptions about board performance
More details next week
I know what ya mean bout the preconceived ideas, I keep saying it a surprising slab of fun...I did say Capt was first but if he only gets a few days, week max, he may rather hold off and wait til NC goes to Chopes on the 18th ( I think ), I am not too concerned who goes when but I do want NC to have it for a while...so between Captn, NC, the Stu, they'll sort it out....I might flick Captn and email to see if he wants to hold off til NC has had a few paddles....Hope ya enjoying the board mate...thanx again for takin it south....
its been very very bad, your friends are liars....no banks or swell up this way...no waves north of Brizzy...
give me a buzz when ya due for a new sled mate...
...so between Captn, NC, the Stu, they'll sort it out.....
By: "more"
??
Just Stu will do.
C'Mon, 'The Stu' sounds pretty cool...maybe Disco Stu then...twas actually a typo but I reckon you run with it....
its been very very bad, your friends are liars....no banks or swell up this way...no waves north of Brizzy...
give me a buzz when ya due for a new sled mate...
By: "more"
haha ... yes. That's what I meant. Nothing but fat heapas north of brisbane.
I will do mate ;)
got some super sweet new fins for the dim-SIMs, these are going unreal...Butterfly Keels designed by Phil Way.....
... frothing over them atm...I put them in my fave board which I love and surf nearly everyday and thought it went epic, but these fins improved the speed, the drive, the hold, the turning. go best in fast down the line type waves...sounds like a sales pitch but its just overflowing stoke.....fins are awesome and soooo much yet to be explored I believe....doing some more fin design trials and lovin the process.....got some different timber and bamboo ones coming too...
@more , your fins (pictured) are a rip off of a Webber template (and there are many templtes of these fins in the Webber range) . Please do not attempt to claim this as your design , they have been around for a few years at least . And yes , they do go amazing , i have ridden nothing but Webber fins for the last 2 years & have many friends who are riding them also . I don't think you will be very well received down Yamba way !!
Also @ more , after speaking to Will Webber it has become apparent that not only have you used the Webber template , you have cut "your" fins from a sheet that you were not supposed to have access to (for want of a better term). The colour is a dead give away as only 2 people have been made Webber fins from this orange coloured panel. Not only does this appear to make you a little dishonest , but it is also disrespectful towards the Webber family who are pretty iconic as far as Australian surfing goes !
Was MP claiming design proprietary? I didn't read it that way. Thought he'd just bought a set of keels and whacked them in.
Oh, OK.
never tried to claim the curve as my design, the curve is my glassr and fin makers idea, Phil Way, he has made me several curved fins and I by no means claim to be the designer of these, but Phil has made me several templates, they are all his templates and the curve is all his too....the orange was the panel that he had at the time.... I know the webbers use the curves but I was not aware that it wasnt allowed to also use them, No templates have been stolen or copied, the keel one is also a template of Phils which I believe is he modified from a Takyama keel .....so basically, my fin guy who also makes some for the webbers, has made me a set with the same curve in a template of his....not sure what I am doing wrong to piss anyone off...I first used Phils butterfly fins 4 years ago.... call me dishonest all you want , but all the above is the truth and if Phil has used a panel, than I think it was his panel to use seeing how he made it, I'd think he may use the same panel for several customers at times.... again, this is not my design, its just a set of fins from my fin guy that I asked him to make me after having several curved sets from him in the past......absolutely no ripping off or disrespect to anyone...
Phil told me he's been using those curved fins on his kneeeboards for years.
I'd be asking Greg if he maybe got the idea off Phil.
@ more .... if this is the case then why have you felt the need to re-edit your post AND remove the pic ? And freeride , you may find that Phil has had an email from greg regarding the situation by now ..... Anyway .... yes the fins are amazing and at the end of the day i guess that is what matters most as i am grateful to own about 6 pairs in different sizes & templates , i still have not met anyone who has tried them & not bought at least one set !
I removed the pic coz I dont want any dramas. I dont like the bullshit so best to avoid it, (its not why I got into boards, it is for an easy and carefree lifestyle....I once made a board with 6 fins and got an email from a guy saying I owe him money for every 6 finner I made, again, I just let it go, never made another one, even if it did seem to have some potential... not into the stress of it all...) I have several sets from Phil like I said but Phil has since informed me that Greg doesnt want any other other fins made with the curve except for him and his brother...which is fine and I respect that but was not the impression I was under until this morning....I have several other fins designs that "I have designed" and I will be continuing with them.... and yes, they do go well, so if they interest you, maybe contact Greg for a set....
think Saltman gets the board to Sydney in 2 days time, will be good to see how it goes in Sydney, look forward to having a few ride reports and pics hopefully....thanks again Salty
I have plenty (about 6 sets in various sizes & templates) but i'm sure Greg will glad you pointed me in that direction ......even if it is a couple of years late ......
good to see the curved fin scenario is sorted,or is it? would loved to have read a response from gregg...perhaps nick carroll.any surfer worldwide would know that the curved fin design is gregg webbers,cmon how about some MORE views from forum readers.....
Here are some things that might help clarify the curved fin issue (I'll get exact dates over the next day or so):
...the dates of the patent that makes a clear distinction between the semi parabolic curved fins I designed and the part circular versions that existed prior to mine,(turbo fins)
...when the first ones were made under license by FCS, (they were first glassed on the board because FCS didn't even exist yet so you'll see a gap in years, in that I couldn't expect anyone to buy a board with these mad looking fins fixed to it with rovings),
...the fact that they are derived from a far more complex fin design of my brother Daniel's in 1986, which still exists so I'll add a photo,
...the part circular fins I experimented with that didn't work very well, I'll find pics.
...The fact that I gave phil way two curves to create the fins from, one being the front profile curve the other being the planshape,
...I also explained to Phil how it would probably be a good idea to do a mold with two opposing curves for both side fins in the same mold with the tabs at the centre so you can just cut the centre band in half doen the guts, thereby creating the right width for the tabs for the FCS. (our mother is a master mold maker for bronze and she showed us how to make silicon molds for cold pour resins and in fact most of my brothers have made molds for set design thru our uncle Richard Weight so it wasn't rocket science creating the mold design but I do remember the word butterfly being mentioned when phil and I looked at the first mold or the first panel off it.
...so Daniel created the original curves from which a mold was made and templates were cut in 1986, he still has it.
...I gave Phil a profile curve and a template curve and the mold design.
...Phil made a very nice shiny mold with way more layers of glass than necessary, and foiled them very well too.
...PHIL IN NO WAY CREATED THESE THINGS IN CONCEPT IN ANY WAY AT ALL AND MADE THEM WELL ACCORDING A TO CLEARLY DEFINED COMBINATION OF TEMPLATES THAT I GAVE HIM.
...I took digital pics of most of my templates last time I was there a year or two ago.
...I'll think about what action to take if any but I have decided after a meeting with Greg Trotter of Soar fins that he will make all of my curved fins and we will go into production with a range of three curves in a range of material.
... Greg Trotter is the best fin foiler in Australia anyway, which is why nearly 90% of the best surfers in Aust used his fixed Soar fins for over 15 yrs until they eventually got swayed into fin systems(Parko Fanning etc.) He always has been the best he just doesn't have an ego that's all.
...Sorry Phil, we had some good times but you're an old woman and always will be.
just to clarify again, Daniel made the first mold for the sides of his fused design in 1985 or 86 and from that mold he made some white panel and he and I jigsawed them out and foiled several sets including forward pointing versions. The original curve was much more tightly bent at the top of the fin which is how we distinguished (when riding them) the relationship between the lift of the base verses the grip of the tip. The newer versions are more user friendly but without those radical versions we wouldn't have understood what was going on.
So I just realized we had even made our own mold prior to going to Phil. Neither of us liked getting f%@&ing sanding dust on us, so it made sense!!
I also gave Phil a number of half moon fins templates for the tail fin, which were released by FCS with the curved side fins in the early 90's before being replaced with a more upright one that I foiled myself.
FCS molded the first sets and made them in carbon and as a result they didn't flex at all which nullified one of the key aspects of the design.
thanks to webber for clarity on the curved fin issue,as thought they were webber designed and tried......pridmore you may have been misinformed by phil ?....philip you could of disclosed to MORE ON thefins ,who's moulds,design,etc they were......the photo of the dim sim with the offending fins,could have included the caption.....fitted with webbercurved fins....no claims about anything else design or moulds.
greg,how about a new board model,THE SIM DIM,or THE POLEDANCER........umm...fitted with YOUR curved fins of course.......
fair enough, I was misinformed then. I have spoken to Phil and told him I want nothing to do with the curves ever again, wish I'd known the whole deal from the start. I like Phil and he makes really good fins imo....anyway...
NC now has the board and I hope to hear how it goes soon,and I'll post his thoughts here unless he posts them here but not sure he uses this forum.....
How long is he gonna have it Mark? And who's up next, the Captain...?
well NC flies to Tahiti on the 18th I think, he's already contacted the next guy ( which I am presuming is Capt'n ), then you should grab it off the Capt'n and give it a run.
boards still going strong, its with a guy around Shell Harbour ( pretty sure ? ) and he has been enjoyin it...It spent a month or so around Sydney, not sure where its heading next, rumours it may head even further south to Vic but we shall see, needs transport more than anything...both to and fro....
this one's for sale...
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/280763657523?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid...
more.......where did the Traveller end up did you get it back ?
Nice summer fun looking board.
Top ride report Freeride .....do you have one in your Quiver ?
no, but looking at that I wish I did.
reviving an extremely old thread. looks like a number of people rode this board in and around sydney about 7 years ago. anyone remember how it went? (and as a historical curiosity, anyone know where the board ended up?)
.
"It was more than 8 years ago when Mark Johnson walked into Oggy’s shaping bay, armed with The Surfer’s Journal and Lindsay Lord’s Naval Architecture Of Planing Hulls and said, “Why not?”
We made, rode, and fell in love with the mini Simmons, then tweaked it from the late 1940s design and added two more fins. The 'Kelvinator' was born!"
https://www.yahoosurfboards.com.au/kelvinator.html
Fastest board in the West!
That looks interesting. I’d love to try one.
Scot dropped the board off and with perfect peelrs on offer there couldn't have been a better time to run a mini-sim across a few runners and see what happens.
First things first: these things are ugly. Fucking ugly, compared to the sweet round-tail quads I've been riding. You don't need to be a naval engineer to see that with all that effective planing area the thing will go fast........but to what end....to what end.
My first three waves were horrible. Probably the three worst waves I've ridden for a friggin long time. I was butchering perfect waist/head high point waves in front of the local crew and that felt shite. Third wave I went to stand-up on a sweet little nugget that doubled-up on the bank, the kind of wave that your grandma could get barelled on and my back foot just missed the board ......I did the splits and copped the wide chisel tail right in the jatz crackers. Meltdown.
That required a total mental recalibration. I caught a wave and did nothing; just tried to let the board find it's natural trim lines. That felt a lot better. Less is more.
I started to find a little rhythm and the board responded with very, very easy speed and a ton of glide.
All of a suddden, the board started going where I wanted it to go....it had no real reluctance going into the pocket, though at very flat angles of attack compared to my quad. Keeping speed and flow felt damm nice, It started to stoke me right out.
For a certain wave type.....I'd say micro peelers or bigger flat-faced point waves this thing would be a mighty addictive wave sliding device.
Requires a very different approach though and I'm not sure it gels with where my other shortboards are going.
I'll surf it again today.