No Channel Bottoms at Chopes

well im no pro surfer but maybe there all a mob of sheep and are afraid to try somthing a bit different ?

Sliding on the takeoff = more critical = more points. Just a theory.

Every pro has one in there quiver....if a channel bottom was going to be an advantage at chopes they would be riding them.
Classic 8'6 channel bottom gun pic on Kongs Island facebook page ....a fucking weapon !

If Kelly rode one this year next year everyone would be on them.

I'd be guessing that it's not the forward projection of the channels that's needed, but the channels create grip and its release that gets you out of the Chopes tube.

Many have known for years that assymetric shapes are advantageous for going one way

No pro surfer would touch one becos their job is to sell boards for the sponsor . Easier to sell a simple easily replicated model . The world still isnt ready to accept an assymetric shape would kic arse at chopes

Pro's won't ride channels at Chopes too fast, but you might see them at Mexico or Kirra if it's running...
On Chopes you need to make the drop and kind of slow down for points to be deep. Surprised Kelly wasn't on a 5 fin 3 on the left rail and bonzer types on the outside rail. He rode 5 in Portugal last year.

Asymmetric boards camel like your indo boards... this boards goes one way left. (what was the fin set up)

Betcha that scardy could get deep on channells at chopes no worries at all . Byrning spears want to make channells theyre in another catergory . My assymetrics went good when i made them . Fin setups too difficult to explain now but it did feature an offset single fin bonzer with ' CANt ' angle

Did u say kelly had assymetric fin setup at portugal ? Thats sorta how i run my quads nowdays when surfing a fast wave in just one direction. All four of the fins different size

Hi Caml, have you tried the movable fin systems? Asymmetrical fin clusters seem to make sense to me in theory for surfing a wave in one direction. Have not really tried it yet but have movable setup coming on board that's being shaped. Really keen to get experimenting...

Scard can get deep anywhere. kelly had 5 in at portugal but not asymmetric just 5 big fins ripped too.
Dick Van Strallen once put two forward fins in rastas 3 fin board facing the same way both pointing in the same direction said it went good??? (from DVS mouth)

I think channells would be good at teahupoo . Yes ive tried adjustable fin systems

What about surfing channel bottom boards in every day average conditions, beachies and the odd point here and there? I hear how they go in perfect points etc but what about every day use?

Scardy nearly made the main event at teahupoo in 2007, riding an AB 6 chammel. finished 3rd, and it was 10'. Am sure they'd work but most pros go for familiarity to minimise adjustment lag between sizes and lengths. The exit at chopes sucks because it goes fat-flat then drains again under you as it goes to close out. that flat bit is super hard to set a rail on.

Coops most say they are clumbsy in average surf. I kind of learnt on a channel bottom but i wasnt good enough to say how it went in normal surf and havent ridden one since. It felt fast though.Good backhand (lots of speed made easily off the bottom compared to other boards) .But like i say i was kind of a learner.
I think since the popularity of concaves, and considering how hard they are to glass etc they lost appeal.
Seems like they would lose some volume as well in the tail.

Coops must be a young un . Havent u heard of col smith ? You can surf a channell in watever waves u want but at times it might feel ,say like driving a ferrari on a bumpy dirt track

1970 vintage caml, just never ridden one except a mates when I was 15! Col smith was also a freak. Thanks for the info fellas

many board companies dont wanna do channells...too much work...and I can tunderstand that...but if KS rode one, others would ( like someone said previously ),,,lotsa sheep even at top level, even maybe moreso...

they are a bit more work but once you get a system going its not that big a deal.
as for how channels go in average surf , well I recon it all depends how they're set up.
a lot of those AB beauties were narrow with very hard edged channels and very low pinched rails
specifically for surfing good waves.
I surf mine in every thing. but its made for all round surf. my step up is made for good waves.
if you adjust the board to suit the conditions, as im sure AB and other good channel shapers will agree,
they go awesome in just about any thing.
having said that , its really easy to fuck them up too. which is probably MORE why they are unpopular with board makers.
I heard (and I don't know the guy by the way) that wilko used to ride them in every thing before he became a pro surfer. maybe he would be a good person to ask about chopes and channels. any one know him?

p.s I have seen a pic of a slater board with channels . it looked like a round pin rubble but not sure.
p.ss wizard sleave - google is my friend.

Ive never had a channel bottom board and cant even remember seeing a proper one in the flesh for forever.

Apart from being a glassing nightmare I would have thought the change from Vee to concaves and reverse vee bottom shapes would have been a factor in there lack of popularity?

I always thought channel bottoms were all about speed and grip? in good waves both of which modern bottom shapes and modern quad set ups can give you.

Can honestly say that after watching big hollow reef surfing or large long walled pt breaks ,have never seen a surfer standout any better than others while riding a channel bottom - as in what the fuck is that guy riding,he is going twice as fast as anyone else or carving turns where no one else can.

Hmm but fins are drag u find that out riding finless boards . Imagine how fast u might go if u had no fins but just channells .

indo-dreaming wrote:

Ive never had a channel bottom board and cant even remember seeing a proper one in the flesh for forever.

Apart from being a glassing nightmare I would have thought the change from Vee to concaves and reverse vee bottom shapes would have been a factor in there lack of popularity?

I always thought channel bottoms were all about speed and grip? in good waves both of which modern bottom shapes and modern quad set ups can give you.

actually i recon concaves improve channel bottoms when used correctly for them.
channels direct water that normally runs side ways off the bottom straight back creating thrust forward. not so much grip.
because channels , just like concaves , create lift at speed you can use concaves to balance the lift through the board and they also direct water flow into the channels better helping to eliminate that cavitation we used to get sometimes in choppy surf from flat to vee bottom channels.
you may be right indo dreamer about 4 fins and stuff , but channel bottoms , when done right have a feeling all their own. I remember al byrne saying that he may not look like he surfs any better on channels but it sure feels better.
and fuck, the guy ripped.
also as I said above, they're not a night mare to glass or sand at all when you get a system together.

Interesting, if that true there about due for a come back.

Nah, can't see that happening. I agree with your previous post about channels being largely made redundant with the advent of concave. Concaves through the back third of the board do a very similar thing, straightening out the rocker and hence the water flow as it passes the bottom surface of the board.

Channels have a certain feel, just as flex tails do, and just as keel fins do, but their original advantage has been superceded by a far simpler design feature - concaves.

I'm interested in them, I read hoy and kong love em so they Must have some cred, occy won at bells on one, to me from what I've seen they seem to suit clean long walls over 4 ft. And everyone loves clean long walls over 4 ft so I'm getting one. Ha

I'm interested in them, I read hoy and kong love em so they Must have some cred, occy won at bells on one, to me from what I've seen they seem to suit clean long walls over 4 ft. And everyone loves clean long walls over 4 ft so I'm getting one. Ha

I'm interested in them, I read hoy and kong love em so they Must have some cred, occy won at bells on one, to me from what I've seen they seem to suit clean long walls over 4 ft. And everyone loves clean long walls over 4 ft so I'm getting one. Ha

Hoyo, Kong and Occy, all old school power surfers that most likely grew up on them?

I guess Tomo's Modern planing hulls, are kinda just channels really, http://tomosurfboards.com

I think someone from swellnet should organise a good competent surfer, not a pro, just some one we all can relate to and video him surfing all the bottom shapes from vee, flat, concave 6 channel etc, at a half decent surf spot and get the person to say the pros and cons about each bottom shape... I'd watch it anyway

As you no doubtedly remember, when you were charging and hooking in side by side sir lambloser, one of the most respected goofies at blacks tried byrning spears years ago, when he was in his prime. He was surfing MR twinnies at the time, which went deluxe for him there. Another guy on his backhand there ordered one at the same time. After a few surfs, and disgruntled calls to the shaper, they quickly became famously labelled as 'smouldering staffs'. However, again, you have no idea, or recollection, despite claiming being a hardcore 'player' there (gee, thats rare!) A hardcore'player' that left in his 'prime' (less) to spend a lifetime challenging, charging, and standing tall and proud, squwarking at the trough. You fucking lame kook, you fucking idiot.

A guy name scardy would be one incredible tube rider who has proven byrning spears channel shapes go good . Re g-land & cloudbreak hes had some of the better tubes ever ridden there . Uplift i heard that story about those shapes , wonder if it was scardy would they fail to work there .

I have been riding finless boards as a part time thrill for about 15 yrs . Originally taking fins out of box or fcs/futures . Firstly i noticed a single concave didnt work well but convex bottoms did work . Then went to channell bottoms with fins removed ; they worked best . But noticed if the channels werent deep & large they didnt do anything grip wise . One day i walked into a surfshop & saw a seaglss tuna model & have been using that mostly ever since . ( about 5 yrs )

So, some surfers can surf anything camster. Then you also know the guy who tried them did pretty good, better than a lot in his prime there too. He thought they would be insane and was pretty disapointed, although its a radical transition jumping from what he was riding to that. Some guys can jump board design to board design reasonably easy. Some like their quivers to be really matched, so that each board for each size/condition feels identical. The waves are really, really different too, thats one thing that really 'struck' McCabe... so to speak.

It's time for swellnet to step in and post somebody currently rippin on a 6 channel board, this would solve some debates!

two guys that rip. one that looks old and slow. one taking the lid off it on a channel bottom.

yeah , theyre old cunts but check the difference between the two.

on this link go to the heritage heat between pottz and gerr.

http://www.aspworldtour.com/events/2014/mct/708/hurley-pro-at-trestles/h...

Cheers, that board looked pretty good under his feet, especially when he was bottom turning, I'm sold, next board 6 channel.

heres a pic of one of slaters (actually a few) channel bottoms.

I havent heard his call on them yet but he played with them for a while.

cheers

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=kelly+slater+channel+bottom&biw=1366&...

Been seeing alota channels around lately.
Guys are starting to catch on.
A few 10 chan singles too.

Mr Fannings JBay board had a channel bottom.
Seemed to go pretty good for him.

Channel bottom slaying by david scard at g-land.......

That vid was sick JE
I can't comment on what might work at chopes but this bottom design but might of interest.
In the mid 90's I rode a few Mocean boards (vic west coast) and Gav had this bottom thing he called a "double barrel bonzer vector bottom" or some long winded name like that.
It was basically 2 wide channels, 1 each side of stringer that went out to a typical (kinda shallow) channel cut around 4-5 inches from rail. From near under front foot essentially creating a vee down to the tail. The rail line & rocker were typical on the outer edge (down passed the side fins) so on rail they felt familiar but it seemed to add heaps of speed/lift down the line. It may also have been part of a slight concave. These went unreal in a range of waves and had heaps of spark.
Wish I still had one.
I may if some prick didn't help himself to 3 boards out of the back of my Kingswood.