Hull

7'0" 2+1 Hull

some elements of the Universal for Chris

Twin

Tyler Warren inspired 5'4" for Alex

hand made stained ply keels

NEW MODE LONGBOARD FOR SALE

I HAVE A SHINY NEW MODE FOR SALE

9'2" x 22 5/16 x 2 13/16

Magenta resin tint with black stripes on the deck.

Black resin pigment on the bottom.

Brand new and fresh from the workshop.

Usual price £645

Selling for £580 with the fin

(Cat not included)

SOLD

Please share this with anyone that you think might be interested.

Thanks

Van is fixed

After the scraped forearms, blooded knuckles and a couple of hours rummaging around in the engine the new alternator is fitted. 

A Shoal of Fish

The genesis for all three of these boards is Steve's own Magic fish,  a MR style modern twinzer fish. The middle board came first, which was made as a good allrounder and last March I took it to Indonesia. The board goes great in all kinds of condtions, but I felt I wanted something extra for fat small weak waves and something else for bigger more challenging waves. Yet, still retain the feel of the original board to ease transition between the boards. So, Steve recently shaped for me shorter, flatter and fatter version for little waves and a longer, slimmer and drivier version for bigger waves. All three boards have the glide of a fish but with modern performance intergrated into the design.

Left: 5ft 8" x 20.75 x 2.75" small wave quad. The bottom shape is a subtle flat - single concave - double concave - vee between the fins. I asked Steve to incorporate some of what he has learned from making his Lumus model. The rocker is very flat and rails boxy helping the board to get up and plane quickly. This lift seems to keep the board loose and lively even in the smallest of waves. The fin setup is a Neal Purchase Junior style Quartet.  Which seems to give the board lots of speed and drive, but still be loose.

Middle: 6ft x 20" x 2.65" all round performance fish with five fcs fusion plugs. Single concave - double concave - vee quad concave through the fins. Works well as a quad, twin with trailer fin or in powerfull and hollow surf as a quad with a knubster fin. Thinner railed and curvy where it needs it to perform turns in the steeper part of a wave but straight enough to be fast down the line or generate speed in small waves. 

Right: 6ft 4" x 19.75 x 2.65" Step up Bonzer fish. This is a stretched out version of the 6ft fish. So, when the surf is bigger and, or very hollow I have a board that will the familar feel  of a fish but with more control and extra paddle power. With the nose/tail pulled in and the curvier rocker this board is starting to look more like a conventional shortboard but it is still part of the modern fish evolution. The Bonzer bottom shape, thinner rails and Bonzer5 fin system make the board fast, drivey and responsive.

All three boards function different but have a similar feel which allows me to swop between the boards smoothly. There is also an amount of overlap between the functionality of each board, which means if it turns out bigger, smaller or slower etc. It does not matter as much as if I was transitioning between widely different boards. Each to there own and this is just what works for me. Thanks for the great boards Steve.

Dress Making

My Mum has been teaching me how to make dresses for the girls.

Here is number one.

Boards for sale!

Please help spread the word to anyone that might be interested.

Thanks

i need to raise a little cash so i am reluctantly parting with my 6'6" Spectro

http://empiresurfboards.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Spectro

Bargain price of £300
SOLD

would be £550 to buy new

6'6" x 21 x 3

opaque white pigment top and bottom.

geometric spray on the bottom.

removable rear fins.

super strong glassing, looks almost new. 

one or two very light compressions in the deck.

if you are interested or would like more info please e-mail

info@empiresurfboards.com

Also for sale is a Lumus

5'10" x 20" x 2 7/8

Blue resin tint with blue spot.

removable rear fins.

second hand but as new.

£400

would be £550 to buy new

if you are interested in the Lumus please contact Simon directly

info@simonlown.com

more info on the shape here:

http://empiresurfboards.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Lumus

Universal Report

having given the Universal a thorough testing I now feel ready to report back.

Built at the beginning of August, since then it has been my everyday board. I've ridden it in knee high peelers, a wide range of beach breaks, a lumpy double over head reef and a couple of very hollow and challenging, backhand, head and a half reef breaks. The Universal has proved to be a reliable and easy to ride board. with plenty of glide, speed and wave catching ability. It feels similar to a full traditional hull but is much easier to ride and doesn't require the usual adjustment that you would expect with a hull. It projects well off the bottom and will draw a beautiful line on a wave allowing you to put yourself in positions on the face that other boards would struggle with. It carves some great arcs and at 7'9” it's even long enough for me to cross step to a cheater five. I've been pleasantly surprised by how well it handles powerful surf. As soon as the rail engages the board feels locked in and stable but still carves smoothly off the rail.

In smaller, weaker waves it cruises along, rolling turns from rail to rail. It feels Lively, natural and intuitive and it's planing speed matches the wave speed well. As the waves steepens or speeds up the board will accelerate to match it. It sounds obvious but not many boards do it well.

The only time that it has felt a bit of a handful, but not unmanageable was in lumpy double overhead waves with flat faces. I found that I had a lot of speed but no wall to engage the rail in. the board did feel a little unstable until I ran it out on to the flats and lost a little speed. I was then able to get an edge in and start carving turns.

In hollow powerful waves up to head and a half the board feels great. surprisingly solid for a single fin and because of the long flex fin, when it does slide it's very controlled and regains it's hold gently rather than grabbing as some boards do. It feels really comfortable in the barrel and has a very fine response to small changes in line or weight distribution. The take off feels surprisingly comfortable despite the length and low nose rocker.

I recently lent it to a friend for a couple of waves, when he paddle back out to return it I could see his grin from 50m away, there wasn't much more that needed to be said. 

what has really surprised me is how well this board has performed in such a wide range of conditions. The Universal is proving to be one of the best single fins that I have ridden and probably the most useful, versatile and fun mid-length.  

more info to follow here: http://empiresurfboards.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/universal

Lumus

Lumus with cloth inlay 

built for Kass and Sarah's wedding

All the best to you both

Fox Mask

Halloween Mask 

Recycled Card and Masking tape

Views from the summer trip

Mystery

9'1" Mystery

Newton

8'0" Newton for Ross

Quiver Summer 2012

9'4" Cassette, 7'9" Universal, 6'6" Spectro, 6'0" Lumus

Quick trick brick stack

First, I'll make a 

quick trick brick stack. 

Then I'll make a 

quick trick block stack.

the Fox in Socks

that's the bed/storage in the van sorted.

Cassette

9'4" Cassette for Rich

Cassette Mk II

9'4" Cassette for Marcus

Based on the Cassette variant that i shaped for Nick Radford.

We made a few changes from the original.

The wide point/curve has be pushed back and the tail width/rocker have been increased.

Mystery

9'1" Mystery for Peter in Austria

The Universal

Dipped in darkness and more Bladey than the Reapers Scythe.

the 7'9" Universal

wide point back, evolution inspired displacement hull

interview

Sqz over at the KernowKalling blog asked me a few questions and very kindly posted the answers on his blog. 

have a look here:

http://kernowkalling.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/steve-2-fins-interview.html

Time for a new suit

Decided it's time to finally retire my old Hotline suit.

after 5 odd years of hard service the legs have finally given up. 

not bad form for a wet suit, as I'm not particularly kind to them. 

my replacement Hotline arrive today courtesy of Steve at Fluid concept. if you are looking for good suit these would be the ones.

Diablo for sale

Nick Radford is selling his Diablo for £250

6'2" x 21 x 2 7/8

please contact him directly

nick@frootful.co.uk

the board is also on display at Free Riders in Falmouth so if you are in the area, pop in and have a look.

Mode

9'4" mode for Andy

Resin tinted in cream and purple with black, white, black bands.

Vulcan

9'2" Vulcan for John

New things are rarely new

High speed race track on the east coast in early 2000's

I shaped this board over a decade ago under the label Autonomy (set up with Mark Dickinson in Scarborough.)
these were early steps on our search for speed and control.

a blunt Nose and a concave to channelled vee bottom. 
the rocker was based on that of a longer high performance board with the nose and tail cut off giving a lower straighter rocker. 

it's a fully committed, high performance fish, fast, responsive and drivey. 
i rode it to death (the tail eventually cracked) in everything from waist high to well over head. 
risking snapping one side of the tail off completely i took it out for a couple of waves a few months ago and it's still an absolute blast to ride.

we certainly weren't the only people building wider, lower rockered boards back then but we were certainly in the minority. it's good to see that these sorts of boards are becoming mainstream but the recent popularity of the next new thing has seen some eyebrows raised. 
there are shapers and surfers out there that have been shouting this message for a long time, it's been over fifthteen years for me and for many others it's been far longer. it's a shame that it takes some big names to change the way that most people think about what a good surfboard should look like.

Tenmoku Bowl

Wave length

Great Article on John Eldridge's recent indo trip.

Look out for the Empire Dirty Pin in the quiver shot.