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dhanson928



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 99

PostPosted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 12:31 am    Post subject: Old board, new lease... Reply with quote

I bought an RRD Wave One for $50 at a recent swap. Must be about 80-85 liters. I wanted something sort of floaty but not enough to buy a new board. It was in great shape, good footstraps, nothing at all wrong with it except it was orange swoops and ugly, and a bit faded. I tried it one big day at Arlington and it really sucked...or I did. It felt skittish, unbalanced, the deck felt too domed, the straps were waaay far apart, despite using all the holes to get them right...bounced out on jibes, was really sensitive to fore and aft weight...just a chore to make it work....

I had some thruster fins and boxes kicking around, so I thought I'd try those on that board. In a word, Excellent! What a total transformation. I did add some more inserts for the rear footstap, too so I could close up the stance...But the thruster fins just hooked it up and I now have a 'new' fun board for about $100. It was performing as well as any board on the water...going upwind, turning well, riding swell, landing (small) hooked up...took all the skittish twitchy feel out of the board and didn't seem to slow it up at all.

FYI...there are weeds at Roosevelt and floating in the river...people were getting gobs of them stuck on fins.



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biffmalibu



Joined: 30 May 2008
Posts: 556

PostPosted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 12:16 pm    Post subject: Multiple fins. Reply with quote

Well-done with the modification, board wizard! I am a believer in multiple fins for the Columbia. Sure, you lose a little speed. But who needs speed when the wind really blows? With multiple fins, you get:

1) More stability.
1.5) More lift.
2) Less spin-out.
3) More upwind potential (to get to those FAT swells).
4) More control during turns.

In other areas or conditions, maybe one fin works best. But for strong winds and swells on the Columbia, multiple fins can be superior.
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U2U2U2



Joined: 06 Jul 2001
Posts: 5467
Location: Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania. Colorado

PostPosted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 8:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

nice board for the $$

I would have placed the sides closer to the rail, then smaller fins all round.

Nice work !

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http://www.k4fins.com/fins.html
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dhanson928



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 99

PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 1:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A bit more on this 'board recycle' stuff. Someone gave me a Seatrend ATV/bump and jump...something like that. About 95liters with one of those flipped-up noses that were fashionable for a while. Cut that off, stuck in a US box and moved the mast track around, added some thrusters and it works pretty well now.

The RRD Wave One I've been sailing with pleasure all summer as my 'slogger'..It sort of floats me in real lulls, unlike my OO which sinks like a stone, right away. So this fall I've decided it is time to make the RRD a little more presentable. I have always had to 'close my eyes' when I walk up to it to go sailing, it is so ugly with orange circles and gray swoopies and lots of writing..... with a really clunky looking square nose...Whoever came up with that brilliant idea...they belong with the inventor of the mullet hairdo..

So I put a more visually pleasing nose on the board and am just getting ready to paint and non skid it again..I'll put on some NSI surf Padz and call it good...a 'New" board for a few hundred bucks...Interestingly, the lay up and construction of that older RRD is very very nice...carbon/kevlar fabric over a foam core with high density foam and divinycell used near the boxes and actual bronze threaded strap inserts...unlike some of the boards I've repaired recently, I found nothing at all poorly made with this older RRD...
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 2:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

An extremely knowledgeable local says the same thing, summarized as "They don't make 'em like they used to". He is one of my go-to sources on what boards work like I want, hold up to abuse (or not), and stand out in the incredible crowd of gear available here. Every time he asks me, "Have you ever tried a (pick a board); they were incredible?", my answer is "Got [pick a number) of 'em, and fully agree." Those are the keepers, the boards that think the same way I do. I prefer, though, to recycle, rather than remake, the wannabes. There's always a more perfect board FOR ME two rows over or at the next swap meet, and what I'm selling suits the next buyer's needs even more perfectly ... if I can help it.

One of my RRDs completely ignored the landing that destroyed my knee; I expected to find a huge compression dent beneath that back footpad. My Maui Project Waves would have collapsed ... thus the fleets of backups.

We almost gotta love a $2,000 board, but a $50 gamble demands no loyalty; it must prove itself. And while a great $2,000 board is nice, an even greater $50 board is pure heaven. My very first afternoon on one of my $50 boards was worth every cent I paid for it, and much more. I've never sailed a $2,000 board that good ... regardless of price.
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U2U2U2



Joined: 06 Jul 2001
Posts: 5467
Location: Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania. Colorado

PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 9:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

olde board new lease

IMO the addition of side fins will improve most boards, it will not change the character, but will alter the characteristics some, for the better

Read the RRD and Seatrend posts several times, pleased that you have a creative side and are not afraid to perform surgery.

I wanted over the winter to make a board, but after a lot of thought, its too risky for success, even using a blank. Instead I have started on your route and will mold a older Mistral into a short compact shape, altering the nose tail .
I have just removed the powerbox and find the construction very sound.

Not certain of the tail shape yet, possible squash or swallow , and fins will be either twin or trailing tri fin.

Researching a lot of details and its exciting.

I would like to see photos of your projects.

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4Boards....May the fours be with you

http://www.k4fins.com/fins.html
http://4boards.co.uk/
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dllee



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 5328
Location: East Bay

PostPosted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ha ha, you guys are funny.
That ATV, 8'9", is 90 liters, capable from 4.5 thru 6.0 sails, and that kind of wind, works fabulously as is. I cut the nose also, but for plane flight to PuertoRico, and it's a great board, single fin, in it's wind conditions.
No need to add fins.
Fun to modify stuff, better to learn how to windsurf.
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w8n4wind



Joined: 12 Nov 2008
Posts: 278
Location: canada

PostPosted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 7:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

U2U2U2 wrote:


IMO the addition of side fins will improve most boards,



in what way?

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dllee



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 5328
Location: East Bay

PostPosted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

More controllable, goes upwind easier, spinouts can be pulled in quickly, needs smaller main fin, less stress on main fin box, sail in shallower waters, e verything happens slowly and controllably.
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dhanson928



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 99

PostPosted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

zirtaeb wrote:
Ha ha, you guys are funny.

No need to add fins.
Fun to modify stuff, better to learn how to windsurf.


You can sail just about anything. Yeah, there probably was no "need" to install thruster fins, but it made that board sail better. Cutting off the nose, that is good for your sails, should you miss a jibe or two and fall in...

I have the tools and the skills to mess around with boards easily and I like to make them work the way I enjoy sailing them..I can and do sometimes modify my sailing to make any board work, but why deal with having to change your whole style to suit a board, especially one that someone gives you, when you can usually make it work just like you want it? We all sail a bit differently and different set-ups suit different people. Production boards are configured to work for a mythical "Average" sailor...If you happen to be just that guy...you are in luck..if not, you will have to adapt to the board somewhat.. I could see doing that if I were to buy a $2500 latest greatest production board....maybe....

But why not just move crap around and make it more suited to what you want with an old board...

I'll toss this one out there for everyone to pick apart....In my experience I find multiple fin boards easier to pump onto a plane and easier to get back from a spin out..They also normally seem to point a bit higher for me and I can pretty easily just stall one on it's tail and wait through a killer gust or align myself with a good incoming swell, then bear off a little easier than I used to do on single fin boards.

I kinda do know how to sail...in fact I've spent a while learning and I know how I LIKE to sail now, too....so I set up my boards to do what I like them to do..
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