Hourglass Surfboard
Jack Linthicum
Hourglass Surfboard, The
The classic longboard is an elongated, slightly concave ovoid, a
shape that has changed little since surfing was invented by the
ancient Hawaiians. But the Swedish designer Thomas Meyerhoffer's
longboard, introduced in the spring, has a corseted waist and a narrow
tail, with a bottom that is more deeply contoured than a typical
board. All that curvaceousness is meant to lend the maneuverability of
the shortboard, typically ridden by skilled surfers, to the more
stable longboard.
Curves have always come naturally for Meyerhoffer, who created the
biomorphic eMate laptop, Apple's predecessor to the iBook, and the
beanbaglike Chumby, the first "soft" computer. After leaving Apple in
the late '90s, Meyerhoffer embraced surfing. He started with
longboards but soon began wanting a more agile ride, so he tried
alternatives like the fish, a shortboard with a swallowtail. None
could match the momentum he felt cresting a wave with the big plank of
a longboard beneath him, however. His designer's curiosity piqued, he
began wondering how he could make the longboard do more.
The answer came through subtraction. Since the longboard is ridden
from the front or the back, Meyerhoffer reasoned that he could reduce
mass from its midsection, giving his board its sinuous hourglass shape
and making it lighter and easier to pilot while paddling for a wave.
He tried eliminating the tail entirely but found he needed it to
balance the rounded nose; instead he tapered it to a point, preventing
the tail from getting caught so the rider doesn't lose speed on a
turn. He also slimmed the rails — the board's edges — from soft and
thick at the hips to a thin, sharp line at the tail, helping to draw
water over the planed surface while gripping the wave from the back.
PHOTOGRAPH BY NICK ALLENFor the longboard, Thomas Meyerhoffer reduced
mass from the midsection, tapered the tail to a point and slimmed the
rails (the board’s edges).
Many seasoned surfers initially rejected Meyerhoffer's board on sight.
But former pros have since championed it, younger riders have won
competitions with it and several production runs sold out quickly. "I
hope it will be the ignition for more new ideas coming from other
shapers," Meyerhoffer says. JESSE ASHLOCK
Andy
wrote:
rails "from soft and thick at the hips to a thin, sharp line at the
tail, helping to draw
water over the planed surface while gripping the wave from the back"
Oh my GOD!
Is this guy not cutting edge?
I hear he has added this thing called a "fin" also...crazy
rodndtube
Seems nose heavy to me. Just an odd feeling.
Tom Tweed
<anegativ...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>On Dec 10, 2:40�pm, Jack Linthicum <jacklinthi...@earthlink.net>
>wrote:
>rails "from soft and thick at the hips to a thin, sharp line at the
>tail, helping to draw
>water over the planed surface while gripping the wave from the back"
>
>Oh my GOD!
>Is this guy not cutting edge?
There is nothing new under the sun. It is evolutionary and not
revolutionary design work this guy has done. I think Velzy tried
the same kind of "narrow-waisted" design back in the '60s. Morey
took the idea and created the "parabolic rail" Swizzle at least a
decade ago. Skateboards and snowboards adopted that hourglass
look in the '80s and '90s, and Carl Ekstrom experimented with it
in some of his finless Flowrider boards. Some fish designers have
flirted with that kind of planshape on very short, multifin
boards: http://tinyurl.com/ybqj6el
My friend Andy Tyler showed up at my house one day years ago with
two boards that he had made out of agave wood that looked a lot
like the shorter ones in the article, but with racier, more
pulled-in noses.
TT
---------------------------------
Tom Tweed
La Jolla, CA, USA
"I have never been into Fashion, but I am totally into Style."
-- Kurt "da Mellow Cat" Ledterman
---------------------------------
TonyM
>>Oh my GOD!
>>Is this guy not cutting edge?
>
> There is nothing new under the sun.
>
<snip list of similar designs>
Not to mention the fact that Meyerhoffer's boards are old news.
TSJ did a feature on him nearly three years ago.
http://www.surfersjournal.com/issues/742
--x--
Tony