Innovate don't Immitate!

Comment by Rochelle Parry on July 16, 2009 at 12:35pm

Very cool, Charl! One nice thing about the Kern is that it is really an all-round board for all conditions. Although I still like the idea of hand protection w/ the hydrospeed design- this hybrid w/ a slick bottom would rock.

Comment by Mad Dog River Boarding on July 16, 2009 at 5:04pm

Hi Charl

Just a quick one on the kayak type boards. Make sure you have the final say on the design of the board.

Bliss stick kayaks tried making a board here in NZ (called the 'hammerhead') and did it from there very limited riverboarding knowledge about 4 years ago, and it was a complete failure! Hence the reason we kept using body boards. Since then they have decided the development costs are too high for the return to warrant trying again, even when the commercial operators were happy to help with the design component.

As stated in about my first post in that discussion, I believe a cross between the boards is the way to go, just as you are trying to do, but unfortunately there is no manufacturer willing to help and the costs of raw materials in NZ is too high to warrant doing it ourselves. We would be looking at over $1,000USD per board!!!!! to do it ourselves initially.

Comment by Spencer John on July 16, 2009 at 8:58pm

Charl that is a cool board, if you ever make it to Utah bring it along. I must admit I thought this conversation was finally over, but since you brought it back I have a question. P mentioned his hatred for RMR foam in one of his posts and I agree, so I am in the process of swapping the foam for a minicell foam on my streamjet; anyway my question is about the amount of "rocker" (if any) you think a board should have. The streamjet has about 3 inches of rocker front and rear. I was just wondering what everyones thoughts were before I put this thing back together. As I mentioned in my first post I have only ridden RMR boards so I would appreciate some feedback from those of you who have ridden multiple styles of boards.

Comment by Charl van Rensburg on July 17, 2009 at 8:15am

Thanks for the feedback guys!
Spencer, I am not familiar with the foam and products used in Riverboard design in the USA, so I'd suggest you chat with Alex K for more info.
Then, regarding the rocker... I've never ridden any of the boards you speak of, so cannot comment on any of them based on any experience. Personally, rocker is not an important feature for me on a riverboard. I prefer a pretty flat template and some of the flexible boards I've made and been playing around with, actually sometimes have negative rocker when going through rapids.... but I like experimenting.... so get some other views also...

Comment by ianriverboarder on July 27, 2009 at 12:08pm

Nice Board design Charl,

A rocker is only really needed if the board you riding is very Stiff or if you are planning to do a lot of wave surfing! No real need for one if your board is flexable. But that is just my personal thoughts on the matter

Comment by Rob Larkham on September 5, 2009 at 2:09pm

Charl. I have been experimenting with homemade boards out of old kayaks. I have made one out of an old Wavesport EZG 50. It came out awesome and works great. It surfs better then any other board I have use. The only thing I need to work on is the handles as they are made of webbing and I would like something a little more fixed like on my Ripboard. I know there are some that do not care for ripboards because they are plastic and I have heard some other concerns as well. The ripboard is still my "go to" board. It does everything I have asked of it. I like the fixed handles as it gives me great control. It surfs well in the holes and waves near my house and works great as a down stream river runner. Money is tight so i don't see myself buying any foam boards right now so I will continue to use my ripboards and make some new homemade boards as well.

Comment by BrianJ on November 14, 2009 at 2:13pm

deffinitely the type of board i am interested in making. i like it alot. shaped/sized similar to da ocean sponge :) i just love running big deep rapids on my bodyboard, i like the sensation of being down in the water.

Comment by Charl van Rensburg on November 14, 2009 at 2:23pm

just happened to be online....
the board shown here is not that well finished off since it was just a test-model. since these pics were taken, I have cut out the mid section - from about halfway down the middle section below the handgrips so that the arm cavities pretty much run straight through. I removed the mid-section because I found I was not able to move up & down the board, like on a bodyboard, which meant I was not able to move forward to do spins etc. the trade-off is that the board became much more flexible... swings and roundabouts I guess.

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