Forward motion, headfirst & horizontal to gravity!

Monkey Fusion - pics from the development of our new board

I wanted to share a couple of pics from the Mean Monkey lab. The blue board is a model of the Monkey Fusion riverboard that we're planning on bringing out next month. We'll use better foam and it still needs to be shaped, but I think it gives you a great idea of where we're going with the design.

I'm also happy to say that these boards will be handmade right here in Helena in the heart of the Montana Rockies. We're teaming up with one of the best carvers in the Northwest and I think you're going to love his work.

We've been working on this board for the past two years. We've finally ironed out all of the design issues and am stoked to show everyone more. The first run should be done by mid-March, but I'll have more updates before then.

Take care,

matt

p.s. Pay no attention to the white board. :)

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Comment by Charl van Rensburg on February 25, 2010 at 8:35pm: Hey Matt,

That is very nice. I like the 'gaps' for your arms on the side.

Looking forward to seeing the final product.

Well Done!

Charl

Comment by Matt Kuntz on February 25, 2010 at 10:32pm: Thanks Charl. I really appreciate the positive feedback. I hope you and your family are well.

Take care,
matt

Comment by Kevin Yount on March 2, 2010 at 1:25pm: I also like the lower sides by the front for arm strokes. I'm planning to trim Aquianna down a little bit for the same reason.

Comment by Rochelle Parry on March 2, 2010 at 9:11pm: That looks sweet. Would the width of the back end be variable for size? It's nice to have a board with a little bit of snugness around the hips, which would depend upon the rider's build. Although I suppose extra foam could be glued in custom if needed?

Comment by Matt Kuntz on March 2, 2010 at 10:11pm: Thanks Rochelle. Varying the width of the board is really tough because even slight changes of dimension can seriously boost the cost of the boards. The design of the production models does account for varying waists, but the most particular riders will want to make some personal modifications to their board or talk to us about doing a custom model.

Comment by martyStecher martystecher on April 27, 2010 at 4:12pm: I read someplace that the reason body boards have the rails cut on the sides is that the board actually planes onto the rail as you lean it over to cut a turn. The rail becomes the bottom and the bottom becomes the edge that keeps you tracking. Most body boards are cut 60/40, but a few 50/50. That is not much on a 2 inch board. If you want a board that surfs adding a cut rail at 45 degrees or less would really make a bug difference on how well you can turn. In addition rails offer less sharp edges which stick less to rocks, become damaged less often, and are cheaper if you are planning to use a plastic bottom. If you want a plastic bottom and rail you can stitch, like as in "stitch and glue" then plastic weld. Both techniques can bee seen by looking them up on youtube. I definitely like the ability to use arms for swimming, turning reaching out to grab.

Please post more pictures Thanks M