I brought the 7'0 Finley alaia back from Surf Expo where Jon had also agreed to sell me one of his new "finless" prototypes - the Bluegill. I told him I was going to Ecuador for a month and would be stoked to test it for him down there. He agreed and sent it UPS when he got home to California.
It arrived today, and it looks fun. It's not finless, technically, as it has two long, shallow keel fins Jon glued on. He left them rough (unglassed) so he could surf it, come in and sand them down, surf it again, and so on. I guess I should bring some sandpaper with me.
This is prototype #2, shaped in early November, and I am honored to give it a go on this trip. Jon's vision is for the Bluegill to surf as much like an alaia as possible, but paddle better and catch waves more easily due to the increased volume. I can't wait to see how it works, and will report back from Ecuador with progress if time allows.
Some eye candy...
Deck
Bluegill #2
Bottom
Concave
Keel and concave
5 comments:
Looks like a good way to get into alaia surfing for the lakes. I always assumed our waves weren't steep enough or fast enough to make them enjoyable. Maybe this beauty will change all that. If it works you can put me down for an order, id love to get into alaia surfing.
Jordan
Jordan,
I agree that a board like this is more likely to work for most surfers. The alaia is tough to surf for a lot of reasons, but I can tell you that we have plenty of waves here that they'll work well in.
Jon is in his early experimenting phase with the Bluegill but I think we'll see these available (just like his alaias) through Bing and Jacobs soon.
Wow, talk about cool experimentation! Let us know how is rides. And when are you going to order boards from us?
Tim
Will do, Tim. We just got into Ecuador so hopefully we'll be able to get it out soon.
Hope to order a few boards in the late spring!
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