We’re feeling pretty blessed right now... The last month or so has seen much of the East Coast graced with superb swell after swell, and our back yard’s been no different. Only trouble is, with so many snaps and dings caused by the great waves, we’ve been locked indoors patching up the victims! ___________________ This Issue: Retros – There is a lot of fun to be had out of retro boards, but there’s nothing old about them… DIY Dings – Cheap and simpler than you’d think, we’ll help you patch holes, seal cracks and even reset plugs… The Caloundra Kid - Sunny-Coaster, Justin Healey, is the man of the moment. A first and a third at the Noosa Festival followed up by a first and a second at the following week’s Malfunction in Kingscliff has made Justin one of the most talked about amateurs on the circuit. (photo: © Justin Healey)	Newsletter :: May ’09 :: ___________________ Old School… Apparently We gave you a brief look at our new twin-quad design back in November, but with the fish now very much the board of the moment, we thought it was about time to go in depth, focussing on the numerous variations and refinements that can be made to the original early ‘70s template. A Californian kneeboarder called Steve Lis is attributed with creating the first fish, with its twin keel fins, deep swallow tail, full outline and flat rocker. Skip Frye brought the template into the world of stand-up soon afterwards and for a couple of decades the shape was all but overlooked. Now, drawing knowledge from more progressive boards, the fish is coming back and fast being embraced as a fun, versatile, unique design. So read on and find out more about the board before going fishing in the dark…
	The Original: Held closely to the classic Skip Frye template, the classic-style fish with keel fins is a beautiful board for point waves. The fuller volume of board, despite being diminutive in length, is a wave-catching machine, able to get into waves earlier and trim across flatter sections. The keel fins produce superb down-the-line hold and allow turns to be far more drawn out than with a conventional thruster. This can, however, prove a hindrance. Keel fins don’t like being forced through turns. A snapped turn or more critical manoeuvre can often result in a severe loss of speed. So it’s all about treading lightly and an old-school flow.
		The Twin-Quad: We mentioned it in November’s newsletter, but as we’re talking fish, we’ll mention it again. The twin-quad is a versatile set-up, giving you the option of either two or four fins. Obviously, this is going to alter the feel of the board somewhat, but it almost creates two entirely diverse boards in one. The twin-fin set-up offers that down-the-line fluidity as mentioned above, whilst the quad gives you a distinct performance edge, enabling more radical manoeuvrability and creating a board better suited to faster waves, specifically beach breaks, in which the twin-fin would flounder.
Mr. Fix-It: Dings are a painful, but unavoidable, part of our lives. Nothing’s a more crushing blow to a surfer than that fresh fracture on a new board and nothing’s more frustrating than watching a perfect swell roll by while you’re land-bound, your quiver locked in dry-dock. So here are a few tricks and tips to get your equipment seaworthy once more… - Dings come in all shapes and sizes. Assess the damage and work out the best course of action: for a smaller, shallower repair, a UV activated resin, such as Solarcure will be fine. Greater damage may need glass, filler and more. - Be prepared. Before starting the repair, know what you’re doing and have everything ready. Sand the area well, clear it of all loose glass and foam, clean it of all wax, pre-cut glass fibre if needed and make sure you’re in a dust-free, well ventilated area. - Solarcure is great for simple jobs. Prep the area, sand about 2cm either side of the damage, and apply Solarcure in the shade. A handy tip is to tape GladWrap firmly over the repair while still wet. This pre-forms the repair, lessening the need for sanding back. - Bigger jobs, over about 7cm, need glass fibre. Prep the area and pre-cut the glass, about 2cm larger than the repair. Mix resin and catalyst (1L resin to 15ml catalyst) and apply gently, removing all air bubbles. More catalyst will make the resin set faster BUT it generates a lot of heat, so too much and you risk greater damage or even fire… - Holes that need bogging can be filled with resin, but this is heavy and tends to fall out over time. Q-Cell is powdered foam that, when mixed with resin to the consistency of melted marshmallow, creates a lighter substance that bonds better. Q-Cell compound is soft though, so will need a further layer of glass on top. - Fin plugs are a little tricky, but, with preparation, are perfectly manageable. Again, clean the area of debris and cut a piece of glass fibre about 8cm larger diameter than the hole. Coat the hole in resin, lay the glass over the hole and press the new plug into it. Fill the hole with straight resin, NOT Q-Cell. Allow to set, and sand back. Then apply a further layer of resin over the entire repair, taping off the plug first. - Finishing: Use a range of sandpapers, from an 80-grit through to a 1200 wet and dry in about four stages. Eg: 80, 240, 600, 1200. If you’re using a sander, use a mid-to-slower setting and be very aware of the board heating up. This can lead to melted resin and glass and creating an even bigger repair job. Finally, a fine cutting compound will give you a gloss finish, if required. Next Month: You Must Be Tripping! An essential traveller’s guide Classic Malibu Cnr Gibson & Eumundi Rd Noosaville QLD 4566 Ph: (07) 5474 3122 www.classicmalibu.com.au Email: info@classicmalibu.com	The Quad: Quads are all about release. With the same amount of face in the fin, the drive is comparable to its keel-finned counterpart, but, when your line opens up and you begin to set your line again, the quads will flex back into position, water will start channeling back between them and you will gain acceleration out of the turn. This all adds up to making a board that holds well through turns but doesn’t kill speed in the same way that the keels can. Though available on all types of boards, we usually pair the quad up with a slightly racier template, more drawn out nose-to-tail than the traditional board and with a single or double flyer to allow the tail to sink slightly and increase drive.
	Justin Healey - Logs & Quads - Justin Healey’s on the up-and-up. He may not be the most heavily publicised surfer on the East coast, but a swathe of recent contest results have raised heads and focussed eyes his way. People are starting to take notice, and it’s little wonder. The Caloundra local scored a third in last year’s Noosa Festival Old Mal division, matching the result this year and raising the bar with a win in the Open Amateurs. As if that wasn’t enough, the following week he headed over the New South Wales border to the Malfunction where he mustered a second and a fourth in the Old Mal and Open Ams respectively. (Photo: © Justin Healey) Caloundra spawned and grown, Justin has been surfing longer than he can remember. His Dad pushed him onto his first waves as a micro-grom, on a beaten-up Ron longboard and Justin has been ripping it up ever since. The first board he owned was an old twin-fin, salvaged from his local dump and that shortboard persuasion, despite his prowess as a logger, has never left him. He still rides a disparate quiver, from high-performance thrusters, through old-school single and twin fins, to longer boards in performance, quad and three-fin templates and, of course, the pre-’66 old mals. Justin has been surfing competitively for only the last few years, the 28-year-old starting the circuit late in his career, but has already had some impressive amateur results. The big leagues of the WQS eluded him, rarely escaping the first round in the two seasons of events he entered. But the amateurs have proved much more fruitful. Trips overseas have seen the Sunny-Coaster scoring waves in Fiji and Bali, but there’re still many pages left to be stamped in his passport and he’s continually looking to the horizon for more visits to foreign breaks. Although he views his prospects on the amateur series with enthusiasm, hoping to head over the Tasman to New Zealand to compete, Justin’s future is looking to take him on a different path. In June, the Caloundra surfer is heading inland, donning fatigues and signing up as a digger. Joining the Light Armoured Vehicle Army division will take Justin first to Wagga Wagga, followed by a stint in Victoria, before returning to home turf around Brisbane. “Everyone’s asking me if I’m going to give up surfing,” he comments. “‘Come on,’ I tell them, ‘that’s never going to happen!’” Next Month: The Resin Monkey: Jake Bowrey is our resident resin whizz, glasser of the vast majority of our boards and creator of some beautiful resin tints and pigments, but he’s also pretty handy with a planer. Meet the man with a squeegee for a right hand…