Roger Hall of Surfline Surfboards New Zealand has been on journey of discovery for a while now and I asked him to share some thoughts with us.
" Here are some pics of my latest foray into Hot Curl design. I have been riding my Hot Curl quiver since early May exclusively. The more I ride the different lengths with their various design tweaks , the more I am enjoying this finless connection to the waves. My idea with these Hot Curls seems to be a little different to what I see happening elsewhere with finless design."
" My Hot Curls are designed to hold a line at all times. I am looking to eliminate slide whereas I see other people incorporating slide as a major part of the package. The idea of this board is to explore the ratios of some of the design components I have already proven as mainstays in my overall design. If this board teaches me what I am hoping it will, then the path forward will be about feeding the Hot Curl concept into a wider range of board shapes."
" I had some fun with the stringer arrangement. This stringer configuration has been on my mind for awhile. It is a chance to be a little bit creative but also serves a design purpose as well."
" I like the idea of some core weight and also wanted the board to be very stiff flexwise. The less flex the board has the more I can gauge how well the design components are working together to hold the board into the wall of the wave."
" I also got abit of a kick out of the fact that the Pine inner stringers came from Southland and the Redwood outers came from Northland so to combine them together is symbolic of N.Z being made up of two main Islands. Just a bit of fun on the side."
"What I am getting from riding Hot Curls is a completely new connection to surfing and riding waves. These boards respond in a different way and I have had to relearn how to surf. When I take off on a wave I am making it up as I go and it is really refreshing to be experiencing all this new stuff for the first time."
This board is 6'0" x 22" x 3 1/8" and 47 litres.
Here you can see Rogers use of his chine / bevel and concave blending on the rail line. You will agree there is a lot going on in this small board. A combination of tradition and modern ideas in the melting pot , just the way Roger likes it.
SURFLINE CUSTOM SURFBOARDS LTD
Roger Hall
Check out Rogers other Hot Curl boards and some of his other great work :
http://www.surfline.co.nz
surfline_nz@yahoo.co.nz