King Waka's Korner: Gone Fishing

Friday, 15 July 2016

Gone Fishing

Side Cut Fish Kneeboard

from Mick Mackie Designs

I first started knee boarding back in the late 70's.

Riding surf mats for the best part of my teenage years, then onto a Belly Bogger for 12 months , before saving enough money to buy a second hand kneeboard . My older cousin and his friends were all riding single fin kneeboards & spoons and would take me surfing with them , so by 1979 , I had out grown the surf mat & belly bogger, and wanted a kneeboard like my older peers...which happen to be a twin fin ' Spot ' kneeboard . I next had a twin fin from Carabine Surfboards ( pictured below with eldest son Cameron sitting proudly, he just turned 35 the other day) and 12 months later a Skipp twinnie , shaped by Ed Sinnot, which then lead me down the path of Tri Fin's , Quad's & Competition Surfing

Some Albert Whiteman Love

Mick used to shaped out of the Friar Tuck factory down here at Kings Point, along side the late, great Albert Whiteman ; back in the early 90's, so he was stoked to use a template from one of my AW boards .

I wanted more drive over performance!

At 54 years old, I am no shredder, I like surfing the wave , doing ( well trying) nice flowing cutbacks and top turns. I find that having broader based fin's give's me the drive that I want over performing tighter turns that the modern day fin set up's can give you. One lesson I learn't from surfing my Bonza one morning was what a difference a fin can make to your surfing, I started off with that green 'Crozier ' fin and after riding a couple of waves and the noticeable lack of drive from the board, I returned to the beach and swapped it back to the larger based fin , and what a difference it made