The Endless Waves Skunkworks has come up with a new board: The Loco Poco.
Past River Surfboard Projects
After initial successes with the Wavestorm Taquito, a kid’s foamie stand-up paddleboard, I cut one down to create the Poquito Taquito (update: Wavestorm has also released an 8′ kids paddleboard, which should work just as well for modifications. Find it here). The Poquito has served me well; it’s my favorite board for low-water fall/winter waves like Dave’s, and I haven’t found another board I like more for those sorts of flows.
The Loco Poco
A week or so ago I was at River Run Park. Things were low, and I wasn’t able to get much going on a 5’2″ Fish I had purchased for the wave (though I expect to have better luck with it with more water). Surprisingly, I had better luck on the Poquito. The added volume seemed to help, but it was too long for the wave. Enter the Loco Poco.
The board is a cut-down Taquito, like the Poquito, but instead of cutting it down to 6′, this one is pared all the way down to 4’9″. Hopefully that’ll be small enough to fit on Benihana’s at River Run Park.
I’ve also tried a couple of design tweaks from the Poquito. The tail is a little more rounded for smoother transitions, though I still kept a pretty wide flat tail to get enough push from the wave. I’ve kept the thruster setup but reduced the toe-in angle for added speed – it’s easy to wash off the back of Benihana’s. And I replaced the 3M Marine Sealant with clear Gorilla Glue to seal the tail. I think it’ll be a little tougher, and it doesn’t eat the foam. I also applied a little heat to try and seal up the tail cut and burn off some of the tatters, since a Sawzall isn’t the most exacting cutting tool. Here are some build photos:
Working out the tail shape:
Positioning the thruster setup:
Sealed. Maybe I’ll claim the ripple effect from the glue is to break surface tension for speed:
Custom artwork. I’m available for graphic design work:
Nose art for added steeze. My favorite Point Break quote.
Now, to see how it does in the water.
