Mystic Surfboards--Jim Dunlop, Shaper. Jacksonville Beach, Florida

just finished….mike lanigan’s 5’8 square tail, dan ward’s 5’9 squash tail, KJ’s 6’1 double bump roundtail, ed wilson’s 6’7 roundpin mini-gun, ian lynch’s 9’4 single fin LB

found an old template in my garage of a board i shaped in 1990…figured it was as good a time as any to revisit this obscure bit of surfboard history.  cheyne horan rode these “lazor zap” single fins in the early 80′s in his bid for the world title vs. mark richards.  i remember thinking at the time that it was the most difficult to ride board i’d ever had but when you got it wired..WHOA! it was fun..

here’s a shot from ’83 of cheyne with one of the last ones he got from geoff mccoy..crazy wide tails between 18 and 20 inches wide.  later he used the winged keel designed by naval architect ben lexcen in this board and still uses it to this day, as i saw in a video of a recent retro/single fin contest down in australia

i updated mine with eps/epoxy construction so the board came out right around 5 lbs. at 5’9 x 20 1/2 x 3…should be a blast in waist to chest high beachbreaks.

tinkering with outlines led to this…a basic san diego fish up front leading into a double bump roundtail..taking the corners off the usual swallowtail shortens the rail line, pulling it in further with the double bump narrows it up even more for tighter, in the pocket surfing with the glide usually associated with fish-y designs.  nose can be pulled in even more for a more vertical attack

one custom and 4 stocks for sunrise surf shop…6’1″ epoxy s/b for jeff demarco, 6’0 dbl. bump roundtail fish, 6’2 dbl. bump roundtail fish, 7’0 hull outline funshape, 7’6 from same template

futures boxes now come in colors…i like ‘em

first batch of 2012…5’8 epoxy roundtail for valerie rose, 5’10 stubby thruster for jack morrison, 6’6 single wing diamond tail epoxy quad for jim morrison, 7’9 double wing round pin epoxy 5-fin for john beale

a couple of fresh ones to cheat with this winter (wearing a 4/3  in the next few months……more foam=more fun).  the fish is 6’6 x 22 x 2 3/4 and the mini-simmons is 5’5 x 23 x 3.  both stringerless eps, 2# in the 6’6 and 1.5# in the 5’5.

(my normal fish is 5’11 and mini-sim is 5’2)

colored futures boxes in the fish, f-3′s in the sim (tape still covering some boxes)….and a box full of fins to provide endless  possibilities

waited until after Christmas as many of these were surprise gifts…5’6 for megan trull, 5’10 for john lewos, 5’10 for hunter hileman, 6’0 for allie thompson, 6’4 for nick terrano, 6’4 fish for chris lind, 6’8 for sean drobney, 8’0 pig for javier fabrega, 9’6 epoxy LB for ronnie mix (little too big to fit in the frame)

paul’s mini-simmons with a twinzer set-up….F-3 boxes for the mains and carefully modified fcs fusions for the canards (forward fins)….more options than you could go through in 6 months of experimenting.  the F-3 box takes both futures and fcs fins…

a little bit of everything last week..5’6 epoxy mini-simmons for paul pittman, 5’10 thruster for wesley remley, 6’1 & 6’2 5-fins for tommy walsh, 6’4  5-fin for kenny kettrey, 6’10 epoxy quad fish for steve barreau, 7’2 single fin for dan0, 8’6 tanker for drew dixon, 9’0 performance LB for stella knerieman

the 70′s make a return with this full bottom airbrush mural…ahh, the good ‘ol days…(if you have to ask how much, you can’t afford it)