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 More on Raider Waveski (Interesting stuff) New
- Forum: SurfZone
Re:  NEW TOY from MEGA! lpabreu New
Re:  skayak! groomde New
Re: As well as Mega kayaks Malcolm also owned Raider waveskis, he has history with both craft. <NT> chris-uk New
Re: Info on Raider Waveski asspaddler New
Date: May 18 2008, 18:33 GMT
From: asspaddler
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More on Raider Waveski (Interesting stuff)
"The year was 1980 and high performance waveskis were just beginning to evolve from super thin surfboard like designs to a more bouyant, thicker profiled shape. Single fins were 'it' and the top guys such as mick Petrie were pushing top to bottom surfing to the limits. The accent in these days was on a strong bottom turn to set up whatever manouver you had in mind. Roger Shackleton who owned Raider Skis at that time was undoubtedly the 'Guru' of waveski development during the ensuing period. I was fortunate enough to work and ride for Roger from 1980 to 1986 and his influence on me as a shaper/designer was and still is tremendous. Mid 1981 saw the advent of tri fins, pushing performance levels furthur still. Ski lengths decreased from 7'6"/7'4"'s to 7'0"/6'6". My next board was 6'4"! By 1983 Roger's skis had increased in length, again with the wide points a long way up from the tail and a nice evenly curved bottom shape allowing driving bottom turns not possible on many of todays designs. In 1985 Roger was experimenting with very wedge like shapes that incorporated a lot of volume in the tail. This allowed for the rider to sit a little closer to the tail, giving more control over what was to become the modern 'tail flick'. 1985 was also the year of the 'air'. I remember hours and hours of trying nothing but aerials, and arerials that started from the bottom of the wave, not halfway up the face. This wedge shape was to be exaggerated further still and became known as the 'step deck' made famous by the original Shackleton designed 'Raider Pro' in 1986. The Pro's strong points were it's flawless bottom turns and carving turning style. The negatives were it's lack of speed in small or gutless waves and a lack of release off the top. With modern techniques evolving around the top part of the wave - ie. aerials the Pro became obsolete for competition style surfing. In 1988 I started my own waveski business and from that point on the challenge has been to combine that driving bottom turn with greater speed and super quick release off the top. I also felt that nose lift could be increased significantly without undue effect on planning speed and as a result my early skis appeared very curvy compared to my competitors' flat bottomed boards of the time. It is interesting to note that everyone has discovered nose lifts these days, despite the 'scoffs' of those earlier times. the same can be said of what I call the 'S' deck profile shape (profile being the side view of the ski). From day one I wanted to incorporate the Shackelton concept of a thick, stepped tail shape with nice rounded hydrodynamic deck shape that the South African's were using in the 1986 World's. This stepped, rounded shape combines great buoyancy with efficient water release off the tail."
More here.
www.uswaveski.com/uswaforum/viewtopic.php
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