By
Al Drucker
After
deliberating for many months, I finally decided to crush the bow of my
Inazone.I decided that I wanted
it to initiate easier, and I then decided to make the bow more concave
without adding rocker, since I was already happy with how it surfed.I
looked at all the different methods and results on Karl Gesslein's website
(http://www.ne-ww.com), and decided to do a makeshift version
of "the rack of concavity".
I
took a table (the type used for lawn sales), and put my boat on top so
that the tip of the bow lined up evenly with the edge.I
then used two lengths of rope to tie down the back and the front, using
the cockpit as tie down points.I
think that using webbing straps would be easier, but this is all I had
at the time.
Next
I measured and marked the area that I wanted to crush, then I cut out a
piece of 1/2 inch foam to use as my mold.I
did not have any clamps, but I did have two heavy weights that were used
in an old clock, weight lifting plates would also work well.I
had to use a blow torch, but did so very carefully, and despite the care
I took I had some plastic on the piranha logo scrunch up, but it is just
cosmetic, and not very noticeable unless you look for it.
I
did this over a period of 3 days, the first two, I only used the duct taped
weights, and I had the foam pillar out.The
third day I was tired of having it pop back up, so I cut a section out
of the foam pillar to the depth that I wanted, and then replaced it in
the boat, next I heated up the area again, and then placed the mold on,
however, this time I put on 2, 22 pound weight plates, plus the duct taped
weights, and I got results that were much more permanent,I
still left the weights on until it had cooled thoroughly however.
My set up, before crushing
The marked area
My mold
My weights (not pictured 2 weight plates)
After
setting everything up, I lit up the torch.I
started off using a box motion to heat the edges of the marked area, and
then used lines back and forth, the boat heated up quite well. As soon
as I noticed a glossy/wet look, I removed the heat, and put the foam mold
into place, and then quickly placed the weights on top.
I
let the weights and mold sit for a couple of hours, until the boat was
completely cooled,
and then removed them, below are some
pictures that show the new bow.
A close up bow pic
With newly added concavity
The final product