As many of you know, i'm the biggest BONZER fan i have incorporated the bonzer esque type concaves into many of my shapes like the sunfish and grim ripper which are some of my most popular shapes. After being fortunate enough too spend a bit of time with Malcolm Campbell a few years back i've never actually made that many proper bonzers - fins concaves and all.

So when local bonzer afficinado Jacob Down asked me too make him a 6'8 B3 bonzer it got me quite pumped, i tried too get a 6'8 out of a 6'9R (one of my favourite blanks of all time), but i couldn't quite get the nose foil i was looking for with the desired thickness, so i quit whilst i was ahead, discarded that one and went and grabbed a 7'3SBF from the back room and started again, his 6'8 x 20 1/2 x 2 5/8 fitted perfect and i was really stoked with how it came out, stoked enough it kinda got me fired up too make something from the abandoned 6'8 from earlier that day.. Whilst shaping Jacobs 6'8 i had a few thoughts and some ideas i wanted too play with, so i cut 2" off the nose and templated up a 6'4? (i think) - first thing i wanted too change was the diamond tail i wanted too make into a swallow, i wanted too extend the rail line and add some flex/pivot points too see how this would alter the back end, it took me a few templates too find something that was straight enough but also had curve in the right places, i settled for my VBM template, it seemed too measure up nicely.. i then wanted too play with the bottom shape up a little, i kept the usual bits of vee and concave, but also enhanced the bonzer concave and pushed it right up too run nose too tail, i've never run a channel from one end too the other before, but in my head it made sense and i liked the lines it drew on the blank along with the shadows it cast in the bay lights, the channels/concaves at the nose end start quite defined and then soften into the mid section which then hardens again as the concaves deepen in the rear 1/3 of the board.. i also used a more shortboardy rail and bladed out the tail somewhat, all of which felt natural.

- Aesthetics wise, since it was a slight element of being a bit of a hail mary kinda board, and I had just had a new airbrush set up delivered, this seemed like the perfect time too try it, so i sprayed faded chevrons in the concave too highlight  the concave action and then did a subtle ice blue tint on top and i'm rather happy with the results, i gave the board too Jacob too test pilot with his 6'8, stay tuned for some progress/updates, could be magic but could be a dog, which is why i find the development phase of board building exciting..

I got quite excitable when it was shaped and rushed it too the "spray bay" (Nathans sanding bay, sorry again pard) and then into glassing, so took no photos whatsoever in the bay, but here's a collection of photos i shot with mullet man after glassing and before waxing up.

- HB