Surfboards Pt. 3- Mark Rabbidge

There's a shot of one of Mark Rabbidge's finless extravaganzas a few posts back, but now we've got some first hand feedback. Top notch Ulladulla photographer Dean Dampney has been working with Mark on the pictured board, and here's a report:

".....I’ve been trying to replicate the slide and speed of the alaia, so Mark generously agreed to go back to the drawing board and see what he could come up with.
The board pictured below is the result. Looked unreal but I couldn’t get my head around how I was going to find enough edge or bite to come off the bottom. In my first test drive, my instincts were right and although the speed, slide and spin was all there, the control and bite off the bottom was not. Again back to the drawing board….
Mark put a 3omm high centre keel between the double concave at the tail, and two 10mm keels on each rail. The result…
Welcome The Slidrofoil! I’m absolutely blown away by the likeness this board holds to the alaia in every department, with one exception, and that’s the floatation. In surf that I’ve put in the hard yards and laboured away paddling the alaia around the lineup, I’m now paddling around with ease. Basically I’m wondering if the day will ever come again that I resort back to the timber plank.
Check out Marks site and give him a call if you’re interested in this stuff: http://www.markrabbidge.com/"

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