Hard boots and a ski boat

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Just got these pictures from Doug Dryer in Bend, Oregon. If you do not know Doug he is a super cool guy and one hell of a carver who dominates up at Mnt. Bachelor during the winter.

He called me to tell me he is using his AF600's and Bomber TD2 SI to attach himself to his new Foil Board. Apparently you need a really firm interface to help control the foil and he has found that plates do it.

Also a shot of him on his F2 Speedster behind the boat.

Man, some poeple just cannot get enough!

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Pic #2

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Pic#3

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Pic #4

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Pic #5

[Randy S.]

Hey Doug,

Does the Conshox really help the shock absorption when crossing the wake! :D

Those are awesome pix.

[Jon Dahl]

Just think of the carnage if you loose it and auger in wearing that setup! More cajones than I've got!

[pokkis]

Larry H looks to be using Clickers on his surf board :cool:

[gooberpeez]

No kidding, that takes big brass ones. I hope there's a good trauma center nearby. There's a reason wakeboards have foam bindings that will let your feet slip though given enough force. It's pretty hard to get a snowboard to come to a complete sudden, hard, sharp stop while you're still travelling at 35+ MPH. But in water, that situation is EASY to come by.

[joecarve]

Originally posted by Jack Michaud
That's wild. What do "normal" foil-boarders use for bindings?

There's a few incarnations of this: http://www.neilprydemaui.com/category.php?id=8. I can't decide which scares me the most...

joe...

[knoch]

jack...wakeboard bindings are the norm, i myself think they are stiff enough, but the ones i used on my buddies foil were hyperlite highbacks and they don't come much stiffer than that.

[utahcarver]

Fin,

I don't know whether Doug Dryer has single-handedly just invented the World's Most Dangerous Sport or if he is like watching NASCAR at Daytona or Talledega: You Know There's Gonna Be A Big Wreck Sometime!

I do think that DD and others are showing us there is a future in foil boards and boats/kites/PWC.

Mark

[NateW]

Falling sure would suck.

Your upper body would float, because of your lungs and stuff. But I'm pretty sure that the board, with your legs attached, would just sink to the bottom. :eek:

[nils]

Excellent :)
Laird Hamilton, who pionneered the sport, said he tried hard boots but they were too heavy after wipe outs, so now he is using softboots and step in system..Needless to say when you ride in 10' waves and more its better to stay on the surface after a wipe out :)

Nils

[Chubz]

I tried that trick back in teh mid 90's. when wakboarding really started taking off, except I had snowboard bindings attached to a wakeboard with soft boots. Needless to say, when doing backside rolls or raleys, catching an edge meant ultimate DOOM!!!! Some of the worst wakeboard wrecks I have ever had. If imaginable, it was like the Jolly Green Giant taking me by the ankles and snapping me like a small whip, when the edge caught. It hurt like hell. It only lasted 2 sets up and down the river.

I didnt think it would be that big of a deal until I did it and it's not happening again.

Later GReg

[Matt D]

RandyS. I believe he has a tinkler plate mounted to his board, not a conshox.

The guy who makes those tinkler plates is in Oregon and so is Doug. A former world cupper I know has a burton 188 with 1 of those plates on it. He says its for torsional stiffness and a small rise vs. the vibration absorbtion of the conshox.

[P06781]

Yeh, those are tinkler plates. The guy who makes them lives in the Hood River area of oregon. I rode the chair a few times with him this last year at Mt Hood Meadows. I think his name is Mike Tinkler and makes/invents things out of carbon fiber. He used to sell something called snowsticks to stiffen boards back in the day when burton ruled alpine in the US. I had a friend who used them on his factory prime and they worked great. He mentioned something this last year about possibly making custom boards. I know makes a few custom boards for anton pogue and another female racer.

Jim