The Retro-Future Hanel Project
This is Gary Hanel aka GH. He has been shaping my surfboards since I was 15 years old (1985).
Here are a couple of pics of me riding GH’s when I was 17. Photos by Jeff Nelson.
This is Tyler Hanel. Tyler is the oldest of 4 Hanel brothers (all goofyfoots who rip). Tyler runs the KKL shaping machine service. He is really good at math.
Here is a surfboard Gary Hanel handshaped for Tyler. It is based on the 1980s boards GH used to make for us, but with modern updates to the rails and rocker. I was pretty stoked when I saw it so I asked GH to shape me one too.
Tyler laser scanned the board and made a digital file of it. Tyler and GH then scaled the board to my size and weight. This is GH manning one of the machines at KKL.
To mix things up a bit we decided to go with a stringerless blank. My friend Jason in Venice had recently hooked me up with some carbon fiber, so I thought it would be cool to do carbon fiber rails. Moonlight handyman Dave Dvorak glassed the rails.
When you have a special project like this you want someone with knowledge and skill. Here is Gary Stuber glassing the board with 4 oz S glass. The glass work came out immaculate.
After the board was hotcoated, fin boxed and sanded I thought it should get some snazzy red pinlines to finish off the rail cutlaps.
The finished board looking tight.
The Lokbox fin system shown here with the composite Taylor Knox fins.
The dims: 5’10” x 18 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
I’m not big on traction but I do like these backstops from my brother-in-law’s company, Destination Surf.
I rode this board during last week’s run of good glassy surf. It really wails. Believe it or not but I haven’t gotten a new thruster since the summer of 2000. The thruster is a stable platform and easy to surf. It’s not as fast as some of my other boards but it’s great for some basic old school wave thrashin’.
Usually the waves are bad when I get a new board but I got lucky this time. I snapped this pic after session #2 and before session #3 of the day.
A close look at the carbon fiber rails. I had a number of GH surfboards glassed with a variety of carbon fiber back in the 80’s so this board is quite the retro trip for me.
The Breakdown:
*Stringerless polyurethane blank by Just Foam.
*Shaped and designed by Gary Hanel, Tyler Hanel and HAL the komputer.
*Carbon fiber supplied by SciArt, Inc. They do custom weaving. Ask for Vince, ph# 949-788-1709
*Glass work by Dave Dvorak and Gary Stuber using low emission polyester resin.
*Hotcoat and Lokbox install by Dave Kerr.
*Sanded by Kenny Mann.
*Pinlined by Peter St Pierre.
*Glossed by Mark Donnellon.
*Wetsanded matte finish by myself.
*Traction and leash by Destination Surf.
*Fins: Taylor Knox template for Lokbox.
*Logo design and screenprinting by Jon Pankopf at Factory 101.
*Made with stoke at Moonlight Glassing in California, USA.
*UPDATE: this board was donated to the 2011 Summer Fun on the 101 raffle and was won by Ashley, one of the baristas at “Coffee Coffee”.
pranaglider
January 26, 2009Nice board!
good post too.
reverb
January 26, 2009…hey JP, good report
those fins are not big for a medium weight?
provides thrust but may be hold too much…
-moderate tail rocker or heavy rockered or tail kick or nothing at all?
Im interested in the rocker under stance position
I know is very difficult to measure but is one of the keys
do you a back foot oriented surfer?
very nice if you reports more about this board in the future (in a genuine way)
thanks
Anonymous
January 26, 2009u’r one lucky b*$tards !
Anonymous
January 26, 2009I want one. How much?
Matt
January 26, 2009Nice. My little brother was sponsored by GH from about the mid-80s to the early-90s, so that board brings back some memories for me as well.
Anonymous
January 26, 2009jp now that i have seen that second retro photo of you i know the model and inspiration for the cardiff kook sculpture. big ups bro! memorialized for life.
the frog master
Old Kook
January 26, 2009Nice post JP….very cool. Enjoy.
tres_arboles
January 26, 2009Nice post, JP. Love the 80’s outline on that thruster they modeled for your board. I guess that just shows my age!
David
Anonymous
January 26, 2009love it. For sure.
tyler h.
January 26, 2009Glad you like the board JP. Interesting that you linked that video, as my inspiration for designing the original board (I drew it on Shape3D, cut it out and GH tuned it up) was exactly that. I’ve never enjoyed riding quads or twins, (even ones that are more modern inspired) and my ideal type of surfing is exactly that late 80’s occy/curren off-the-bottom/off-the-top style, so that is exactly what I was aiming for. That original board instantly became my favorite board I’ve had in a looooong time, and totally re-stoked me on surfing in a lot of ways. Since then (some time last year it was?) I’ve taken that board down to Central America, where it worked great in the punchy waves, surfed it all around north county where it works well in the sometimes-gutless waves. I really think a whole lot of people who are getting older (and bigger!) like myself but still want to get up and down on waves would really be well served by riding a modernized 80’s tri shape. They just work.
Thanks
Jon P.
January 26, 2009The Frog Master burns the Dead Gecko.
Actually, I used to surf with JP a lot & I don’t think I’ve ever seen him surf like a kook.
On the Breakdown you left out lams by Jon Pankopf at Factory 101.
brownfish
January 26, 2009I like, but the board is not complete until you put some of Marlins fins on it. I’ve had a stringerless blank for some time now and was thinking of doing something similar, but different.
Anonymous
January 26, 2009shaping with soul stealer. no good.
Jeff
January 26, 2009Wow, super cool post, very well put together. That board is epic for its combination old and new…would definitly love more ride reports…did I take those Beacons pics?
thanks for the inspiration…Jeff
Jeff
January 26, 2009BTW-LOL@ Jon P!
Porky
January 26, 2009506-word posts are dangerous. Most surfboarders have trouble reading more than 30 or 40 at a time. At least you breaked them up with pictures.
Kit
January 26, 2009Love the post and the details, Jp — great info and pics for us design fanatics. And have fun on that sled. I rode my first GH last year — late to the dance, but stoked on his skills.
the_ROOSTER_
January 26, 2009Very Sweet!!! – Hey, where can you find that backstop? I like it not being a full pad – dont see anything like it really on D-surf…..or is it a black Will Tant?
Anonymous
January 26, 2009do you know where there is a krispy kreams around here?
Surfy Surfy!
January 27, 200980’s photo credits to Jeff Nelson added.
Logo credit for Jon Pankopf added.
Yes, I surf off my backfoot and yes I was the inspiration for the Cardiff statue. I can’t believe it took them 20 years to finally build it.
We don’t have a Krispy Kreme around here. We go to Tom’s in Leucadia or VG’s in Cardiff.
Surfy Surfy!
January 27, 2009I think D-Surf modified that backstop and now it’s the Will Tant pad which is different now. I will check and see if they have any left.
Bob
January 27, 2009Inspired, indeed. And here I’ve been thinking I have the perfect well rounded quiver.
That tail reminds me of that old La Jolla Surf Systems/SA Thruster3/Nectar I had for many years.
Anonymous
January 27, 2009this post made for a very nice evening thanks JP. enjoyed the depth and detail.
looks like gary and who ever shared the bucket o brew need some beer education from the north/west. with some basic education gary’s smile would have greater depth and breadth! and there are amazing flavors available.
the 5 and 6mm wetsuits help us deal with the temps but the micro brew is the real secret.
Oceans Rising
January 27, 2009holy S#!+
Decay
January 27, 2009u are the man! now let me ride that thing…
Surfy Surfy!
January 27, 2009That was the first and last time I ever saw GH drink a beer.
tyler h.
January 27, 2009That was at ****’s birthday party and if I remember it right, things went real downhill shortly after that picture was taken.