More Mule Mods

The reshaping of the nose had good results.  But the trim point where it would turn was still very small.  I think a small bit of rocker may help, but I can't add that.  What I could add for some stability were fins.  I make some small keels and tried them in a couple of places.

 I tried keels on the tail.  I put a bit of toe-in to the keels and that acted like brakes, really slowing the board down.  I could turn, but the board really wanted to go straight.   

 So I relocated them up to where they would be on my simms style board, without the toe-in.  The braking effect was gone, but I had to be up near the nose to get a turn out of it.  

Fine, so now I'm going to try a small single fin in the center.  I'm hoping it will give my just a tad bit of stability in the tail.  I think that with all that sharp rail, it does not need much of a fin at all.  In fact, the addition of a fin was really to allow me to get an idea of how the bottom shape performs and then remove the fin.  

Mule Mods

I knew the bottom shape of the Mule was not ideal and it was apparent when I rode it.  There was too much volume in the first third of the board and I felt that the rails were way too thick there too.  Because of this, I had to stand really forward to have any control on the board.  I had some directional control standing up, but not a lot.  I could bellyboard it just fine, but standing up was really tricky. As it is a prototype, I had no problem taking the planer to the bottom and reshaping it as I would a foam blank.  I reduced the volume and thinned out the rails, giving the entry a much more conventional shape.

 Big difference on new and old rail.  

I'm hoping this will improve it's behavior. Next time I try a radical shape, it is going to be in foam and not wood!