F-17’6″ and the ASS

[singlepic=2942,188,125]Doug Lock talks about the dimension and performance of the F-17'6", and shows the Active Steering System he attached on a 15' board.(click thumbnail to launch video)Doug Lock: This is a 17rsquo;6rdquo; shaped by Mark Raaphorst of Sandwich Isle Composites andhellip;Evan Leong: So would it be called F-17?Doug Lock: F-17rsquo;6rdquo;. Itrsquo;s just kind of last yearrsquo;s model when he was makinghellip;when he was prototyping the different big boards. This is just pre-F-16.Evan Leong: How does this compare to your F-16?Doug Lock: I like this better. This is heavier but I like the glide. This is more of a big water board. When it is really windy, over 20 knots, and the bumps are groomed, this thing ishellip;Evan Leong: Heavy, yeah?Doug Lock: Itrsquo;s heavy. Irsquo;m guessing it weighs probablyhellip;it has got to weigh 50 pounds, some where around there. It has quite a bit of material on it.Evan Leong: That steeringhellip; that rudder thing that you put on it is kind of cool.Doug Lock: Well, I went off the paddle boards because all the paddle boards have thathellip;some people I guess they call it the kelp rudder or what not. But what the theory ismdash;two theories actually. This leading edge here is supposed to be for kelp because what happens if your edge was a regular rudder it would get stuck on the rudder and wrap up and of course it will slow you down. But the theory behind this too is that the leading edge that does not turn theoretically is quicker because this is a break. If you have just a rudder, itrsquo;s more of a break. This is a just a leading edge that stays straight all the time. I also feel that it makes the board more stable. It tracks it more and it didnrsquo;t feel like it was tracking it to a point where you could not steer the board because this is still allowing you to go left to right. So this just feels more like a stabilizer fin and just seems to track you straighter.Evan Leong: And this is the new one you just got, right?Doug Lock: This is a new one. This is a 15-foot and if you see the rail differencehellip; on the 17rsquo;6rdquo;, this rail has got a slight chime down under here basically just forhellip; and I feel for the bigger board. This is kind of necessary because it is so big that if you get in a situation where you canrsquo;t correct the board this kind of has a neutral area where it kind of free you up a little bit where it is sticking. This is kind of low, softer point. If you look at the 15-footer it has an extreme edge almost all the way from the nose, pretty much all the way down to the tail. Itrsquo;s just sharper and sharper. Theoretically this is faster and of course you want to go faster, faster is better. But the control thing is different too. I donrsquo;t know with this since not riding this yet. I have to compare what this softened rail feels as opposed to a really sharperhellip; I donrsquo;t think itrsquo;s going to hinder the performance or speed much either. So I think it is going to be fine.Evan Leong: Ok, letrsquo;s take a closer look at the 15rsquo; then.Evan Leong: This is pretty sweet looking, huh?Doug Lock: Yeah. Different lineshellip; the steering system is different. Itrsquo;s solid. It has got a nice ASS on it.Evan Leong: Oh it changes up.Doug Lock: Yeah, now you can move the steering system forward or back depending on where you want to stand on the board. Maybe depending on conditions.Evan Leong: Oh really?Doug Lock: Yeah, you see you can slide this up. It has got the holes here so you can move it up farther and easier, not just so you can lock right in. It just slides right in so you have an option to move it up if you want.Evan Leong: Oh, so if you move it to this piece right here then the whole thing moves forward.Doug Lock: Correct.Evan Leong: But you put this kind of fly paper-ish stuff...