Whatcha ridin Jonas?!
October 30th, 2009 - MK
Whatcha ridin Jonas?!
In this brand new series we’re checking out what the umi boys are riding and why. Kickoff is with Jonas Ceballos, who tells us all about his Seb Wenzel Fanatic shapes. Over to you Jonas!
‘This is my 78-litre board shaped by Sebastian Wenzel. It is about 231 cm long and 56 cm wide. I’ve been working on my boards a lot and we made some changes this year. This board has more rocker than before and we put some more double concave in the mono concave. We also moved the finboxes more forward. The rail we kept the same as my previous boards, they were working really well. When I tried this board the first time I was so stoked, it was exactly what I was looking for.’
Do you tell Sebastian exactly what you want to change on a board, or do you tell him what feeling you are looking for?
‘Normally I explain him what I want from the board and then we check what we can do to achieve that goal. I have my prototype boards and I only make small changes to them. Sebastian has his computer so all my designs are in there. If I like a board that he already has on his computer, we work with that basic shape but for instance with a different rocker and different concaves. Then he makes the board with his CNC machine, I try it and if it’s good we keep working on it. If it is not good we put it away and try again. Small changes every time.’
Whatcha ridin Jonas?!
Whatcha ridin Jonas?!
Are your boards much different from the ones Victor and Brawzinho are riding?
‘Yes, they are different. I was trying their boards on Maui, Brawzinho uses wider boards than me, because he’s heavier. His rails are also different, softer than what I have on my boards. His shapes were good, but a bit harder to turn; I was feeling more confident with my own shapes. Victor uses the same kind of boards as Brawzinho: softer rails and the same concaves.
‘This year in Maui we did an overall test with all our boards. The whole team said they felt very confident on my boards, they had a lot of speed and a really nice bottom turn. Some said the top turn was not really good. Maybe that was cause they couldn’t control it haha.’
Whatcha ridin Jonas?!
What’s the difference between your boards and the Fanatic production boards?
‘My boards have more rocker and more concave than the production boards. For the production boards they make a mix. Say Klaas Voget is testing… he likes the rails I use, the bottom shape of Brawzinho’s board and the outline of Victor’s boards, they try out all these element to come up with the best shape. I don’t mix though, I never go for really big changes because I don’t know whether it is going to work or not. I have had my line since I started with Fanatic and when I feel good with something I prefer to make small changes, step by step.’
You switched from single to twin, do you still use single fins?
‘No, after I started using the twin fins I stopped using them. I sailed a single fin in Hawaii in springtime and I felt like it was not me sailing there. I felt like a beginner. A really strange feeling when you think that I rode single fins for a long time before, but the turns are really different. The single fins have more open long turns, whereas with this board here I can just kill it.
‘What I felt in the beginning is that with the two fins I had more drive on the wave, tighter turns and a better snap. The boards slash really easy, they don’t stick to the water, a very fluid ride.’
What about jumping?
‘I thought that with two fins I would be slow, but I feel I have the same speed for jumping. Besides that I have really good control before the take off, it’s perfect.’
Whatcha ridin Jonas?!
You have your fins really to the front of the fin box, why is that?
‘Putting the fins to the front gives me more drive in the turns. Especially on the closer turns, when I push really hard with my feet. If I want to do three turns on one wave it is good to have this setup. It also gives me more control. I always use 16 cm fins on this board, they fit perfectly. The mast foot I put a bit to the front, I never really change that.’
Whatcha ridin Jonas?!
Do you have a fixed distance between your footstraps?
‘Yes, I do but I don’t remember how much it is haha. This year I put them even further apart, like 2 cm extra for extra control.’
What do you think about quads?
‘I don’t know about them. A lot of guys are going for that now, but I don’t know if that is really the way to go. Maybe it is good for wave riding, but not everybody is able to really ride waves, you know?’
Whatcha ridin Jonas?!
MORE INFO AT: www.umipictures.com
All action shots by John Carter/PWA
