This Zen Blade Flextail features 3 x cedar stringers Glass tints in natural earth colour / 6oz bottom / 6x6 oz deck Hand made glassed on single fin in carbon fibre and tinted natural earth colour glass. Tail is full carbon fibre with EVA foam / Art meets science Its very rare for me to offer a stock board of this calibre , usually I build them to custom orrder only. Its a flexible blade , with variable curve , delivering adjustable arcs and turns , pop and twang . There's nothing like riding a flexible blade! I have devoted fifty years to experimentation, refinement and the advocacy of flexible variable curves in surfboards. I could argue that along with concaves, the exploration of flex and the development of its most technical execution is my most significant contribution to surfing. I have been pioneering both since the early 1970’s. If you ask anyone who has ridden an Outer Island Flextail, they will speak to you of previously unexperienced levels of energy built through turns and drive that feels like there is no top end to your board speed. Like a dolphin’s tail, the Flextail generates propulsion, drive and acceleration out of the turns. The tail flexes as you apply power, carving a tighter arc the harder you extend through your turn. Energy is loaded in the carbon tail and released when coming out of the turn (reflex) delivering drive and acceleration, like a diver launching from a spring board, or an arrow loosed from a bow. Unlike conventional boards which are rigid and have one inbuilt set of curves, the flextail means that the board has variable curves. Imagine a board with optimal rocker for innate board speed on takeoff and trimming. Now, imagine increased tail rocker delivering arcs from wide to tight, based on the pressure applied during the turn by the rider. And you have the Flextail. Flextails feel alive to ride, utterly responsive to wave shape and conditions, carving variable arcs and springing out of turns with a sling shot effect. I produce Flextails in 2 kinds of construction: 1: the original classic transparent fibreglass laminate , inspired by George Greenough’s flexible spoons. 2: Outer Island’s proprietary high end composite construction incorporating carbon fibre, high-end vinyl ester resin and EVA flexible foam rubber. It is unquestionably the most advanced technology available today. Flextails can be built in all models excluding traditional longboards. They have always been highly sought after by surfers chasing waves of consequence. When Derek Hynd built his Search quiver for J Bay in the 1990’s, he commissioned a brace of Flextails that ended up being used to stunning effect by both he and Tom Curren. Unashamedly, Flextails aren’t cheap. But neither is a Ferrari or a Porsche. These are lifetime boards. Typically, the surfer who invests in a Flextail ends up coming back for more. Because there is nothing that compares to a flexible blade…
