Soulcraft custom board build
 

Last month I had the opportunity to ride a soulcraft jetty 5.0 for a couple days on my vacation at Banks lake.I have several boards an inland Blue an inland carbon wrap green and a phase five XL carbon drew.I like something about all the boards but the moment I got on the soulcraft it was love at first surf.The board was light it had lots of drive and was super fast edge to edge to generate more speed.After returning from vacation and not having the board to ride any more made me want one more than ever.I contacted Jeff Wahlers and asked about a custom board we discussed design and graphics and the next day the board was shaped . The whole process has been a blast and Jeff has been great to work with. Here are some in process pics cant wait till its done I think its cool seeing the process..........................................H

Cool pics, RJ really likes his 4.10, not to mention Jeff is a great guy to work with.

Ragboy I fell in love with the board the first time i rode it and had to have one.There is just something about the board that immediately allowed me to take my riding to another level.Jeff has been great to work with and the whole process of working with a shaper to get exactly what you want has been so much fun that I cant see myself ever buying another mass produced made in China board ever again.Here are the latest pics they show fin box placement and install.Graphics and glass still to come.............................................. ...H

Yeah, you know I can barely ride on this huge board, but I understand what you are saying based on RJ. We did the polar bear event and that is a great event when you hand out so MANY types of boards and hear people's feedback. And several liked the soulcraft. And Jeff Wahlers had been asking us to try them. So we take home the 4.6 Jetty and then get a chance to play and we go out to do our LONGWAKE podcast. We blew a pump on the goofy side and dropped our extra tsunami in the water, bad day. But RJ was riding the Jetty backside. He said, "Dad, this board is too small for me, but I love it. There is something about it." So we decided we would try another some other time.

This year we finally made our way out to CMS (3 hours away) and we took one off the rack. (Jeff said we could, I swear) it was LIGHT, I mean Flyboy light which really surprised me. I thought, this is going to be fun, but its going to break, but we took it anyway. RJ loved it, he was smiling his entire run, and I could tell it was very fast down the line. On like the second day, the board buckled. Also, we thought it could use a bit more nose rocker to keep from shoveling. So we call Jeff and tell him. Tell him we are sorry and we probably won't get to ride this at the NWOpen. He says, "ship it to me and I will fix it and make it a demo board, what color do you want for the NWOpen board". RJ was stoked, Jeff said that he is getting used to the fact that wake surfers hammer their boards much more than ocean surfers. So he adjusts the rocker for us, and gets a board to us for the NWOpen. RJ didn't do too well, had no time to practice, but we are going out today to rip it up. Jeff is a great guy, we support several board companies, and Soulcraft is def in that list.

Now the new board, just as light, maybe a tad heavier, but felt just as light to my touch. Jeff put carbon fiber stringers in it, and did some other voodoo magic shaper sh*t. ;-) Jeff should tell you what he did, he told me, but I have no clue. If it was about computers or software, I would have been on that, but it went right over my head. RJ said the board felt much stronger, very solid. The nose rocker also very much helped.

Looking at your pics, I notice the fins, RJ got 415s with the Jetty, and we noticed it was a bit slow on his bottom turns. We swapped out to the 3-2-1s and it made a big difference. I could tell the difference from my POV in the boat. So you may want to give that a shot, it may just be RJs style.

RJ is going to also be riding a Shredstixx Custom Elevation that is coming his way. He tried one at the West Coast Open, and loved it. He has tried them before without much fan fair, but I think they were too short for him. This time he tried Alec Wood's SS and took off. I wasn't on the boat, but everyone came off and told me how great he did. I looked at the pics and agreed.

Here is a pic of RJ on the Jetty and HT traction:

http://wake9-2011-media.s3.amazonaws...31-104645A.jpg

And him on Alec's board:

http://wake9-2011-media.s3.amazonaws...f/IMG_3542.jpg

There are 2 other boards we have seen and want to get RJ on to check them out.

1. The new updated Walker Project Signature Model. The new version is supposed to be a big update. I think RJ is going to try to ride a 4.9. We already love the WSM, so that should be fun.

2. Inland was showing us their new sweet spot pro model, it has this cool layer/channel on the bottom that Mark was explaining to me. He would probably need to explain, because I don't want to botch the details, but it looked and sounded really cool.

Ragboy great write up Jeff is putting carbon fiber stringers in my board as well.After talking with Jeff I was sure he would stand behind his work but it's great to hear from others and makes me feel even better about the purchase.I cant wait to see the board with the graphics.When I first looked at the board I thought no way it will work for me I'm 205 LBS and it was thiner than my inland boards shorter and super light.I decided to give it a try and things just clicked.Thanks for the advice on the fins I will have to give it a try

One thing I have learned, and much of this came from Dennis Horton and Jeff Walker, flotation/thickness is not important. if that thickness helps the shape in the water for some reason sure, but you don't need flotation, only surface area. Case in point is my "custom" surf board made out of plywood, and Jesse's TWP Grom board. Both are VERY thin and don't float much. The more neutrally buoyant they are, the easy they are to get up on, easy to flip. That is why Jesse can ONLY get up on the 2011 TWP Grom board. That is why this fat guy can deep water start a 6 foot piece of plywood. Its very easy to push down under the water.

In ocean surfing you need the flotation to paddle. No paddling in wake surfing. I think as wakesurf boards progress you will see more board manufacturers make more neutrally buoyant boards. Especially for little kids and fat guys. ;-)

Harold I love that board in red! Jeff is a great guy, i'm sure your gonna be super stoked once you get the board in hand! we have to get together soon, Banks lake was a blast!

Here are the latest in process pics.Jeff has been great to work with and has gone out of his way to keep me in the loop.These pics show the carbon fiber reinforcement,the fiberglass and the soulcraft logo being added as well as the first coat of resin.I hope you all are enjoying seeing all the different steps that go into hand making a surf board as much as I am............................................H

That thing is gonna be sic H!

Is there any way you can bring it to Bethy Creek in October?...lol.

Hes a super great guy. Met him a month ago or so. Love his products.....
Going riding this morning and hoping hes out as well :)
Wanna demo a couple more...

Thanks everyone for the Amazing Compliments... I'm truly Honored to be part of this sport and this Wake Surfing Community... To read this thread makes all the hard work and time spent building So Worth it!!!!!
Thanks again everyone.......:D

Jeff has gone out of his way to send me pics of each step.Today the top got glassed and the hot coat applied.The board is really starting to come together I think it looks bad A$$ and I cant wait to get my hands on it.I think the next step will be the art work.Jeff you are the man thanks for all the hard work..................................H

The Board is getting so close to being done.Here is a pic of the bottom after the hot coat. Jeff says that the board should get sanded today than off for art work tomorrow.I should have it well before our trip to the snake river.Cant wait to get out and spend a couple days breaking it in

I cant wait to hear your review on the board.

Board is gorgeous, hope it rides even better than it looks!

Jeff got my board back from Chelsi at Bright Eye Concepts.Here is a pic of the custom art that she did I think it turned out amazing.All thats left now is the final seal coat and the traction pad then it should be on it way to its new home.Jeff thanks for all the hard work the whole process has been a blast and the board turned out just how I imagined.You have earned all my board business in the future and I look foreword to our next project together........................................H

Very cool lookin'.

Nice!!! H!

WOW! Incredible!

Here are the final pics of the build.They show the final sanding process and the finished product.Jeff thanks so much I cant wait to get my hands or should I say my feet on it.The whole process has been a blast Jeff is great to work with.From the first phone call to Jeff till the day my board shipped only took sixteen days I'm sure a more elaborate board would take a little longer but still thats what I call service......................................H

That's a sweet looking board! Congrats on your new baby!

Jealous!!!!!

RJ got more air than he has ever gotten today, and was landing surface and stall 3s all day. Combination of the new wake, and he loves his Jetty. These are video stills, so a bit grainy. When he did them, he did them in a row, just launched. I thought they were the biggest he had done on this board, but I think these are the biggest he has ever done.

http://wake9-2011-media.s3.amazonaws...e/rj-air-1.jpg

http://wake9-2011-media.s3.amazonaws...e/rj-air-2.jpg

http://wake9-2011-media.s3.amazonaws...e/rj-air-3.jpg

So Cool....... Thanks Everyone...

Fly Boy Genius. I thought this might make a cool mural.

So we were out this afternoon and went late. One thing I love about our Ve is the great tower lights so I borrowed Majestic's camera and snapped a few stills. I only caught him on the top of his air once, not as good as the ones above, but a good pic of his new board. Fun day.

http://wake9-2011-media.s3.amazonaws..._night_air.jpg

http://wake9-2011-media.s3.amazonaws..._ve/lights.jpg