nice obct.
i surfed my bonzer for the first time today and im kicking myself i had not owned one years ago.
will have to find a piece Nick Carroll did about them.
Any luck hunting down the article yet? Also it would be nice if you post a few more pics of your board and a small review
I am pretty sure a few folks would love to see and hear a bit more about it!
Nice clip Chrispy..
He still surfs good...really good..
No more Bonzer talk, it is making me think I need another board.
but seriously.
would like to hear more about how it surfs? Is it like a thruster? Quad, single?? suit down the line waves, beaches or both??
Nice clip Chrispy..
He still surfs good...really good..
No more Bonzer talk, it is making me think I need another board.
but seriously.
would like to hear more about how it surfs? Is it like a thruster? Quad, single?? suit down the line waves, beaches or both??
Sorry Ted and SP.
The bonzer will be up after a few surfs. I already love this board am going to get another more refined one for bigger surf.
The ride is something else.
More thoughts on it after dinner![]()
Picking up a 6'4 tomorrow for the bigger stuff,hope the swell spike hangs in for another day,although it only jumped from 1-2ft to 3-4ft but great shape.heres the piece Nick wrote on the Campbell bros Bonzers.
Surfline's Nick Carroll replies: WK sticks to its long-held theory that no surfboard has drawbacks. They all, however, have their very own performance characteristics, which may or may not suit the prevailing styles of surfing and approaches to waves. The Bonzer is without doubt surfing's greatest example of a surfboard design slipping through the cracks, so to speak. When it was first created back in 1970 in Ventura by brothers team Malcolm and Duncan Campbell, it was a decade or two ahead of its time -- basically a single-to-double concave with three fins. Several top professional surfers, notably Ian Cairns, Peter Townend and Terry Richardson, rode Bonzers with great success, but the design didn't catch on, partly because it was difficult to imitate; not too many shapers were interested in concaves in the early 1970s, and the keel-style side fins didn't come off the shelf. It may also have been that shortboard style -- at the time only a few years beyond longboards -- wasn't ready for a board that drove turns past its natural arc, as Bonzers and Thrusters both tend to do. It took the pressure of big time pro surfing in small surf through the late 1970s to take surfing styles to those levels. Twin-fins -- originally another 1970 idea -- came along again in 1976, then the Thruster in 1980, then the single-to-double concaves in 1989. These design shifts largely did for performance what Bonzers might have done years before, but in a simpler, easier-to-imitate fashion. Meanwhile Duncan and Malcolm refined the Bonzer idea, coming up with double keel side-fin setups and moderating the dramatic concave nozzles. Quite a few top surfers rode it, especially in the mid to late 1990s, and loved its drivey certainty. The Bonzer feel is essentially that of an enhanced single-fin, very sure of itself in the pocket and on the rail, and very tail-based. But the truth is that at the high-tech cutting edge of modern performance surfing, surfers have advanced well beyond an enhanced single-fin approach, and no longer ride solely in a tail-based fashion. They're riding off rail concaves, front rail edges, rockers ... just about any surface available, and they need a freer tail than that supplied by the Bonzer design. This does NOT rule out the Bonzer as a great design for the power surfer who's looking to carve strong rail turns and ride the tube. For such surfers, it's an excellent alternative to standard Thruster design, and WK encourages its use.
Submit your surfboard design question at sure-forum@surfline.com
I've had my kneelo five fin bonzer for about 3 months now , at first I thought what have I done you know sometimes dreams don't always matchup with reality . But this board is absolute magic ![]()
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bonzers aren't for everyone surfing style , but if you like driving down the line and carving top to bottom and linking big turns or the flip side just going with flow these bonzers will just my you froth ![]()
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I will definitely be getting another one , now I get how they work oh baby!!! Can't wait to design the next one![]()
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I've had my kneelo five fin bonzer for about 3 months now , at first I thought what have I done you know sometimes dreams don't always matchup with reality . But this board is absolute magic
bonzers aren't for everyone surfing style , but if you like driving down the line and carving top to bottom and linking big turns or the flip side just going with flow these bonzers will just my you froth
I will definitely be getting another one , now I get how they work oh baby!!! Can't wait to design the next one
Pics please...
That Malloy clip is great if you want to watch an excellent video which also features them amongst others get hold of"one California day" you'll watch it again and again.
Nice clip Chrispy..
He still surfs good...really good..
No more Bonzer talk, it is making me think I need another board.
but seriously.
would like to hear more about how it surfs? Is it like a thruster? Quad, single?? suit down the line waves, beaches or both??
Sorry Ted and SP.
The bonzer will be up after a few surfs. I already love this board am going to get another more refined one for bigger surf.
The ride is something else.
More thoughts on it after dinner
long dinner?
Picking up a 6'4 tomorrow for the bigger stuff,hope the swell spike hangs in for another day,although it only jumped from 1-2ft to 3-4ft but great shape.heres the piece Nick wrote on the Campbell bros Bonzers.
Surfline's Nick Carroll replies: WK sticks to its long-held theory that no surfboard has drawbacks. They all, however, have their very own performance characteristics, which may or may not suit the prevailing styles of surfing and approaches to waves. The Bonzer is without doubt surfingeat read.'s greatest example of a surfboard design slipping through the cracks, so to speak. When it was first created back in 1970 in Ventura by brothers team Malcolm and Duncan Campbell, it was a decade or two ahead of its time -- basically a single-to-double concave with three fins. Several top professional surfers, notably Ian Cairns, Peter Townend and Terry Richardson, rode Bonzers with great success, but the design didn't catch on, partly because it was difficult to imitate; not too many shapers were interested in concaves in the early 1970s, and the keel-style side fins didn't come off the shelf. It may also have been that shortboard style -- at the time only a few years beyond longboards -- wasn't ready for a board that drove turns past its natural arc, as Bonzers and Thrusters both tend to do. It took the pressure of big time pro surfing in small surf through the late 1970s to take surfing styles to those levels. Twin-fins -- originally another 1970 idea -- came along again in 1976, then the Thruster in 1980, then the single-to-double concaves in 1989. These design shifts largely did for performance what Bonzers might have done years before, but in a simpler, easier-to-imitate fashion. Meanwhile Duncan and Malcolm refined the Bonzer idea, coming up with double keel side-fin setups and moderating the dramatic concave nozzles. Quite a few top surfers rode it, especially in the mid to late 1990s, and loved its drivey certainty. The Bonzer feel is essentially that of an enhanced single-fin, very sure of itself in the pocket and on the rail, and very tail-based. But the truth is that at the high-tech cutting edge of modern performance surfing, surfers have advanced well beyond an enhanced single-fin approach, and no longer ride solely in a tail-based fashion. They're riding off rail concaves, front rail edges, rockers ... just about any surface available, and they need a freer tail than that supplied by the Bonzer design. This does NOT rule out the Bonzer as a great design for the power surfer who's looking to carve strong rail turns and ride the tube. For such surfers, it's an excellent alternative to standard Thruster design, and WK encourages its use.
Submit your surfboard design question at sure-forum@surfline.com
Thanks Ricardo - great read
you are a ****
You are welcome![]()
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Wonder how many orders he has got already...
Nice clip Chrispy..
He still surfs good...really good..
No more Bonzer talk, it is making me think I need another board.
but seriously.
would like to hear more about how it surfs? Is it like a thruster? Quad, single?? suit down the line waves, beaches or both??
Sorry Ted and SP.
The bonzer will be up after a few surfs. I already love this board am going to get another more refined one for bigger surf.
The ride is something else.
More thoughts on it after dinner
long dinner?
yeh yeh. thanks Ricardo,thats one,but there is another as well.
Great clip, Chrispy. I know that's not uber performance surfing in modern terms but they are drawing timeless lines with power and grace. And throwing buckets. That's the surfing I like watching. Barrels are always cool.
Great clip, Chrispy. I know that's not uber performance surfing in modern terms but they are drawing timeless lines with power and grace. And throwing buckets. That's the surfing I like watching. Barrels are always cool.
yep so do i.
I surf with a bloke who just kills us with the lines and style he has. So good to sit back and soak it up
But you went so conventional on the tail...![]()
I want to see a fangtail next.![]()
I pity the poor bastard that has to sand it but it looks awesome..
More photos please..
I would.love to smash a few.cans watching that![]()
I am assuming it will.be a finless? Just looks like a.thruster with the extra high ridges in the channels![]()
nah not one of mine...Tommy Peterson came up with idea and got Corey Graham to shape it......apparently it took Russ two days to glass it and Corey another day to sand it....the pics don't really do it justice its a work of art in the flesh
Is the tail really thin? Or has the stringer been purposely left like that and not cut down when they put it in?
Is the tail really thin? Or has the stringer been purposely left like that and not cut down when they put it in?
yeah stringer has been purposely left like that...no fins for this bad boy those bits on the rail would 3/4 of and inch deep as well