THE HAKA BENCH SEAT - AN ALTERNATIVE TO TRAMPS

There is a video out there of guys sailing to Catalina with SUPs strapped down as hakas. Great idea. I'd go shorter than 10' personally.

As far as making them yourself...well, I make surfboards as a side business, and I don't do SUPs because they are just not economical. A SUP blank is a couple hundred bucks to begin with. A great majority of them are made in factories in Thailand and China where there is an economy of scale with low labor costs and little environmental concerns. Also, those factories have been making sailboards for decades and know how to make a board that won't snap (for the most part...I've seen a number of el-cheapo SUPs snap out here in relatively small surf).

At a minimum you're talking 24 yards of 6-oz cloth and a couple gallons of epoxy (you can use poly, it's a bit cheaper, but epoxy gets you the better strength-to-weight). Additionally most quality SUPs use some carbon along the rails, as well as a high-density deck inlay of either wood or something like Divinycell, as the deck is under constant heel pressure. Again these are lessons-learned from the sailboard industry. End of the day, I'd have to spend over $500 on materials (add in fin boxes, handles, leash plugs, fins) and spend a ridiculous amount of time (holy cow, filling/sanding/polishing 10' plus of board...). You certainly can, but for me, I just tell my customers to go down to Naish or Tropical Blends and spend the money on a quality SUP that will rip and last for years. It's expensive, but worth it in my opinion.

I HAVE considered making regular surfboards in the 6'5" range for the same purpose...much easier project. Of course I could probably just use one of the 20 or so boards in my quiver already...

-RH

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2013 Tandem Island "Victory Lane"
Oahu, Hawaii
www.rotorheadsblog.blogspot.com

RH:
Good advice, it seems the cost of all the materials keeps going up. I'll take your advice and just keep my eyes out for a couple nice SUP boards. On my most recent upgrade to my TI ( adding a hull section in the back to convert the hull to a planing hull) the material cost for the 4 lb two part urethane foam and the glass and resin came out to about $250 bucks (expensive stuff), so I believe your estimate is very accurate.
Back to the drawing board ( or modified back boards (lol))
Bob

Bob,
The problem with sup's is their weight ...around 20kg's.
Look for posts by larryhts who used sup's as haka but traded up to spineboards to save weight.
viewtopic.php?f=69&t=37645&p=195138&hilit=sup#p195138
viewtopic.php?f=69&t=37645&p=221550#p221550
Regarding surfboards ...are they strong enough to handle the 1.4m/1.5m span of the TI/AI aka?

"The problem with sup's is their weight ...around 20kg's."

Yup, about 20 pounds each for the big ones. My Naish 11'4" is 24; their 8'5" model is 20.

"Regarding surfboards ...are they strong enough to handle the 1.4m/1.5m span of the TI/AI aka?"

Your basic off-the-rack shortboard/funboard? Probably enough for one lightweight person...in calm seas. Most longboards have strong glassing and thicker stringers and would work just fine. If I were to do a purpose-made set (with a nice papaya yellow resin tint) I'd use a heavy blank (2.0 PCF) with a thick stringer and a heavy glass job just to be sure.

If I were taking boards (SUP or otherwise) while sailing the TI I probably wouldn't sit on them. I love my boards...I cringe at the thought of sitting on one as I pound away on a reach. I actually have a PVC surf rack for my TI that drops into the rod holders, for transporting boards while pedaling out to outer reefs (rigged without sail/ama). Can't use it with the sail as it hangs over the stern (and thus would interfere with the main sheet rigging).

For hakas, wood is good - cheap, easy to use and refinish, and durable. Next to that, those spine boards look like the best choice in my opinion.

-RH

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2013 Tandem Island "Victory Lane"
Oahu, Hawaii
www.rotorheadsblog.blogspot.com

Thanks for the info RH. Larryhts reported his SUP's weigh 48lbs each!
The problem I see with SUP's and surfboards is that it is difficult to add fittings after they are made.



Bob, I'm very happy with my aluminium foam sandwich haka made out of Versiclad insulated panel. They have stood up very well to the elements and while they mightn't look as good as wood they have been maintenance free. They are also very light and float.
With renewed interest in haka and lot's of new forum members I thought it might be timely to repost this tribute video I put together to all the great haka ideas from this forum:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbTL_1K_7-s[/youtube]

Great ideas. I just got a TI, and I'll be sailing around Salem, Massachusetts. I've only been out a few times, but I see why you say it's a wet ride.

I love to tinker, and I've been thinking about adding hakas. I'm leaning toward simple, light wood construction. I just had an idea about another material, and wonder what you guys think...

This stuff is used to make lobster traps. They stay submerged for years, and are roughly used on a daily basis. I've also seen park benches made from the stuff, so it is stiff enough for that application as well. Light weight, maintenance-free, and fairly cheap based on what I've seen from a quick look online $75 plus shipping for 15 ft, 2 ft wide. It weighs 10 pounds. It's vinyl-coated galvanized welded steel. You work it using a brake for bending, c-clips for fastening.

I think you might get away with just bending a "hook" the full width of the haka at the front, plus a right-angle bend at the back to hold it against the back aka. Curl the edge under for a nice comfy seat, and to add some stiffness. If you need more stiffness, a wooden dowel could be added to one or both edges, inside the curl.

What do you think?

Actually that would be pretty cool, like wings on a getaway. Seating for ten, but they would need to be very small people (lol)
Bob

I strapped my wife's sup to the TI once. Was a bit of a pita. Duct taped pool noodles onto the akas and removed the clip for the paddle shaft so that the sup wouldn't get scratched up. Used straps for car topping kayaks, cam straps? No ratchet mechanism. The actual transport on the water was fine. Didn't notice much of a performance hit. Wind was maybe 10-15 knots. Fairly easy to load/unload in the water. Just slid it off and on from the stern because of the fin.

Took extra time for set up and tear down so were I to do it again I'd probably figure out something that worked better than duct taping noodles. Didn't try using the sup as hakas.

So I decided to order two plastic spine boards from China.

After a bit of communication with a guy named "Axe Dazzle" I orderd this model http://www.aliexpress.com/item/DW-PE004 ... 53679.html

My first attempt resulted in a cancelled order as "apparently" the shipping price was listed wrong. The original cost was $130 each, delivered. This resulted in me being about $18 AU out of pocket due to exchange rates and the way they manage refunds. Not sure if this was a bait'n'switch or a genuine mistake. I almost gave up after this, but decided to try again once I got my original payment refunded.

My order was placed on the 1st of July and delivered today 10th of July. So 10 days (8 business days) from order until delivery. The good part was he only had them in yellow, which suited me just fine as I have a Yum Yum Yellow AI.

The website lists the weight as 7kg (15.4 lb) each and my digital bathroom scales report they weigh 6.3kg (13.8 lb)

The cost each ended up being $188.00 AU Certainly not a bargain, but affordable enough compared to the cost of my AI and other items I have bought for my Hobie over the years.

They look good John! I wish I was athletic enough to move around my TI, so I could justify adding a pair to mine.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

Hopefully its a bit warmer on Saturday so I can test fit them. It's currently 5 deg c (40 deg F) in my shed so I'm staying in the house

I really like the solutions with spine boards. They are durable, floats and have lots of places to attach different gear.
In Sweden they are a bit pricy but my biggest concern is there weight.
I have made different prototypes and for now I have one HAKA that goes under 6,5 lb (2,8 kg).
If it works good during the 2014-long-trip I will make nr 2 the same.
I will make a short movie and post a link.

br thomas

Looking forward to it!

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Simon

These spine boards look like a really good solution to having Hakas. Price is a bit of a killer but they certainly look the part. Please keep us posted John on how they perform.

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.

I went out to give the spine board hakas a test today. The wind failed to show up so I didn't get a chance to try them while sailing. However, they are great for storing stuff on and they felt vey secure while sitting on them. The railblazer mount fits perfectly on the handles too.