Transmission Parabolic Flex System (PFS)
In: Transmission 0 Comments Sat 11th Jun '11
Tags: parabolic , PFS , Mez , World Bodyboards
The "Magic Carpet" first came to media attention after Dave Winchester's complete domination of the 2010 IBA Arica Chile event. The fundamental element of Dave's board was a design breakthrough in the Parabolic Flex System or PFS (patent pending). I had been studying the concept of parabolic stringers used in surfboards and how they used harder foams on the rails, outside of the stringers, to add strength and rigidity to their boards. In the case of a bodyboard, we require the rails to flex to facilitate edge control, so I started playing around with the reverse principal of surfboard design i.e. stiff central core with flexible outer rails.
Winny's Magic Carpet was still a work in progress and although it worked amazingly well, the material I was using for the outer rail edges didn't hold up well to the punishment. Numerous prototypes and all manner of central and outer core constructions were tried until we settled on the final PFS design. The magic combination features a 1.9lbs Kinetic core centre, thermo-bonded to the flexible outer rail edge profiles via two vertical "beams". The vertical beams are constructed from T90, a high-strength honeycomb, structural foam that allows the outer rail profiles to flex and compress at a different rate to that of the more rigid central core. This enables the rails to contort in the wave face for optimum edge control, while the central core maintains a more streamlined profile for maximum board speed. Essentially, PFS gives the rider the best of both worlds, flex and rigidity, in one board. - Mez.









