Final part of the trilogy
After the construction disaster of model 2, the third incarnation came hot on its heels. I knew from my experiences with the Lil' Patriot that the board is fast, and where the first two models were aimed around finding some performance in junky messy waves, for this version I wanted high performance. Wood veneer clearly didn't work out for me so I kept it simple with this one, 5mm balsa sheets top and bottom. For the first board I used 2.5mm balsa but found this didn't give me much room for manoeuvre when I was fine tuning the final shape, plus the added thickness gives the board a bit more strength, allowing the need for less fibreglass.
Taking inspiration from the design of my latest hand planes I forewent the round rails of its predecessors and went for sharp, down-turned rails for the back two-thirds of the board with round entry for the front third. Similar to the previous boards I gave the board a convex belly at the nose for easy entry into the water, with a large flat planing area in the middle, leading to a deep, wide single concave at the back through the twin 5 inch keel fins. 
Keeping the same balsa-ply fins of the second board, this time I gave the fins more cant and significantly more toe-in, relying on the inherit speed of the board to overcome the increased drag but with hopefully control and performance to spare.
Haven't had a chance to give her a run yet but she's a sexy little thing so how can it be anything but great!
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