Hello, I have cut the outline out for my latest personal board–it is a 5’6" x 21" round-tail mini simmons-style board. I am pulling the tail in with a wing or two, and am wondering about fin setups… do y’all think a 2+1 setup would work on a groveler board? I like the way 2+1’s ride on a few of my other boards that are in the 5’8" to 5’11" range, but am not sure how the fin setup will translate to a board that is much wider in general, and how it would perform in relatively mushy surf (most days here in Florida), particularly on the knee to thigh-high days. I know this of course depends a lot on fins choice and how much fin area there is, and I have a variety of options regarding which combo I throw in. I am leaning towards the NPJ placement at 6 1/4" for the center fin and 12.5" for the sides. I know a quad would be fine, but I love the feel of a single fin and a 2+1. And the setup would allow me to also throw some keels on it as well… just not sure how the 2+1 would work and I don’t want to overload the tail of the board with fin hardware. What say you, and thanks!
Oh God yes! 2+1 is fine. Toss in a box fin on back if you prefer. You can do any fin combo you want.
Awesome, thanks Shapaholic2011! Any further input is welcome 
I wouldn’t advise putting your twins up over 11-12" , but that’s just me…
Also, thin it more than a psb bcuz ur on a wider more bouyant platform…you got gobs of float- it’s almost like a boogie board…What do you weigh?
Id thin the tail out at the 12" mark with ur surform man(on bottom side)…then smooth out the camel hump upboard there…ur board will turn better. Just don’t go crazy with it. The nose thinning is optional. But I’d consider a bit of thinning on deck side from wide point to nose to reduce swing weight…im a garage guy, so it’s totally your call trying it all out. That said, I had two happy campers riding my boards. So far almost five built, but I got one board 2/3 done I gotta strip bcuz I botched my glass job.i now have a modified jet fish in progress…live and learn…im actually learning how to glass now. Have fun with it!
Yeah, I had a board with similar dims that I simply surfed out and had to retire so I have a good idea how much foam works for me–I am 6’0" and a stocky 210-212 (not fat, just big boned, ha ha) so a board with this much float isn’t too much for me to throw around. My previous board had a quad setup and I rode it mostly with a set of keels. It had a really wide tail (18+ inches) with a rocket shape so the rail line was super straight. So it was a fast board with the parallel rails. This time I am looking for something a bit easier to turn so I shortened it up and am pulling the tail in and doing the 2+1 for a bit more pivot and looseness–necessary if you want to turn on a normal day here at the NSB Inlet. Such a wide planshape will allow me to thin the whole board out too–I’ll probably go 2.75" or 2 5/8 and pinch the rails a bit. I have outlines cut out for boards numbers 4, 5, and 6, one of which is the first board I have shaped for someone else. Luckily I have Randy Richenberg here that will do my glassing for me–that is a beast I have yet to tackle other than glassing retro-fit fin boxes and all types of ding repair (I used to work at the factory with Randy before I got a big-boy job–but in reality would much rather still be at the factory if it paid more than cracker jacks, ha ha). But I have yet to glass an entire board–so kudos to you for being on top of that. It is an art for sure. Thanks again for your input–much appreciated, good sir!
Two and five eights is where I’m at…and im same weight as you. I was going for 2 3/4", but I’m there now and have a bit of sanding left…ill more than likely be 2 5/8" thick. But it’ll be better, bcuz width at 21" + is wider than a typical psb anyway… you can thin tail 1 1/2" , and it’s going to float you as long as your tails at least 14-17" wide or so…so take ur planer, surform or whatever and you’re going to need to poke the tail up a bit to get any turnability if ur tails real wide…I personally DON’T go super duper wide. 14" -15 1/2" ,or so…I mean, we get waves here where I’m at that get well over head…so prefer a tail that holds in…but if the waves aren’t of consequence, you can go a bit wider. But still, it’s difficult to sink rail with these massive wider tail. Just my thought on it.
My old mini board was 5’8" and 3" thick–worked well for me at the time but as my surfing progressed and I wanted to start doing harder turns it ended up being too much foam for me. Just hard to bury a rail on something like that. Heres a pick of the boards I am currently working on–these are just the outlines though. Still have yet to get to the shaping bay at the factory: 6’8" single fin on the left–basically a displacement hull outline with the tail pulled in about 3/4". Not doing anything fancy on the bottom though–just gonna keep it flat with a rolled v out the back. Hulls tend to push too much water in FL waves and often don’t work like they are supposed to. The middle board is a 5’ 6.75" Ty Warren Double-Double style board for my buddy–Ty’s answer to the Tomo Vader Curren was shown riding and blowing up on. The far right is the board we have been discussing. I was debating about the wings so I didn’t put them in yet, but I have pretty much made up my mind I am going to put at least one and maybe two wings on it. It’s got a ton of planing surface so it should be fun here at the inlet when it’s a little soft and thigh to waist+. But yeah, I am going to pull that tail in with some wings to keep it snappy and maneuverable, and run the hard edge a hair past the front fins.
Good idea w hard edge past the front fins… that’s actually the right setup for any board. Good job. Ttyl I gotta run sum errands.