Looking for opinions – I’m thinking about an 8’0"x13.25x21.25x14.25" with a single concave bottom. I wonder what I should expect from this bottom configuration and how much tail rocker should be in it to keep it from being too stiff. I would be for the days when the surf is top to bottom and there are lots of sections that are tough to make. Mahalo, Rich
You may want to re think the bottom on that board. Small guns and tow boards can get away with more concave because they’re…smaller. A board that size will be hard to control with too much concave not to mention it will try to find the bottom of the wave all the time. You may want to put in some rolled V or at least flat with soft rails up front. Flat or VERY SLIGHT concave in the middle and SLIGHT double concave V in front of the fins and flat off the tail. Remember that at high speed in bigger, hollower waves all design “accessories” are GREATLY MAGNIFIED!! The most important factors are rocker and the way it integrates into the outline. 6 3\4 nose rocker and 2\34 to 3 inches of tail rocker is safe. Most importantly the rocker (and outline) must be continous. No flats or bumps. Don’t forget the correct fin set up (your speciality!) aloha, TW
Hey I just recently got on these forums and have seen and heard good thinks about your fins. I am reopening my glasshsop in DEC where are you located as I may need some fins made. http://www.paradoxdistribution.com
Hey Tom, Thanks for the responce and perceptive advice. What I’m looking to do is shape a board that is very capable in those critical larger sections that something a little closer to the higher edge of high performance and big enough to get me into the wave early enough to get some early speed in those waves that just wall up and crank. I have found that I very much like the feeling of boards that are light in the water and provide a lot of lift and drive. Your discription of how the bottom should flow from a slight dome of paneled vee in the nose – to flat – to concave – to double concaved vee - to flat makes a lot of sense. I have a 7’9"x19.75" Natural curves that has a bottom very similar to the one you discribe. It looks like a weapon and is extremely calm in the water. It’s just a little short on the kind of lift and drive I’m wanting. My original idea was that of a board with similar rocker to what you suggest though slightly less nose rocker, say around 6.0", and with a similar entry to what you have discribed and then go with a very mild concave (1/32" – 1/16") from a little forward of center through the tail. I’m thinking of keeping the rails fairly soft through the center section of the board and let them increase in hardness with a downward flow toward the tail. I know that a pronounced concave and hardened rails will want to track and without any vee in the tail it will not climb into the wave face and be hateful to manuever unless the tail rocker is exaggerated and that will slow the board down, which is the last thing I want to do. Your words of warning about how every subtlety of rail & bottom configuration is magnified as waves become more critical and bigger is well taken. I’m still working on specks and brainstroming the project so I’m very open to what anyone might have to say. Any further thoughts on a board like this will be greatly appreciated. Mahalo, Rich
Hey Surflab, Just so you know – I don’t make enough fins to supply you with vast quantities of merchandise for a lot of stock boards. All my work is either custom or experimental. I fit fins to the board, rider and conditions. It’s somewhat speculative but certainly less so that what you buy over the counter unless of course you have experience with the “Sunnys”, “K’s”, “Occys” or a “Velzy Classic” and thus know the kind of performance you can expect for the set-up you purchase. What usually happens is that someone has a board that isn’t performing up to snuff or is having a board built and they want to turn it on and after I find out what someone is looking for I can make some suggestions and we go from there. Sometimes a really good surfer will ask me to make them something so we sit down and go through templates, sizes, and talk foils and combinations. I go from there. A fin set-up may be way out of the box or something that is just a subtle improvement on an old idea. I just share what I think the best options are and go with what a surfer thinks will serve him or her best. Mahalo, Rich
If Tom W. is who I think it is, he used to shape my boards for Pipe and Sunset in the 70’s, early 80’s. There was a guy visiting on the North Shore around then who was shaping these concave boards. Beautiful boards. Super fast. I rode one at Sunset and really liked the speed. I think all that speed was wasted because the board skipped around in turns. I told Tom about the board and he threw that Jeff Hakman quote at me with a pirate voice from a surf movie “THAT’S BEACUSE SUNSET JACKS SO MUCH!”.
Hey Dave, That’s a good call – Thanks. I have an 8’0" that a kind of egg shape with lots of concave. I can only surf the board when it’s pretty glassy cause as you say it’s pretty skittery. This one sits down fine in the turns but forget it when there’s any bump on the water. What I’m trying to figure out is how to capture as much as I can of that grand speed in a little more of a gun the same length and width and not have a board that is so condition specific. Could be the board will need a little vee in the tail or it’ll just want to go out of contol. I’d like to keep the tail a little over 14.0" because it’ll make it paddle and catch waves better and still give the board’s outline enough roundness to turn well. Mahalo, Rich
Rich, Try smaller side fins on that concave board when the waves are up a bit. It won’t skip near as much.
Hey Greg, Last time it took the single to double concaved speed platter ((8’0”x17”x21.25”x15.5”x3” rounded pin 4.25” nose rocker, 2” tail rocker)) out in choppy surf with serious size. I figured I could keep it under control with one of Cheyner Horan’s starfins. NO GO! The thing skittered all over the place. Since then I’ve surfed it with lots of different fin combinations with plenty of success but I only take it out when the conditions are good and the wind is down. It has too much area on the bottom of it for rough conditions but on good days the thing is a real flier. Thanx for the suggestion though, It does surf quite well on steep walls with tiny side bites and a 6.5" flexible Mental center. Back to the fin shop, Rich