Wow, That’s long!
Hello Huck,
great build thread. I like the idea of this shape very much. The bottom contours do reflect in JC Nelsons long version of Outlier, Parallax, Apex and Neo Classic, may be you have a look on those and find the little differences. It may give you an additional input for your board. Those shapes go from belly in the front with uprails to the tail with a hard edge, but they do not show a Vee in the tail, it looks that they are dead flat, at least, if you check the video material on youtube. The only thing I would criticise is, why did you build with foam, not a HWS… 
I build a similar, but shorter one (8’8) in spring https://jamboards.com/threads/the-wooden-balsa-para-lier-8‘8-build.12213/page-6 , but it is still at home and has not seen any water yet. Hope to get it to Portugal end of this month. Then I will see how this bottom concept really works.
Enjoy your build, it will be a great board!
Greetings from the other side of the pond (Atlantic)
Uwe
Hello and thanks for the feedback. I went ahead and shaped the V into the tail, I’m hoping it helps a little leaning into turns.
Shaping foam is not easy, although it is a very different path from HWS. I kinda gave up on HWS as a practcal daily driver because of the way they take in water with a leak, and the way the air expands with temperature changes. There are ways of dealing with that stuff of course, but you can’t beat foam for a daily driver.
Foam is challenging to shape, The triple stringer adds an extra element of challenge because of the differing hardness of wood vs foam in the middle of your curves. The center stringer is a little different matter. Anyway, it is proceeding slowly, as I say, I like to work gradually and that way I don’t suddenly find I’ve gone too far. I admire the speed of the pro shapers, but for a guy who builds his own boards, one or two a year, this is a good pace for me.
I do enjoy working with wood and I plan to add some wood to the build in ways that should increase the longevity of the board, and hopefully look good too. Been working on the decoative aspects of the project.
As I wind up the actual shaping of the foam, its all about taking my time to make sure its where I want it to be before glassing.
I double check thickness at key points to make sure thickness (foil) is symmetrical. I double check width at key points to make sure the plan shape is symmetrical. I use my string with weights draped over the blank at 90 degrees to the stringer to eyeball rail and deck/bottom contours. I use a straight edge to check the V and the belly. Everything gets adjusted as needed.
At this point I know the board will not be perfect, but I try to make sure I’m not going to have regrets when I glass it and see some glaring goof that would have been easy to fix before glass.
And now I have to be a lot more careful handling the blank not to bonk into stuff and put dents all over the place 
- And now I have to be a lot more careful handling the blank not to bonk into stuff and put dents all over the place :-)
Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt. Given my process and workspace I’ll most likely go there again.
Yeah, I have several. A hot iron and a wet paper towel took out 90% of the damage. Spackle the 10% I guess - or just let them fill in when I glass
The rail channels are just a convenience I like to add because they make grabbing, moving, or holding on a little easier.
Some progressive build pics. The wood is paulownia from Brad Tucker, ripped to about 1/8” thickness. On the deck its purpose is to reinforce the area I always mash in over time, and on the bottom to strengthen the fin area.
In this photo you can see I am routering the area down to create a recess for the wood to sit flush.
On the nose block I wanted to try something just a little different, so I kinda fitted the wood between the stringers, rather than just cut across for the block. Its not a detail anyone really notices, but looks cool to me.
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So far the board has been a success in everything I set out to accomplish. It looks huge in the pics but feels much smaller riding it, is a very comfortable size for me.
I had a few problems glassing with old thick resin, but everything turned out ok.
I love it!
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The leash attach (my signature detail) and the fin box. I set the fin box a little farther forward as discussed in a previous post, working good so far.
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Thanks for sharing the build, that came out amazing. A true work of art, congrats.
Youre welcome! I’m glad someone got something out of the thread. Swaylocks used to be a place for handmade build threads like this, obviously not so much anymore.
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Hopefully people will start to put some more up on the new platform. I’m (slowly) planning out my 2nd ever board (around 15 years after my first!!!) and will post some progress once I get started. Hopefully I’ll get started in the next couple of months??!!
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