Hi everyone! I am new to swaylocks but i came here to ask your guy’s opinions on a new board that I would like to shape. I love the feel of a shortboard and the ability to easly duck dive but I also love fish tail boards so I want to make a combanation. I would like to make a 6’3" fish tail with a max width of 2’.is this possable? if so How thick sould the rails be?
Hey Partner-In-Crime,
You probably should keep it around 19’‘-24’’ wide, For the rails however I would suggest that you figure out how well you can can catch the waves. Building on that if it is harder to catch you should use thicker rails if you can catch waves well thinner rails. Personally as you know I like the best wave catching ability so I use thicker rails. Hope your build goes well.
Cheers, your best bud, JS
I would recommend not going over 22" wide. Generally I like to stay closer to 21" and no longer than the rider is tall for a fish.These are absolute maximum dims. If you’re talking a cross or “hybrid” between a fish and a shortboard, you’re really talking about a “modern fish” type board, which is slightly shorter and wider than your shortboard, but not as short or wide as your traditional fish.
But to address the thickness issue, if your going 6’3 and 22 wide, you don’t need to go more than 2 5/8 thick… unless you’re 200 lbs.
That’s a lot of foam! Here’s a couple of questions I like to ask; 1. Do you like the rail thickness on the current board you are riding? 2. If not, what would you want to change about it? 3. How will this affect the way the board surfs? I agree with Nj surfer and jawssurf that you shouldn’t really go over 22". That’s a lot of curve in the outline of a board that’s only 6’3"…but then again, it’s your project!
I agree with NJ surfer too wide becomes a boar that fights goin on rail…
take the bits you like from the fish and bits you like from the shortboards and blend them together to make afunctional board to suit your local waves and your surfing…sounds easy doesnt it…keen to see what you end up shaping…
www.MOREsurfboards.com
pridmore wrote:
I agree with NJ surfer too wide becomes a boar that fights goin on rail… take the bits you like from the fish and bits you like from the shortboards and blend them together to make afunctional board to suit your local waves and your surfing…sounds easy doesnt it…keen to see what you end up shaping… www.MOREsurfboards.com
I totally agree!
I have a wide tail simmons 5’5" that is 23 7/8" wide and has thickish rails and a little too much rocker for me. I am 190 and I have to work this thing hard to get it going (floats me great)…paddles like a log sideways! I have a lightweight strigerless 5’9" Christenson Ocean Racer and it has pinched rails and a waffer thin nose very little rocker…slides like butter while paddling and carves like a dream (floats me barely). Look at some of the boards from Mitch’s Surfshop or Icons of surf… there are some shapers with a blend out there like JawsSurf above mentioned.