Basically, I’ve got a 7’7" blank on the way, and I initially bought it because there were no longboard blanks available, so I thought why not make a shorter longboard. Not a minimal, something a bit more performance, with a single fin and a some nice turnability. I also like the look of the new McTavish Beatnik with its cut tail. I’m thinking a pig shape, around 7’2" long and around 22" wide, something hopefully that i can use across a range of conditions. Any thoughts? Particularly design wise?
You’re on the right path.
That sounds super fun! Summer glide that fits in the car 
Well, the description for the Beatnik includes a reference to the 1967 surf flick “Hot Generation” which set off the transition era.
Here in the States, we have a shaper (Brian Hilbers/Fineline) who has been doing a midlength for the last 10 years that he calls the Hot Generation. These shapes in these lengths were a thing for a while in the 1960s but he basically revived the design and added some modern refinements. Several other shapers picked up the general design trend after that so now they’ve become fashionable.
The general plan for the Fineline version includes a moderate 4" nose rocker + 2" tail rocker, 8" wide tail block, light belly in the entry, very mild roll through the middle and a tucked rail with an edge and some vee in the tail. There are a couple other tricks he uses, but these are the basics.
The design isn’t actually great for a novice surfer, but if you have a good handle on longboarding and an average level of wave judgement these are easy to surf. Their range is limited, though. I wouldn’t surf one in fast conditions or in sizes above head-high.
BTW, this design isn’t intended as a noserider, but to be surfed off the tail. Note the position of the finbox is about 8" forward of the tail block and they use a flex fin.
Cheers for all that information, helps heaps! I’m not intending to nose ride, hoping to be able to whip it around a little bit like a shorter board but still get some nice glide. Maybe take a few steps forward and cruise down the line! Any thoughts on thickness? I’m thinking I’m probably just going to plane off that hard top layer of the blank and get to the nice foam and basically use that as my final thickness, so just under 3" i guess. Also thinking a fairly straight rail line is desirable?
Consider a rounded pin in the 7’2 or preferably 7’6" range. 20 1/2" or 21" wide. 2 7/8" thru 3" thick. Single fin and low rail, slight V starting in front of the fin and running thru to the tail block. Pretty popular design just prior to the advent of theThruster. Seen at alot of places like Pipeline and Newport Point. I had two during that time frame and they were good all a round boards if they were left full and thick and if the rail was soft…
Cheers for that. Is a rounded pin going to give better turnability than a square block? Also, with the vee, am I running that all the way through to the rails? Or is it only central? The waves I’m looking at are only around 1-3 foot.
You have to choose where you put your wide point first. Front, middle or back, then you design your outline that give you a tail width at one foot then you can design tail and vee. Wide point back give a wide tail, at 1’, you put a square because you want to keep surface to have rebound at bottom turn. Need strong legs to use this right. You add vee to help initiate turn
If you’re looking to surf the board in 1-3ft then that’s a very narrow range of conditions. If they’re dumpy conditions then you need something different than if they’re mush.
The whole purpose of building a quiver is to have more specialization and fewer compromises.
Depending on those conditions and your stature, a 7-6 length may be way too long to fit the shape of the waves. A 6-10 or 7-0 length might work better. In that size range you already need to be in the right spot at the right time. Running a wave down from 50ft away isn’t part of that equation so you don’t need a whole lot of paddle speed…
I like to encourage people to build their own; But for 1-3 ft. Mush you need something more akin to one of Ben Gravey’s Pineapple boards.