Would having a fish tail on an alaia give it more control over a square tail? and Would a under 7 foot board be easier to ride than over 7 foot?
thanks much
stand up or lay down?
6 ft to 6’6 seems to be the magic length. Over 7 and they get very difficult to catch waves on. And swallow or fish tails seem to make no discernible difference in my opinion. They look cool tho’!!!
wow, thats hard to believe, I have ridden 2 and they were both extremely hard to get waves on...I like the way the timber feels once on a wave but the lack of floatation is a massive challenge, trying to get enough waves to improve on them is alot of work...I have only ridden my own one twice , its 5'11" and had a go on a 6'4" but the 6'4" was a bread knife, no float at all....
afoaf…i am standing up on this one. so i am thinking of aiming for around a 6’6ish. that will be enough float for a 150 lbs guy?..right. thanks guys
what’s your take on flare in the tail outline…meaning, not tapering town, but “incut” or however some people describe it…
regarding float…have you guys seen Jon Wegener’s new iteration on the finless?
i have 2 types of tail shapes in mind.
- a tapered but with a fish tail (sorry about the bad angle)
OR
- a normal tapered square tail
bump…anyone
first i’ve seen and little try some alaias in OZ last months in noosa too, like the ones jacob is using these time… As i got back home (ITALY, MEDITERRANEAN) I shaped and rode 2 alaias
one is 7 feet x 18.5" pretty and thicker. it’s pretty heavier than usual and i made it (from pawlonia) to let it float a bit more in our crappy waves. It works, not that great but it works. stand up only i do not like prone rides. catch the face of the wave and surf it faster. It’s longer and heavier and it’s pretty hard to trake off due to weight. but it’s floating a lot.it’s parabolic rails and fishy tail /swallow)
second try is 6.4 x 16.5, parabolic rails, no fish tail. deeper concave ever all thu the board hard edges on the bottom. not yet tried in great conditions but works to. lot less floatation.
that’s my experience now
make the flare/fishy tail…if you don’t like it, reshape them down to the tapered tail.
that’s sort of the logic I used when I built mine.
it’s just wood…it’s really easy to retune these things, chop them down, carve more meat out of the bottom and rails, etc.