Hello,
I’m planning to start shaping my own boards, but for my first board I want something I know will work. I can get up consistently on 8-10ft longs, but I would like to move down to a smaller board eventually. I will be attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the fall, and in talking to some local guys I got many different opinions, one suggested a large fish, another a thick and wide short board, another a rather long standard short board. I only really considered the fish suggestion, cause the other two were suggesting surftech which is bleh haha. What would you guys recommend, and would anyone here be interested in doing a custom board for me/or do you have anything already made that you think would work well? I know alot of you do custom work and or shape for a living, so I’d like to support the Swaylocks crew!
Thanks,
Nathan
Oh yeah, I was riding my skimboard on friday and noticed it was starting to get squishy. Yay for first shaping/glassing attempts lol!
I think your best bet, being in SLO in Aug., will be to come to the Swayloholics gathering in October! It’ll be just up the street from you!
There will be ALL SORTS of custom shapers with their boards to look at and I think try out. I’ll be there with 5 or 6 of mine.
Check out the archives on my name (tridrles) to see the type and size of boards that I do.
Les
How long have you been surfing ?
well, actually not long at all. I went on a trip to Hawaii and was there for 5 days (IIRC, might have been 4) and surfed 2 hours plus each day. By the last day, I could pick my wave and (If I wasn’t getting dropped in on or in the way of a local, made brownie points with a few of them by being one of the few tourists to obey surfing code… Lots of idiots out there.) paddle into it, get up and ride it all the way out with no problems assuming some tourists weren’t sitting in a huge clump right behind me. The board I liked the best was a 9 ft 3 fin configuration. My thoughts for being in college, was that I wanted a board that would challenge me a bit, and since I am hoping to progress down to shortboards as my main choice, I’d like a board that could turn etc but still had a little nose area and float to it to make getting out of the water easier, thus the recommendation to buy a fish really appealed to me. Note that this shop did have plenty of longboards etc in stock, so it didn’t seem as if he was just trying to dump a board on me.
A 8 FOOTER in a round pin, 22" wide,3" thick,full nose and tail widths.
That’s a good all arounder especially for a less experienced rider.
What kind of fin configuration? I was thinking, I am very excited right now because Cal Poly offers a Surfboard shaping class/club. I could get a nice 8 footer as Herb suggested, and then once I have riding that down, shape myself a smaller fish or shortboard or whatever I desire. Thoughts? The 8 footer, once I have a short too, could be my all around board that I pull out when the surf isn’t nice enough for the shortboard too.
Nathan
Nathan, it’s a lot less about the board than you seem to think. That said, Herb’s prescription for an 8 footer, 22 wide, 3 thick, will carry you a long way. At that size, for a beginner, and for an intermediate level surfer too, the fin configuration makes little difference. Inertia of the board will over-rule any pretended advantages of more or fewer fins.
Ride the wave, not the board.
Charlie is absolutely correct !
Plus the more fins that you have…the more potential for problems.
But if you’re really gung ho about it…a 2+1 longboard type set-up will work in either a tri or single mode.
Personnally at your level…I’d just stick with a tride and true single…it will teach you the proper motions you need to learn first.
Plus it cheaper in costs !
Herb
yep single fin
yep quigg said: everybody will come back to 8’6
board board board
grt one ride it till you got it wired
then you can decide a little mo clearly
whatz nex
Beauty of surfing?
you never are done progressing
where you progress?
you guess.
then youor guesses get better
and the divergence of opinions becomes clearer
to seperate the you from the thems.
there is a real you
and the more you surf
the more you chance an encounter with
the reality that is you.
it a long time from august to october
get a board that floats.
how much do you weigh?
specimuhificks
can undo any
well ment
recomendations…
8’ is a little shy for a two hundred pounder
perfect for a 125# athelete - swimmer on the team
…ambrose …
I’m w/ herb
Always love to hear from Ambrose 
I weigh 150 lbs, 6’3" More of a toothpick than an athlete though lol. I’m athletic but, well I’m a toothpick. Working to get a little more muscle mass over the next few years though, free gym membership at college Muhahahah.
Nathan
Ya, man, ya…
…stick with the 8.0…
Damn, me an’ my 235+lbs gotta earn every damn we get on our 10.0. Nuthing bugs me more then some skinny kid on a log takin’ one half-assed stroke an’ bein’ in the wave long before I can…
LMAO…
…all tongue in cheek ya know. Keep the stoke, young Nathan…
…keep the stoke.
You may want to consider something in the 7-1/2 to 8 foot range with a pointy(ish) shortboard-style nose… a performance “funboard”. The pointy nose won’t help your performance, but it will help with the “vibe” if you paddle out in a mosty shortboard lineup. You’ll get hassled if you paddle a longboard out into a crowd of agro teen shortboarders. The pointy nose is a bit of camouflage.
Don’t let them know I told you this 