I've been thinking a lot about asymmetric boards lately as to me there are no, or almost, real reasons for boards to be symmetric. If we were standing on our boards facing the nose then yes symmetric would make sense but as we are standing a foot front and a foot back... I'm for sure not surfing the same on my toes or on my heels so why would the outline, rails profile and bottom contour need to be the same on both sides? It's funny to think of all the time and attention we spend on having our boards as perfectly symmetric as possible. Waste of time I think even if I still try to reach the perfect symmetry, worried about comments…
Anyway, before I start shaping asymmetric boards, I first have to understand and figure out where and how it would be good to have asymmetry. What is your take on that?
Mousset, you’ll get no argument from me. I’ve been riding Asymm boards I’ve built and from PlusOne (George Gall, who posts here) for over 2 years now and other than my big 10-6 Pig, I doubt I will go back to symmetrical boards. George has really taken it to another level. As you think about and design your Asymm’s, you will want to consider more than just the outline and fin placement. Consider rail tuck, rocker, bottom contours and fin shape and toe in. All of these bear on the ride, of course, and can be tweaked for toe and heel preferences.
I first experimented with outline and fin placement. Baby steps. I began to see what the concept could do for me. Now I am open to anything.
Mr. Eckstrom, as an industrial designer, is the Dean of asymmetric boards. He and George colaborate from time to time. George approaches it as an engineer, and I believe is pushing the boundaries.
But this forum is about self exploration, building what you see in your mind’s eye and seeing what works. Then hopefully sharing.
I’ve given up trying to get out in front of guys like Carl and George. They are innovating every day and colaborating with each other. I am content to tinker on the edges and explore what works for me.
Ive never made one, or ridden one , but some I have seen have looked very functional…must be interesting playing with the different rail reactions , although , I think you could easily go past the point of being functional…I don’t think perfect symetry could ever be regarded as a waiste of time , and I doubt anyone could build a functional asym , without be able to first build an acurate symetrical board.
They work fine.I was making them in the early 70’s. The best board i ever had was twisted like a propellor but i never could dupilcate it. now thats a concept that bears scrutiny.
Why don’t some of you youngsters mess around with that?
They’re neat to look at and that’s as far as it goes. In my opinion. If they were red hot revolutionary Ekstrom would have sold more than a handful back in '65. They are certainly a part of surfing history and deserve an earmark in that history. There are devotees of the variations on all things A-sym and five out the ten of those are having a nice discussion about such here on Sways. For myself; I’ve worked very hard over the years to take good measurements, apply those to a piece of foam and not come up with something that had a wide point one inch narrower on the right side of the stringer as opposed to the left. When I surf I like a board that functions the same right or left hand break. But carry on. No foul meant. I don’t like dietary threads either. Lowel
Functional or esthetic asymetry is great. Anything else is poor craftsmanship. My garage is full of too much of the latter and not enough of the former…
Once I started using my “forty dollar” piece of plastic(ie Shapers Square) I stopped making Asyms. I also on the advice of John Mel stopped cutting my templates first and waited until I had finished my rough planing and blocked it. Less opportunity to screw up and make an Asym. Sorry. Didn’t mean to go into detail on how not to do it. I realize this thread is in praise of and not avoidance. Lowel
When I do a PU , which is not often , I skin the bottom flat , then draw the outline , and cut it nice and square with a fraction over for fairing…a sanding tool with 40grit , set at 90 degrees , makes the job easy…works good for me , anyway…
When i first started getting custom boards the shaper would ask if I wanted slightly more volume in the backhand rail to support backhand turns - a type of assymetry I guess. But some might prefer less volume on backhand rail to better sink the rail. I’ve found toes give a bit more leverage on sinking the rail on forehand turns.
The other thing is that you might have better trade-in resale value with a non-assymetrical board, specially if you’re a goofy :).
I do think symmetry is overrated. But I don’t consider it a waste of time. I want the board to work the same for a regular foot as a goofy footer, and symmetry assures that.
I think a better question might be, “how much asymmetry is discernible?”
Hmmm…I’ve been a switchfoot most all my life and definitely surf a bit differently goofy and regular. And some boards definitely worked better with one stance and some with the other. So maybe an assymetric board would address that…or maybe it would just confuse me further…
Same here. I don’t know if an Assym made for going one way, say your stonger stance, would make it better or worse when you switch. I’m sure it will affect it somehow, and maybe for the worse. But I also think that you will be more front footed going one way and more rear footed going the other way, so a board could be designed with that in mind. I know that I am more back footed going goofy because I rode skateboards goofy much more. I surf mostly regular and I think my weighting is centered, but when I switch I can tell that I like shorter boards and surfing off the tail more.
Here’s 2 shots of the same wave. I like to make my first turn regular footed, then switch right after my first top turn.
