Bat tail

General Discussion
1

http://64.78.63.45/sarge/photos/SEPT04/theBling_BMPT04_sm.jpg

What’s the deal with this tail. My intrest in it is that it might be that combo between the pin tail and the squash tail I am looking for currently I ride a rounded pin for back hand and a squash fore hand. Can any of you shed some light on the obove tail shape?

Cheers

2

Swifty, not so sure that is a “bat tail”. I have heard that shape called a “diamond tail”, and have owned a few of them and really liked them. Planing of a squash, but a little smoother in the rail-to-rail transitions.

I’d have to find a pic of what I (and many others) consider a bat tail… or draw one up.

3

Please forgive my lame illustration (did it in MS Paint right-quick); Ithink this is what is commonly referred to as a “bat tail”:

4

A true battail is an extreme diamond tail with the sides concaved in outline, exagerating the 3 corners, making for sharp points to stab our foot.

I made a few, looked cool, everyone liked the looks, not much function change.

But the real change is the amount of extra work to glass all the hollow spots, the 3 sharp points, and doing it on both the top AND the bottom.

An exercise in glassing prowess, but little functional gain.

5

I was just watching the boost mobile pro online and they interviewed Slater (that is his board in the pic) post heat about that board (he held it up and it looks exactly the same, down to the traction pad) and he referred to it as a “diamond tail”.

I do recall seeing an older board with something similar to what LeeDD described, but never knew that was what was historically referred to as a “bat tail”, but I can see how the one I illustrated (poorly, I might add) may have been derived from what he described… so I guess maybe it is a modern reincarnation/adaptation of the original (?)

6

I’m assuming you got that photo from this article:

http://64.78.63.45/sarge/ShowDailyq.asp?revento=&rcode=3146

Caught the reference to the “bat tail” in the text.

7

I’m pretty sure there’s a bat tail in the resources…

8

hey mate. my friend who was a shaper for q-stix, at my old board factory was totally obsessed with unusual tail shapes. diamond-bat-you name it, we tried it. i would have to agree with one of your other replies in that the major difference lays in extra labour for glassers/sanders. to be completely honest the performance of the boards was not altered in any massive way.(strange -i know- after all, it is the business end of a board) the bat had perhaps a better feel ‘rail to rail’, maybe from adding a third positive release point.

but the diamond-in my view- is purely a cosmetically altered version of a square tail, in ‘how-she-surfs’ terms anyway. check ya later

9

Martin Potter rode them, on his twin fins, for a period in the '80’s, and even into the early nineties. I just can’t remember if they were T and C’s if he was in australia . I still see the occassional one here in perth. As with swallows and channel’s wings, they unfortunately had a habit of getting fairly hacked on the sharp corners. I’d be interested to try one, see if you can actually feel any difference ? I wonder…

           'chip'
10

The shaper that gained those tails fame now is William “Stretch” Riedel when Nathan Fletcher started riding those as a quad fin. http://www.stretchboards.com/boards/index.php?cat=1&product=4

11

"What’s the deal with this tail. My intrest in it is that it might be that combo between the pin tail and the squash tail I am looking for currently I ride a rounded pin for back hand and a squash fore hand. Can any of you shed some light on the obove tail shape? "

So you paddle out on the rounded pin and a killer fore hand wave comes through…What do you do?

Go back to the car and get the other board ?

The last 2" are not nearly as important as the last 20". There’s 2 longboards in my workshop right now getting repaired. Both are squash tail (square). One board is 9’2" the other is 9’0". The tails are the same ???

No way , that last 20" on these two boards are so far apart it unreal. The wider tail is thinner. One tail is flat the other is Vee. One is a single fin the other is a tri…

What was the question ???

It’s late sorry for being a smart ass.

Ray

12

I’ve been riding a 6’0" quad with a bat tail on it:

Doesn’t seem much different from my other 6’0" that has a swallow. The tail is a bit wider on the bat tail, but I don’t feel any significant change. I’d probably just go with a shallow swallow tail if I was getting this board made for myself, but it’s a loaner so it’s fun to try out different stuff.