I’m 6’1… about 160… currently riding a home shape made by a family member… it seems good… itsa 6’2, has a flat tail and is sorta thick with not so wide rails… It just seems like its kind of a pain in the ass to paddle with and I make it sink pretty well when sitting in the line up. I was wondering what you guys recommend for me to ride on in mushy gulf coast waves… usually wind chop but right now with wilma tonight we had some overhead huge clean sets and it was fun as hell.
Ride what you like, what you can surf, what you can paddle, and what you can catch waves with, besides having fun surfing it…
Could be a log, a funboard, a shortboard, a fish, or anything in or out of the aforementioned catagories.
Obviously you’re thinking of going bigger, so measure your current board, add at least an inch of width and 3/8" thickness.
If you want to cruise and glide, go log…
I definetly dont want a long board… im just thinking slightly bigger maybe? 6 3 or so with a thicker boddy maybe but still alot of rocker?
Dude, you gotta measure you current board first! Width, thickness, where WPoint, tail width, nose width, THEN you can look for something different.
Gulf coast waves move in slow, so flatter tail rocker catches waves sooner, paddles better, and goes faster in your waves.
Increase the tail rocker for Oahu NorthShore waves.
Well I have two blanks… a 6 4 and 63 here right now… trying to figure out how to shape it down… Thanks for your advice… didnt know that about the tail rocker.
as leed says, ride what you like, but there are some trade off with that…
if you dont want to buy new blanks, use the 6’4", and keep most of the length. although, it is hard to tell you what you need, without knowing what you’vre already ridden. for me, 5’10" and 165lbs, my ‘shortboard’ is 6’4"x19x 2 11/16 swallow tail. widepoint is just behind center, and the tail is about 14 1/2". thats kinda wide for such a short length, but i like it. and thats what counts right?
pay attention to your rocker as suggested, and keep it pretty flat, with some late flip in the nose if the larger waves are steep, if not keep it natural.
look at some boards in the racks of shops nearby, and find an outline you like, and base your shape on that.
Mebbie an egg would work for you 6’2"-6’4" 20.25"W~20.75W. You can run it as a twin with a tiny trailer in mush, and put real fins in it for real surf. It’ll work like a fish in smaller waves, and like a shortboard in bigger surf, assuming gulf waves don’t get too hollow.
I’m 5-11 and 155, so pretty close to your size. I’m presently riding a 6-4 x 19 3/8 x 2 1/2. For me it feels too floaty, so I’m going smaller. I surf in So Cal. Hollow beachbreak. I think my dimensions would work for you.
Thanks for the input guys… I think im gonna do the 6’4 with about 19 1/2 rails and about 2 inches thick… so we’ll see how it goes, trying not to have much rocker in the back…
WRONG!!
Board that length at 2" thick will break first wave it sees. Go at least 2.45" thick.
2&1/4 to 2&3/8 otherwise it will just be a sinker and hard work no fun.
2&1/4 is a bit thin too.
Really roll the deck if you need a tiny rail you can hide foam all thriugh it and not effect performance.
Quote:
2&1/4 to 2&3/8 otherwise it will just be a sinker and hard work no fun.
2&1/4 is a bit thin too.
Really roll the deck if you need a tiny rail you can hide foam all thriugh it and not effect performance.
What do you mean by roll the deck… What would the benefit be to a thin rail but more mass in the center, sorry not on que with all the benefits in certain aspects of shaping, just alot of glass experience and enjoy the process.
Also, what tail type would be better… if its already shaped down with a flat tail should I just leave it?
A square , rounded square or squash tail is good , what evere you preference is. A rolled deck is domed , have a look in a shop . Ask the assistant. It is hard to explain.
Quote:
A square , rounded square or squash tail is good , what evere you preference is. A rolled deck is domed , have a look in a shop . Ask the assistant. It is hard to explain.
Like… a thick base and stringer that plane down to a thinner rail?
I would also go for 2 3/8 - 2 1/2 and dome the deck so that you can have thinner rails and therefore less contact and drag. If you want to go with less rocker - with easier paddling and a better ability to catch the waves, you can to with 1 1/2 - 1 5/8 of rocker in the tail and 4 1/2 in the nose. A wide tail (swash, square, or swallow) with have a larger surface area and therefore more planning ability - this will help you to catch smaller waves and be looser in carving up the wave.
Well… I shaped up a couple boards for some buddies and one ended up quitting out on me so I have the extra blank here to keep… after reading this I realize it has the right amount of thickness and its domed well, thin rails that plane up to a really thick base, at least 2 3/8… looks good. But the tail is too narrow I think and theres probobly too much rocker in the rear. But I also have a 6 '9 blank that I havnt touched yet that I could shape down… with that long of a blank If I took mass off back for a shorter length I could have a small rocker and alot of rear area to work with. Could bring it down to maybe a 6’6 or so. Tell me what you guys think, thanks for all the help.
*edit, measured the other board… 6 '2, 14" rear, 11 1/4" up front, 19 1/'4 rails, and its slightly over 2 inches thick but with no dome affect, thats from rail to rail, rails are real thick and board follows suit all the way across.