A buddy who has been riding mostly longboards is looking for me to shape him something to branch out a bit. The one characteristic he wants is something that will catch the most waves possible. He is a big guy, 6'2" and about 230 lbs. He is currently riding longboards from 9'2" to 9'8" and 2 7/8 to 3 1/4 thick, and catching a bunch of waves.
What would you recommend, keeping in mind that wave-catching is the #1 performance characteristic, with everything else coming in second?
Thanks-
Dominic
6’2" x 18.5 x 2.25 squash with FCS thrusters
Just kidding.
If it were me I’d point him towards a 6’10" Simmons-type shape with a quad fin setup. 18n x 23w x 19t x 3" thick; 3.75" nose rocker and 1" tail rocker. Something like ACE’s “Squish”.
dominic.
is your friend willing to sacrifice catching waves at all?
wouter
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[quote="$1"]
A buddy who has been riding mostly longboards is looking for me to shape him something to branch out a bit. The one characteristic he wants is something that will catch the most waves possible. He is a big guy, 6'2" and about 230 lbs. He is currently riding longboards from 9'2" to 9'8" and 2 7/8 to 3 1/4 thick, and catching a bunch of waves.
What would you recommend, keeping in mind that wave-catching is the #1 performance characteristic, with everything else coming in second?
Thanks-
Dominic
[/quote]
dominic.
is your friend willing to sacrifice catching waves at all?
wouter
[/quote]
He understands that there will be some compromise, and he's basically looking for "second best" after the longboards as far as wave catching. He's had a recurring shoulder injury that impairs his paddling ability, in addition to not being in the greatest of physical shape.
Hey Noleash,
Lately a bunch of our customers are trying to step down a little to a smaller board but not a shortboard. We are building them what we call a "Stubby". It is generally in the 7'6 to 8'0 range. Around 3 1/4 thick.
I am not sure if that would meet his needs but its bringing back the stoke in a lot of people in this area.
Troy
a dolphin
check out Al Merrick’s Waterhog.I weigh 165,and tried my friend’s 7.2,(Epoxy)I caught as many waves as with a 9.0 longboard,and turns like a shortboard.There’s a 7.10.check it out,you could shape him one like that.
I have a board that I ride a lot of places. It works in everything except really heavy hollow waves – too much boyancy. It is a Boardworks version of the Ben Aipa Big Boy Stinger. It is 7’4" x 23" x 3 3/4". The nose is pulled in and the tail is a stinger. The interesting thing about that board is that the rocker is mostly pulled out of the thickness of the board rather than having a ‘flip’ on either end. So the deck is fairly flat and the bottom has the conture. It’s cool - good shape for most places. I am 5’10" and 190 and it floats me out of the water.
That is probably the most logical step for a long boarder wanting to still catch everything and sit way out but wanting more control…