Has anybody here ever heard of a bi directional surf board- i.e a board which can be ridden exactly the same in both directions (forwards or backwards), iv started making one, it has a completely symetrical plan shape and rocker and has 2 small keels at both ends.
just wondering if anyones tried anything like this before and if so did it work.
As this is only my 3rd board any advice from more experienced shapers would be welcome
shaun “barney” baron has one i saw it in transworld…july '06
6’1" x 18 1/2" x 2 1/4" Double-ender shaped by Craig Young
“This is a double-ender. We got the idea from a porno shop, actually. It’s tricky to ride, but it’s an idealist kind of a board. Like from this kind of shape, where else can we go? That was the concept.”
Got a picture of it?
It’s a direction I’ve long been interested in, although not a lot of people share that interest as far as I could ever tell… a few…
I think wakeboards and kiteboards are something to look at, their fins,
also the flexi fish that showed up on the Hull hazzard thread has some interesting rails, and maybe the bottom too…
The hull boys share some of the aim as far as their emphasis on lines and rail turns, perhaps.
But yeah there was a commercial effort to market a board I think with TWIST in the name (I cant really remember), with mini tri-fin clusters at each end.
whoops, that’s the one.
Howzit James, There were a couple of companies that made those boards abck in the early 70’s and they put fin boxes in both ends so all you had to do was take the fin out of one box and put in in the other. I think it was Hobie and Greek that did them.Aloha,Kokua
will get a picture up asap, have gone for 6’1’’ x 20’’ x 2 3/4 with a shallow cresent at nose/tail, i am using roof insulation as a blank because,
its cheap, so if (as everyone i know predicts) it is a total failer it dosent break my bank as well as my ego.
i couldnt find a blank the right shape, i thought it would be alot easyer to make a board symetrical if i started with a rectangular lump of foam.
to foil it i made a hot wire cutter from materials blagged from my schools science department, and now plan to make an oven to heat the foam up enough to make it flexible for when i bend it to fit the stringer.
i planned to put a concave at either end with a flat section in the middle, and have about 3- 4 inches tail/ nose lift either end.
anybody have any opinions on what rail design i should go for or problems they foresee in my current plan? I would be grateful for the help
why make it identical at both ends? why not tweak it a bit? – two boards in one!
Well, there’s two kinds–one is the kind you ride going forward and backward, so you can do slides around and come down fakie and stuff, and the other kind is the kind where you take the fin out and you have a box in either end
Below is one of the latter, the latest version I’m playing with–I think it needs some belly maybe
either that’s a hot dog with both ends dipped in ketchup or i’m in the wrong forum…wait, either way i’m in the wrong forum…
oh, and that’s more “double ended” rather than bidirectional…
I was thinking about moving these fins out toward the corners more, double concaves out the ends, and fins kinda like a mini-keel, or more drawn out like a bonzer 5 runner. The idea is to be able to do cess slides, and other maneuvers with fakie elements–also to be able to switch ends to ride it like a fish with more carvy turns, or to ride it like a pumpy shortboard, with airs possible. (I’ve heard here that a sawed-off nose that was sort of similar “would not pearl”)
Be kind. 
yeah…looks like a wakeboard to me…dims?
to the person that gets theirs made first…
i want to see some 180 air to 180 air combos
He thats what you’d call a mutant kiteboard! The only difference is that sometimes designers put the extra rocker on the wide side. The narrower side is flatter for hard carving. But for something like this there is no right or wrong.
Here a few tips for fin placement. Moving the fins closer to the centerline will create a looser feel. Farther out towards the rail the board will track and carve more on the fin.
I put the fins along a line that is drawn from outside tip to outside tip end to end. With a low entry rocker it helps keep the front fins from catching on turns. The closer you put them towards the center line and farther away from the tip the greater the chance of catching.
Another tip is to put the fin so that the tip of the fin doesn’t stick out past the outline of the board. If it sticks out you can cut your foot going from a paddling position to sitting.
I ride a board that is exactly like this in the waves when I’m kiting except that it’s only 3 1/2 feet long. With footstraps you can do some crazy stuff. Frontside snaps to ollie switch, el rollos to switch, bottom turns goofy right ollie to front side snaps, the list just goes on and on, there are all kinds of crazy names from wakeboarding.
Looks like a fun functional shape.
Had I waves to ride, I wouldn’t be here, would I? This one is in the 6’4" x 21" x 2 5/8" range, but that’s because I’m rather large, riding weak waves, and I had to see if could scale the curves and stuff to make sense for me.
The puzzle about this thing, or one of them, is how do you switch ends, when a surfboard is (max) 6’-ish.
My average stance is about 2’6". So with my back foot 6 inches up from the end, my front foot is centered. A shuffle of both my pods would put me in a stance over the center to switch ends and do slides. Assuming the fins can be configured to not catch. etc etc
Thanks for the fin placement tips DMP, that helps me think and stuff. If you have a pic… Do the fins hold the rail/corner in on hard turns? I would hope the board’s points at the corners and center add bite?
I saw one kiteboard and a few wakeboards before I started all these drawings…maybe if I’d seen more, it wouldn’t have taken me so long. I complicated my mission by wanting a fish end and an air board end. Ridiculous how many fiddles to get the lines right on the deck, rockers, ends. The ends and curves were relatively easy.
just out of intrest janklow, have u managed to find a blank which is compatable with your design? if so where? i have glued my foam to the stringers and am gunna start on the rails and bottom contors today, havent got any photos yet cos my sisters stolen my camera but will take some as asap
Honestly, I don’t worry about that issue at all. I cut my own out of EPS. Looking at it though, I don’t imagine it would be that hard to find a blank that would yield that particular board. A “retro fish” blank would probably have a similar rocker.
almost finnished it! lookin pretty rough though
Can’t see the pic.
Is it just me??
Surfing Magazine design issue (1993?) had Shea Lopez riding a bi-direction thruster called “Trickstick.” It was a two page spread with photos and sequences.
If i remember correctly, the fins had small flaps on them that allowed water to push them up into the board.
In other words, Shea would do a 180 air and land switch. Instead of the board spinning back around, the flaps would kick in; one set of fins would go up, the other would come back down, leaving Shea riding switch for the rest of the wave.
That’s how i remember it, but that was almost 15 years ago so who know how it twisted in my head. 