Guy’s I have a dilema, I have a customer who is 6’9" 265 lb. an 17 years old. his 6’6 won’t float him . He said he would like an 8 footer. I think yeah but as a young fella will probably cop a bagging from his mates for riding a mak so I reackon
7’4"x21x3. squash tail (round square)? double concave. or single to double.
Or maybe push him towards a 9ft mal maybe 9’6. beats me .
John,
I once made a board for a guy, 265# @ 6’ 3". The board was 8’ 0" X 23"W X 4 1/2" thick, cut from a clark tandem blank. The “secret” was to template from the bottom, and shape the bottom contour first. Then bring the rails down to the bottom, last. The board was a low rail design, and the rails were not “pretty” to look at, but the board exceeded both the customers expectations, as well as mine. Don’t worry about what his mates think, put him on a board that will open new doors of experience for him.
At 6’9" and 265 lbs. he’s a big boy, and he’s got to think about a board that is relative to his size. In his world we are all Little People, riding boards that fit Little People.
Guy Takayama, is a smallish guy (about 5’3") but he’s built like a pocket Hercules, and is a fantastic, stylish surfer. When he surfs longboards, they are in the 9 ft. to 9’6" range. If I translate those proportions to myself (6ft. tall), I would be on boards 10ft to 11ft. Keeping in mind that this is not a perfect comparison, it’s still safe to say: More Boy…More Board. Even if you are talking about shortboards, it wouldn’t make sense to put a 265 lb. guy on a 5’10", 1 7/8" thick Kelly Slater Special.
If he really wants an 8 footer, I’d say make it at least 3 1/2 to 4 inches thick and 24 to 25 inches wide. My thoughts. Doug
at that size, even 21" seems small to me. With height and weight I would think he could easily do 24" regardless of length/shape.
For a guy that big a 9er would be too small to longboard. If its a longboard I would think 10’+.
Give more into. What type of 8’ is he asking for? A scaled up short board? or an egg. In our area there are a lot of young (13-18yr) longboarders so the mate thing is not an age but a which crowd issue. If he just wants a bigger short board then maybe something like 7’6"x24"x3.5" with awide thick tail.
For reference I saw a CI Flyer in the shop that 7’x22" and I want to say 3.25" but maybe it was thinner.
just taking a stab (more hunch than knowledge)
Jeez…if I had a mate 6’9" 265 lbs I don’t think I’d flip him much sh!t about anything.
That guy is so outscale, I don’t think anybody would ever think he should be riding normal sized boards. Scale him up one of whatever shape he wants. If it comes out that his thruster should be 7’4" and 25" wide, so be it…the curves are the important thing. The planshape & rocker are what makes a board work; the volume is what fits a surfer’s size. Different issues.
hows that for a coincidence …
i just finished this today …
the guy is 6’-9" and 264 lb …
everything about this board is big , even the fins are as big or bigger than standard twinnies …
7’-4" x 22 1/4 x 2 1/2 15 plus tail …
this is just a scaled up version of a standard 6’-3" thruster …
why should a big guy have to ride a boat ???
theres no reason why a big guy cant rip in small surf , or any surf at all if hes got the right dimensions under him …
this board will be his everyday board 3’ to 6’ waves …
regards
BERT
Big guys need big boards. It’s that simple. Especially in crowds. Your big guy won’t surf if he can’t catch waves. I think he’s about correct as to the dimensions he needs, but there’s been no specification as to the type of board, experience, type of waves.
It’s the responsibility of an experienced board builder to guide the customer, but remember always, who writes the checks. I’ve made mistakes in both directions, at the direction (insistence) of the customer.
I’m 6’6", 235 lbs. and my “small” board is 7’4" x 20.5 x 3; I can ride a 7’ x 22x 2.75 but won’t do it in crowds or weak waves. I have surfed with two friends 5’11" 300 lbs. Their boards were at least 8 ft. to 8’6" x 22 x 3 thick.
Dick Brewer has been making these "Big Boy " Thrusters for years . You can check them out on the Plumeria website . I got 1 and it is a great board if you have good waves too bad I live in S. Fla. as it is not so often that we have waves for it . I am selling it this Sat. as I don’t use it that much … And putting the money towards a new CODA / Steve Forstall longboard…Thinking about this "Cheater " Model also…
well bert, this seems to be the way to go. with yours at 2&1/2 and the construction you use it may be to thin for poly & pu so I’ll go three inches. He’ll be riding it in sucky beachy’s so that will be the go maybe even go 7’6. Thanks all for all the input I was stumped. And welcome to the sunshine state.
Length is not nearly as important as thickness and WIDTH!
Old roomate was 275, his custom 8’6" x 23 x 3.15 G&S barely floated him like my 6’6" shorties floated me at 150 lbs.
Go wider than 23 and thicker than 3". Heck, at 150 lbs. I used to ride 6’8" x 19 x 3" thick in PRO surf contests! Floated great, of course, made for good scores.
Length is not nearly as important as thickness and WIDTH!
Old roomate was 275, his custom 8’6" x 23 x 3.15 G&S barely floated him like my 6’6" shorties floated me at 150 lbs.
Go wider than 23 and thicker than 3". Heck, at 150 lbs. I used to ride 6’8" x 19 x 3" thick in PRO surf contests! Floated great, of course, made for good scores.
Listen to Lee!!! I definatly agree with that!
he’s 6’9" right, he can easily paddle and carry a 24" wide board. it will be a plus all the way round, and with his size won’t seem big. I’m still thinking 24"x3.5" looks good.
lets us know
Aloha:
I am am an older surfer (50) at 275 lbs. but I still manage to rip. I had boards made from the 9-2R, 9-3, 10-3 and 10-8A Clark foam blanks. My favorite set up is using the 10-3 with the 10-1Y rocks +1N last 24". The 9-2R blanks makes a great big guy board that is around 9’ but is very loose and I charged north shore with.
Here are some of the numbers of the boards I rode last winter thats pictured:
9’1" x 23" x 3.25" (my short board)
9’3" x 24 x 3.75" (hotdog board)
10’2" x 24 x 4" (longboard)
10’6" x 23.5" x 3.5" (gun)
Big guys need thicker boards. Perhaps one of the most aggressive surfers that could use a smaller board is Johnny Boy Gomes. Of course he would take off deep in the pit. Being a bit older, I like getting in the waves a bit earlier. Remember that your can always custom order your rockers so don’t be afraid to get a blank with lots of volume.
Uncle D
A friend let me have a pretty good look at his new (bought used in Hawaii) 7’4" Terry Chung “Fat Girl” model. It was very thick and I’m wondering if it might be the same design TC is shaping in the “Shapemakers” video from a windsurfing blank?
The dimensions stated 3 3/4" thick but when we checked it, it was more like 4". My friend is not that big or heavy and he was able to turn it no sweat. It paddled him like a longboard and I really mean like a longboard.
The bottom has deep dual concaves. It also has squared off wings tapering behind the wings to a squaretail. The fins are the cool “Thumb” fins by Robin Mair. If Robin catches this, maybe he can provide more details on the board design as I think he is familiar with it.
Another friend had a short tandem board by Infinity that he rode single. It was kind of a 70s gun shape with beak nose and very thick. Nose rocker was ample. I’d say it was at least 4" thick and carried a lot of width to the rails.
Anyway, these expand the parameters of what constitutes a “thick” board. For a guy that big and heavy, thick and wide might not be a bad idea if he wants something shorter than a tanker.
Just for kicks, you might check the Clark 8’8" Karl Hill windsurfing blank for reference.
A good shaper friend of mine who use to run the factory at Naish Hawaii (windsurfing) name Charlie Wong obtained one 8’8" and two 9’8" sailboard blanks from his old pals at Naish Hawaii. The blanks are thick with lots of nose kick but no tail rocker. These two stringer blanks must be over 10 years old. The 9’8" blanks are thick enough (nearly 5") to shape in more tail rocker. I have a 9’8" reserved to shape my next winter’s gun. That should be fun. I don’t even see the 9’8" in the Clark Foam catalog anymore.
I was speaking with the people at Infinity Surfboards and most of their big guy longboards (Secret Weapon) starts off with the 10’3" blank with custom rockers. They make them thick and wide, sometimes 25" wide.
my buddy Kurt is 6’4" 270lbs (so he says, but he’s a BIG guy) and his every day board is 10’2" x 22" x 3", squash tail w/ egg rails. I have surfed with him on that board in everything from 1’ slop at Cliffs to 10-12’ pinballs-plus hollow stuff inbetween. His fin set up is two small side fins with a 9.5" Mctavish swept back center fin. He throws it around like it’s a 7’4" . Hope that helps, M
