Hey all I have a question, I’m 6’2 210 and looking to get a blackball beater style board, does anyone have any suggestions or can shape a bodyboard style board? Im basically a beginner, I surf behind the boat but dont live on the coast and the beach we go to in the summer is all blackball and the 54" beaters dont float me well enough. I know surfing behind the boat isnt the same as the ocean since you dont have to pop up which is basically my biggest issue but I surf without the rope and can pump down the line decent. Thanks for any help anyone can give me!
Anyone?
Hi, I am unsure as to blackball rules, but how about picking up an old 9ft Surftech Softtop, then measure 53 and three quarter inches from nose, pull out a hand saw or skilsaw and cut board there. This would allow one quarter of an inch to seal end with a tailblock. Next add a pair of fins and voila, a mini-Simmons 54 inch softop blackball beater. Search for mini-simmons here to get a feel for the design. Obviously 54 inches is exactly half a nine footer. At 210lbs you should be able to get onto a wave with this as the boards have a lot of width, 23.65 inches where the new tail will be. However, as you are 6’2 it may well be better to regard it as a knee board and a pair of swimfins would be de rigueur. Check out the rocker profile in the link below, it looks like it should work and be to scale in terms of nose rocker, length and width.
http://surf.surftech.com/featured-boards/softops/90-softop/
In actual fact you would get two boards by repeating a cut at 53 and three quarters from tail, sealing the tail half, adding a pair of fins and making the old tail the new nose.
I haven’t tried this but contemplating making a similar 7-8 foot mini-simmons from a 12ft softop gathering dust in garage.
Good luck.
Newport Beach CA was the first place I know of to have a "Blackball" flag to protect "swimmers". (If they borrowed the concept, or invented it, I don't know.) I do know that the lifeguards banned standing up on ANYTHING about 20 years ago, during their blackballed hours. I would talk to a senior lifeguard official in your local before purchasing.
sickdog
Yea its fenwich island delaware, just north of ocean city md. The rule is nothing over 5 foot and it has to be soft top I think but can be slick bottom like a bodyboard or whatever. Lots of guys use the toobs herlihy bodyboard which is made for stand up but I think im a little big for it at my skill level. The waves usually have a fairly steep drop even when small so if im getting in late its tough for a beginner like myself, I was thinking something like a mini simmons but maybe soft top or if anyone else has any other ideas… I know it sounds kooky maybe but I can surf pretty well behind a boat with no rope its just that my paddling and popping up are lacking. I know the boat wave and the ocean are different (chasing the wave behind the boat instead of getting pushed from the power of the breaking wave in the ocean) i’m just trying to explain my skill level i guess.
You may find something that will work for you here:
http://www.kenuhawaii.com/customs.htm
Or here:
http://www.ebodyboarding.com/bodyboards
Maybe something like this with a layer of eva foam glued on top-