One of the breaks that I surf in the Baltic sea here in Sweden breaks on flat limestone ledges with a big dropoff down to about 50-60 feet deep.
The wave is quite sucky and hollow despite the lousy windswell which comes from strong winds over short fetches of water.
Size of the waveface is usually around 2 to 3 meters 6to 10 feet when breaking and the area for takeoff is very small meaning if You’re not in the right spot the wave just goes past You.
Once on the wave it’s very fast!
A bit hard to describe a wave like this, unfortunately I have no pics to post!
The board I ride on the better days (when the wind drops quickly) is a Rusty 6’4"x 18 3/4 x 2 3/4 shaped for US east coast surf.
The problem I have is that I need faster acceleration when taking off and probably also need to get on the wave a little bit earlier.
I’ve surfed for ten years and surf hollow waves reasonably well as I’ve spent a lot of time in Indonesia.
What should I shape to crack this wave?
What would make a board accelerate very fast on takeoff?
Would a canard setup be good or should I make a Twin keel Fish?
Wide tail or maybe a lot of volume??
The water is very cold most of the time so I mostly surf in a 6mm wetsuit, gloves, boots and hood.
If the Rusty is made for East coast surf, it should have a decent widepoint and foil that you can steal from it… take the template and foil, and maybe add some volume. Just something I would do… Also, try fins with less cant and toe-in? Should make a bit of difference, but where you gain speed you sacrifice manavureability.
I’m sure you’ll get a wiser response than mine, but if you like the idea, try it!
If you like the board your on now, I would just try to remake that board but a little wider and little less rocker. Don’t put any cocave or “V” in the bottom make it flat and it will help a little for speed too. give it a swallow tail and you’ll be flying.
Less rocker is good if you can get up fast and get a pump in before you get to the bottom, if that isn’t how you plan to surf it then you may not want to get rid of too much rocker.
of course all this is going to make the board less manuverable, but if you arn’t making the wave now, that is what you have to do.
I don’t recomend full blown fishes, but something in a step that direction would be good.
You could go a little thicker too, but I would keep the rail thickness the same so it will lock in in the barrel.
Sounds a lot like Big Rock in San Diego…you need float but not length in my opinion. The extra paddle power of a longer board might help a bit but you will pay for that extra length once things jack and you are only half the way down. A fish (kneeboard) was the answer at Big Rock. Stand-ups there go with traditional thrusters but freefall drops are the norm. If you are happy with the board you have and want to just modify the measurements, I’d suggest 20 to 21 inch width and maybe up to 6’8" length at the most. Keep the nose pulled in and a square tail (helps the take off). Flat bottom, you don’t need all the tricks here, you just want to get in and make the wave. Rails thinish but not too edgy especially in the middle and front.
No matter what you do, you are going to be getting in late and steep. You want something you can set a rail early and make the angle to the bottom without catching the nose or front rail. Don’t overlook a fish kneeboard. Plenty fast and great at late drops
Gotta love those Scandinavian winter sessions. I’m from Denmark, but now live in New Zealand. Used to surf alot in Kattegat and at times in the Baltic, too. Which break are you talking about?
Anyway, to the board. I surf a wave here in Wellington which is very fast, shallow, hollow and sucky, and usually get away with using a 6’2 x 19.5" x 2.5". I don’t think you need length to get into waves like that, but rather floatation and speed. The board is flat, not a lot of rocker and just a subtle single to double concave.
I surf a 5’10 true fish too, and while it’s super fast and very fun, I’d have to reserve comment on it’s ability to tackle steep take offs (or should I say MY ability to tackle steep take offs on it).
If the wave you’re talking about does not have any lead in and just goes square immediately, then you want a board that will accellerate out of the hole and handle a very tight face curve. Rocker and a swallow tail are key to these types of waves. You want tail volume to get you going. but, to make the transition you need rocker and the ability to sink that tail. A swallow allows for fuller tail dimension that don’t have all the bouyancy of a squash. Add rocker and you got a board that will fit when things get tight and still squirt controllably out of the pocket.
made a board with a bottom configured like this for me and it is absolutely insane in the critical part of the wave. Steve called it a “Brewer Bottom.”
A Pro 2 semi would work for you or if you want something a little wider a board similar to an Ala Moana Thruster would serve.
probably understands what it takes to build a board that will get early speed and ride in the critical part of the wave as well as any shaper in the world.
I’d go around rounded pintail 7’0" x 12.0" x 19.625" x 14.25" and about 2.75" thick so you can get in early and set and edge for some speed. The rocker and rails of the board has to be done right though so you want someone like the three guys I mention here to do the board for you.
It’d cost a pretty penny to have it shipped if you get a Brewer or one of Gerry’s boards and it may take a little while but you’ll have something that’ll be a real trophy and really handle the juice. These guys are at the top of the food chain when it comes to steep mackin’ wave surfcraft.
Good luck. Hope you can find something over there in Sweden and that my suggestions are of some value.
My opinion as a surfer, but not a shaper, is that LOW nose rocker almost always works well.
Rocker is the most overhyped crap since the late eighties. In the nineties they turned shortboards into replicas of pringles potato chips. They looked like bananas or boomerangs, or perhaps rocking chair runners or…you get the idea.
Man, get that board FLAT. The flatter the better. You will lift the nose easily because you will be dropping in earlier.
That’s my opinion.
My evidence is (here we go again) my Jim Phillips 8,2 mini-tanker. I ordered the blank at three inches of nose rocker. That’s pretty low. Many shapers told me that it was too low. They were full of crap. It catches waves as early and easily as my 10 foot noserider, but turns well. I always take that board to super hollow, fast and shallow waves and I get in EARLIER than if I used a rockered out board that can’t paddle.
Trust me. LOW rocker. two or three inches. You’ll LOVE IT! Don’t let anyone talk you out of it.
If I’m wrong I’ll buy you a surfboard next time I am in Sweden.
Mads, Maybe we’ve surfed together sometime at Skäret in Kattegatt?? Or maybe some other spot on the east coast of Skåne? This spot I’m talking about is on the island of Öland, usually the swell drops quickly when the wind dies but sometimes gets really sick if the swells keep rolling…
Thanks to everyone! A lot of info to digest, will save this post and reread it some more.
I recently spent 4 weeks surfing down in the Cape Verde islands (west of senegal).
Alot of the waves out there are also fast hollow jacking waves. Anyway I surfed together with some brazilian guys and one of them surfed very often on a 6’1x 19" lowrockered board that was like a crossing of an old school fish and a shortboard thruster.
Kind of parallell straight rail line like a true fish, deep swallow but not as deep as a true fish.
Flat rockered a little bit wider nose and regular shortboard rails. And also still having a Tri fin thruster setup.
The guy who surfed this board was/is a good surfer, when i first saw his board I thought it was some kind of small wave board but i saw him surf well with it in waves up to 3 3,5m face.
When the waves got over that size he started having problems though…
Anyone have any experience with this kind of shape???
Maybe I’ll try to build some designs similar to this and also try to make some Old school fish