I have been through the archives, read about just about all relevant stuff I can find, read about the numbers used, read Rich Harbours’ take on them, Stewart, Bruce Jones etc, etc. I am still wondering why 22-24 inches seems to be the magic width for longboards? Is this more to do with the average size of surfers shoulders and chest width, height, feet size, whether you have short arms, or is it ease of lapping with standard 31" cloth, instead of going to 1 metre wide volan,ie, is this a cost vs practicality issue …??? Or is there a more scientific answer in volume/width/length/planing area/drag coefficients?
If you use ratios that enlarge a boards’ overall aspect, surely the width should increase in proportion to length and volume, or if you want to keep a board length down, then width and volume have to increase to give the added wanted volume…?
Why this is confusing is because ‘surfersteve’ talks about building fish boards out to 26"-28" width and up to 7 feet in length using EPS and epoxy and he was doing this years ago and is still doing so and reckons they go like hell…!
Does anyone on here have or are XXL customers, ie 6ft6in tall plus, 220lbs plus ,size 12-15 feet who wouldn’t be amiss playing basketball…? If you do, how do you design your board dimensions around their dimensions? I know most surfers fit into a convenient size bracket, so I am interested in hearing what you do for those who don’t fit the average bracket…?
If this has been discussed before in the archives and I haven’t found it, my apologies, please point them out to me.
I would also like to hear more about this issue. I would like to build a 9’ 0" board that is only 21" so I can carry it easier. Is 21" too narrow for a LB?
There isn’t a maximum width, and certainly 27 and 28 inches wide is a functional width for a surfboard, I have built many boards at those widths, and I am not unusually large either.
There is (or was) an anorexia regarding surfboard width based on the erroneous idea that wide boards are slower, when in fact they are often faster.
I’m 6’1 230lbs, and an old fart. I like my boards around 24 inches wide. I can’t carry them under my arm but I can carry them on my head. My newest board is 24 3/4 wide, and I love the way it surfs. There is one of the big wave riders that rides 24 inch wide boards. I have surfed on the 12 foot surftec that is like 26 inches wide. The only problem I have with that board is that it hurts to set on it. I have talked to some guys that say they can’t paddle a board that is too wide because there sholders are not wide enough. Don’t got 21 just so you can carry the board under your arm. Unless that is all you are going to do walk around with a board under your arm. Ride what you like to ride be it 21 or 26 inches wide, riding is what it is all about not carrying.
make em’ too wide, too hard to turn and water doesn’t wrap around the board and hold it in on nose rides. of course this is my take on them. i wouldn’t want a board wider than 23 inches narrower you could do, then it will get more Highpreformance
We did a board a bit back- it was an 8 foot long “retro” fish. To make the prorportions semi correct, the mid had to be pretty wide, I think it was 26 if I remember correctly. That board was for a pretty large person- there are really no limitations, especially if you are making your blank out of EPS (as was this case). Personally, on the never ending search for the perfect noserider, I have ended up well over 25 mid and 21 in the nose in the past. Really thin wide boards- but over the years I have come back to around 24. The noses have gotten especially narrower too- I find myself walking on one side of the stringer on wide boards (goofyfoot)- trying to keep pressure on the inside rail line… with narrower noses that is never a problem. It also has alot to do with where on the wave you are noseriding, if you are out on the shoulder and through the “flats”- wider and wider boardwise is probably where you will head. Noseriding in the pocket seems to breed narrower noseriding boards… my buddy has an old Lance Carson (very narrow), and it works awesome in the pocket… but it’s a dog if you try and set it up on the flats. Where as the DN noseriders and the Weber Performers (very wide) will plane right though… Just some thoughts. -Carl
That’s only true for noseriders, which are relatively parallel in planshape. If the tail of a wide board is drawn in the board turns more tightly than a narrower board because there is more planshape curve.
