I’ve been riding my 6-0 twinzer e wing board and really liking it in small surf. When the surf gets too big and the beaches close out I move to another spot which is known as a longboard spot. I ride both a longboard and an 8 foot mush gun there. On both boards I sometimes fly onto a big shoulder where I should carve a big cut back but I feel like my feet are too far over towards the inside rail (at least I did a nice bottom turn!) and I don’t have the leverage I’d like to roll back onto my heels.
I’m wondering if a board without a center fin is less sensitive to the lateral foot position? Like maybe a big twinzer might be better? Both the boards I presently ride have centers (8 footer is a thruster, 9-3 is a single with side bites).
Another thing I was thinking was could I use a stinger to reduce the width of the back foot area? Anybody use stingers in big surf? I usually surf said spot when it’s solid overhead to DOH.
Or another thought- concave deck in the back foot area? Would that help?
I’ve found that those curved fins designed by Gregg Weber (sp?) really loosen up rail to rail transitions. I think about what the outside surface of the outside fin is doing to keep things going straight. The CRV fins seem to allow for rail to rail transitions with a lot less weight on the inside rail.
I’m sure other approaches might work nearly as well… I.E. a ‘fat’ foil on the outer surface, etc.
I don’t know what to say? But
I think you should try out whatever you think might work for you. That’s what Art is all about. Discovering on your own! This is my own idea:
Flatish Sims bottom, fish nose pulled
In a tad, thumb tail, apex set back several inches from center… I don’t know what to expect! But this is what designing is all about!
Ben Aipa and Gordon (rhinochaser) have been building that design in all their long boards for decades.
The wing is about 2’-3’ up from the tail depending on the length with the tail outline both different and narrower than the outline in front of the wing
Gordon has been building his with Tommy Petersen’s fireball fish bottoma and 5 redx fins, A really unique design I’ve been following for years.
Mike Daniels just sent me a custom coil from florida Fedex for $200\
Did it once through UPS to the mainland and it was more than the value of the board in my opinion
I once had a board shipped to my hotel in Vegas while I was there at a business conference and brought it home on the plane (Hawaiian Air) with me to save costs
You need a commercial air freight contract with Delta like Griffin or something like that to drive the costs down
but yeah shipping to and from Hawaii makes most big & heavy things not worth it
Also just shipping between islands can be costly even by barge.
like corecork, epoxy resins, or special glass fibers by the roll etc etc
that’s why I used to do my best to source what I need from stuff I can get off the shelf at the local homedepot
off course we have Fiberglass Hawaii when you want an easier route
Jeff do you have time to move your back foot? Foot movement was a big part of surfing back in the '60s and '70s. I find that a small or large step back is critical to unloading a hard cutback. If you’re already on the tail, you could get into a lower stance then lay the board over into the cutback.
I find that a slight turn into the wave sets you up for a nice long sweeping cutback. Think of it as being on a skate board and doing a big turn while lifting the nose off the ground. There’s a slight swinging of the nose up, then you whip it back around. On a longer loard you can almost stand straight facing forward and lean heavily into the turn with your body.
As a kool aid drinker of twinzers, I’d have to say that they shouldn’t be hard to go on rail. I think one reason could be the vee in the tail, although Jobson’s tails are complex if you ask him. He’s talked about hyperbolic paraboloids peaking at the center of the fin cluster, but then adds in a center channel. Here’s a look at a 6’4:
