Im interested in making a fast, loose competition type longboard this summer and dont know much about their basic design features. Anyone have some advice here?
Im particularly interested in rocker (what Clark blank to use/reference…better?) thickness, bottom contour and rail shape, etc etc. I would be surfing it mostly off the back with occasional nose rides. I weigh 175lb and mostly ride wide, fast mid-size shorties. Thanks.
clark blank ???
cough cough , arrgh , choke !!!
i thought you knew better , from first hand experience , why go back now …
depends on what you consider performance…
regards
BERT
hey thats cheating , now my post looks out of context coz you edited yours …
pm me and ill give you the winning formula …
regards
BERT
damn…not sneaky enough huh?
you know im not going back so just assume i had a brain fart…
btw, hope your trip was tasty and welcome back
yea got nice waves , these pics are from the last 2 trips , the latest trip should have some insane photos still to come , we had this one monster session in real thick southern ocean double over head beachies , got totally slaughtered on a couple , all 3 of us snapped our boards , it was one of those surfs where you knew you would break your board before you even paddled out , cant wait for the pics …
actually went for a comp down there as well . J.R. seems to have the bonga curse , coz every time he meets him in a heat he gets knocked , even tho on pure ability he should smoke the guy , something always goes wrong and bonga gets the heat winners …
sometimes a surfers true ability just doesnt seem to reflect in there contest results …
ok i see a green message …
regards
BERT
hm getting late …
Hey, here’s a link for you http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=161823#161823 Bert outdid himself on this thread. I think it is one of the best threads for board design and what works for who in what conditions that I’ve seen.
how long were you thinking? I wouldn’g go over 9’4"
Normally an HP longboard has more rocker in both tail and nose, box plus sidebites, a little thinner volume, slightly narrower tail. 60/40 rails, transitioning to a hard edge in the tail.
You can add a double barrel concave with a slight vee in the tail.
Drew
Clark 9’5S is a great blank to start with.
Drew
Hey Meecrafty,
Everyone will send you a little different direction. Generally H.P. Longboards are intended for waves from knee to head high so a fairly versatile board is called for. Look around the local shop to see what’s out there. Scope out the bottom shapes with a straight edge on what appeals to you. You’ll probably find that there are a few shaper’s work that appeals to you the most. If you can rent or borrow a few boards to take for a spin it’ll put you way ahead of the game. I have a couple of very nice performance longboards that I prefer surfing with three fins. The 9’0" Freeline is my favorite. My 9’5" Junod is the most versatile board I own because it will surf quite well in just about any conditions. Here are some specks and configurations to work off of.
9’1"x18.0"x22.5"x14.5"x3.0" ~ 4.5" nose rocker 3.0" tail rocker. Mild concave in nose rocker mild vee in center section increasing slightly into tail section with sligh concaves leading into the fin area. I prefer a rounded pin. if you open up the tail a little to about 15.0" the board will handle smaller waves better. Rails run about 60/40 in the center of the board. The boxey you make them the higher the board will ride.
I include a photo of a rocker that I know works very well.
Hope some of the ideas help.
Mahalo, Rich