Looking for a little guidance, I am in the midst of building my first board. I have chosen a 9’5" as my final size and 3 1/8 - 3 1/4" as my thickness at center. I have ridden shortboards for 21 years. This board will be ridden in waves from 1ft-4ft surf, single-fin set-up and the tail is almost square (done purposely). I still have the option to go with a rounded or pin-tail set-up if the argument is convincing.
I have read that having a little concave in the nose will help with nose-riding, can someone confirm? If that is true, can someone explain via text, picture or drawing exactly how to layout the concave? Looking forward to any help from the community, if you need more specs on the board, please let me know. Thanks
There’s a debate about the effectiveness of nose concave for noseriding. Personally, I like a blended, teardrop shaped concave that’s about one third the length of the board, depending on rocker. My concaves start at the tip of the nose, parallel the nose rails, then come together to form a wide, rounded teardrop shape.
Here is a picture of a longboard I just shaped with a single in the nose. It is not as tear dropped as nj surfer said. But it’s similar in concept. Hope it helps. Try searching the archives also. Tons of info there
Im no noserider, but the blended concave in my 9'1'' longboard just seems to catch the wind, and push me up and out of the wave if there's anything stronger than a breeze. It can get annoying IMHO. But, like i said, i don't know too much about noseriding, mine's more of a modern longboard. I love to trim from up front, but dont really get to the nose much.
I agree with NJS. I do half-length blended concave and put the deepest part where the nose rocker (however slight, mine are typically 4"-4.5") starts to accelerate or kick. I believe the concave flattens the rocker in the nose and (maybe) creates a little lift, while directing the water flow rearward. Just as important, IMHO, nose concave lightens the swing-weight of the log in question.
I agree, the rail shape especially in the tail and the tail rocker are more important than nose concave. I have had many discussions with people who believe that you can take a modern version of a LB and put concave in the nose to make it a “noserider”. It doesn’t work for me, that much I know for sure and yes I have LBs with concave noses. The best noseriding LBs have a significant kick in the tail rocker and what I can best describe as “upward pinched” rails in the last quarter to third of the board length. This pulls the tail down and increases water flow over the tail.
