design concepts for my stubby single fin

General Discussion
1

Hello everyone...

I just finished my last board and on to something new.  I usually just shape standard shortboards and some fishes...but I want to make a little single fin for my next board.  I have a 5'8 single fin kane garden that works pretty good.  Its probably around 21" wide and a little under 3" thick.  Its a squash tail.  I don't want to just copy the template and everything.  Anyone have any ideas about making a good stubbie single fin?? Bottom contours, tail designs ext.  I want something for good, pointbreak type waves, where my kane garden lags  (it gets kinda sketchy when the waves get steep and powerful).  Just seeing what anyone thought.

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check out the Bing “Lotus” model … i guarantee you’ll fall in love and never look back

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When lines are long just pull everything in. Something around 5’10" x 20 " x 2 5/8"  14" nose 14"  tail and whatever tail shape that gives you a tingle in that special place. I read on here from people who were around and shaping in the era of the single fin that v is retarded and not to use it since the boards have no problem going rail to rail. Looking at boards from that era, flat to about an 1/8"-1/4" out the back seems pretty standard. use roughly the same rocker and rails as your current board, which I am guessing it’s fat and downed but not to a crisp edge until a little ahead of the fin. The other approach is to foil the shit out of the board and make the rails pinched, and knifey  using the hull concept.

**Just remember surfboard design is mostly compromise of speed vs control/hold. ** What is fast tends to either slide out or be stiff. what is super responsive tends to be slow. I bet the reason your  KG is tricky when it is walled up is because it either spins/slides out or it is too fast and you have a hard time burying your rail and controlling the thing in the pocket.

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[img_assist|nid=1049638|title=6'6' First generation Zap|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]

 

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hi 'rh' !!

 

it will be dependant on your paddling power , the waves , your size , and other variables of course .

 

  how wide were the nose and tail on the kane garden ?

 

what is the rocker like ? rails ? bottom ? 

 

for me  [i'm 5'9 and 63kgs at the moment , and mainly ride beachbreaks in the ankle to head-high range [which get bigger and hollower SOON !] ,

  i've only made six of these type of boards [fairly ] recently , but i LOVE them !!

 

 [this is only me , but...] on my more recent stubs, i now prefer a 4-6" [max] fairly square  pod , nice rocker , vee, 5'10-6'2" . my next one , i'd like to go with  19"-19 1/2" max width [i found 20" a bit wide , for when it gets bigger and more hollow [ie: autumn and winter], here]   . i started off with flat bottoms and hard edges all the way round , on my first two , by the way.

 

  the  next one , i'd want to make 2 1/4 " thick , as i found that 2 1/2" was just too thick for my light weight , on my recent orange stub [see the 'from mutton to nearly lamb' thread]

 

and i differ , in that , besides a fin box , i also like being able to have the '2+1 ' / 'widowmaker' option , hence , probox side plugs , set around 11" up from the tail .

 

  the finbox i try to have fairly close to the pod [tailblock] , in order to be able to get thruster-like fin positionings.

 

  ....anyways , that's just my personal prefernce / experience , others may vary !

 

   .... i hope this is helpful ??

 

    cheers !

 

      ben

 

  lo