A friend of mine has asked me to make him a new long board. He’s currenltly surfing a 9’5" pop out which has little to no rocker. As expected it’s fast as a bullet but not exactly the most agile of logs in the surf.
My buddy has asked for a board in the 9’0" reginon that is super agile and turns easily. He does not have any interested in walking up the nose of the board. He Weighs around 170 -180 lbs and would be a strong paddler.
I was thinking of using the 9’5" S Clark (I can still get one here in Ireland).
Can any of you guys throw some advice my way interms of dimensions / concaves / rails / foiling etc
My initial thoughts are 9’0" * 22" * 2 5/8" . I’m thinking I should leave the rails fairly low (definetly not boxy).
Brian, I like the idea of an agile longboard . although I am a fraction heavier at 90 to 100 kg depending on the time of day i reackon go a fraction wider at 22and 1/2 and 2& 7/8. Go a nose concave and instead of the traditional tear drop keep the rear of it wide and follow thru to a belly channel or a concave then as you get to about 18 inches from the fins whack a double concave thru the fins and I guarantee it will be one agile mal. maybe 22&1/4 . 2&3/4. Bob Mactavish does these and I have used the same concept for myself. it works.
And since he’s not going to nose ride, might as well bring the nose in a lot. I like a lot of curve in the outline too and would bring the tail in as well, which is fine for me because i don’t have wave catching problems. My board is 9-0 x 16 3/4 x 21 1/4 x 13 1/2 x 2 3/4 and it’s very agile. It was my first longboard and was a good transition from shortboards since it was still manuverable. Next time I’ll go narrower in the nose, like the Harbour Habanero model.
You just narrow the nose (& the tail) to make a curvier radius along the whole template shape. Like, a 24" wide board with a 17" nose would be a lot more curve than a 22" wide with that 17" nose.
I’d also move the widepoint back about 12" - its going to be subtle anyway over that length, but it will help curve the back end. That way, anytime you’re on the rear 4’ of the board, you’re using rail & template shape of an 8’ board, not a 9’ - the front is all going to be out of the water anyway. You want a square tail for release & quick turns - like 14" at tail measurement & 6" across the “pod”. 5.5" nose rocker, 3.5" tail. Hard edge on the rails the last 18", from starting an edge that makes its way downwards around 24"…
Make sure you use a fin system that will let him go “true thruster” - all 3 equal - when he wants to (beachbreak or traveling). Lokbox is good for this, as they have some bigger sides. I’m sure there are others.
As you draw outline of the board in it will become harder to surf in small surf. If you want a board that will do will in waves up to around head high. My call on width is 22.5 to 23.0 inches. Nose tail width will help in catching smaller waves as well. The fact that the board isn’t intended as a pure nose rider doesn’t mean the nose should be narrowed out too much. 17.0 to 18.5 inches will serve. Let your eye be the judge.
Tail shape and tail rocker will play a huge roll in how agile the board is. A nice full rounded pin between 14.75" and 15.25" will get it done. Put a nice flowing tail rocker in the board around 3.5" and hold nose rocker around 5.0".
Do the bottom as it suits you but don’t get radical. Slight flowing nose concave and mile vee exit will do the job beautifully. Put rail fin boxes in it cause you never know what kind of fin set up will please a surfer the best and some versatility to facilitate the process of getting the board wired certainly can’t hurt.
Hi, I surf and own alot of different long boards, some I have had custom made, some I have purchased from reputable shapers (Hobie, Harbour, Bing etc.). The most agile long board I have ever owned would have to be the hobie black bird, sean haggar model. This board has plenty of rocker, turns real snappy, Decent float and a hell of alot of speed. Sad to say mine broke on a big day at a local beach break and I just have not had a chance to replace it yet. Great in big surf if you ride it under 9’6 (mine was a straight 9). The dimmensions are available on Hobie.com if you are interested.
I agree with benny1; on my 24" wide boards I set my nose between 17-18". That gives nice curve in the front. For an agil board you’ll want some curve in the template. Even my noserider will only have an 18" nose. Nose width is not required for noseriding and for non-noseriding is added swign weight.
Of course agility is likely the trade against paddle speed and wave entry, but that sounds like an accepted trade.
Very clean execution on a unique & innovative design. I can only imagine what the guts look like. Beautiful board! Question - I’m noticing the horizontal slot in the hook of the fin outline… what’s the overall fin foil thickness?
