Hi folks,
I am about to shape a board for a friend and would like to get some feedback about dimensions and design. He is a beginner, has tried longboarding a few times and is hooked. We agreed on something like a mini mal, 7.2 or 7.6 feet long. it should float him well and make it easy to stand up in white water. transport is an issue, so no longboard. he should be able to make some progress on it.
My friend is 179 cm (ca 5,10)
72kg (pretty skinny)
32 years old. he will surf only a few weeks per year, as he lives in germany, a days travel away from the atlantic coast in France.
as I have yet only shaped fishes in the 5.9 - 6.2 range this is totally new to me. This is my board number 8.
I suggested a bigger egg shape, as I just like the outline much better than a mini mal, and i have also never surfed one - so i would also get the chance to do so :)… is there a huge difference btw minimals and eggs of similar dimensions regarding performance for a beginner? what should i keep in mind?
Here’s what we thought about:
7.2 (or 7.4 or 7.6) x 16.3 (nose) x 21,5 x 15,1(tail)
thickness 2.75
I will keep volume in the rails for flotation and paddle ease.
Does this sound alright?
What kind of rocker would a board like this need?
I will think about bottom and fins later. First I need to template. Any input on the dims is highly appreciated. As i will recycle the blank from an old windsurfer that i will pickup this weekend it might get fun and I will post pictures if anybody is interested. Recycling is cool. Still don’t know what kind of foam I will get once I dismantle the windsurfer 
this site is great!!
is there a huge difference btw minimals and eggs of similar dimensions regarding performance for a beginner? what should i keep in mind?
I learnt to surf on a 7’6’’ minimal, 16’’ nose x 21.5 just in front of centre, maybe 1’‘, x 14 1/4’’ tail x 2 3/4. It had 5 1/2’’ nose rocker, which was flipped in the last 12’', but not severe, just a nice curve, and 2 1/2 tail. It went brilliant, if it didn’t die, i would still be riding it now. Long enough to paddle great, short enough to turn good ( thruster set up ). I used to surf hollow waves on it no worries. For most of the time i had it, it only had the centre fin, as i snapped the other too. Made it loose as, and a lot more fun. It only became a problem when i progressed to bigger steep waves, where sometimes it would slip.
Never surfed an egg, but would love to!
Beerfan, surferdave,
thanks for your answers. so we came up with this:
as Matthias is a beginner it should be stable, paddle well and easily pick up wave energy. If I compare my design to your numbers, beerfan, I might still take out some tail rocker. maybe also go a bit flatter in the nose?
I have some more questions:
The board should perform well in white water. Am i right if I therefore leave some more volume in the tail? - more than in the above surfdesigner file?
what about bottom contours? I assume rather flat in the first half of the board, maybe with belly lift. then I thought about a mild double concave in the last third of the board, through the fins (thruster), going into a mild v out the tail?.. Is that a good setup?
…I am going to pick up the used windsurfer coming weekend. So i still don’t know which foam i will be shaping (the last ones I opened were either PU or EPS) and if will be able to get the above design out of that blank… I might have to change a few numbers, and I am also quite sure that it will turn out pretty different anyway once i start taking away foam with the planer because of my lack of skill, but that’s part of the fun…
cheers,
KM
Hey karl, the dims look good to me, though i am pretty much a novice at this board building. Volume in the tail would help a beginner i would imagine. My minimal had a dead FLAT bottom, as does my twin keel, and my latest single fin. Works for me, especially if you’re not surfing big hollow waves ( over head and a half ). Most of the waves i surf are knee to a foot or so over head high.
I tried to make a board out of an old windsurfer, but it was such a pain in the arse i abandoned it. By the time i got it to a reasonable thickness ( and i like thicker boards ) the foam was soft, and the rocker was all wrong. It was a good learning experience though!.
The 3 boards i have made so far i’ve made without a planer. Im terrible with one, one half second mistake can take hours to fix. However, because of that i end up with thick boards ( 3’’ ). Personally though, as someone who is not kelly slater, i dont mind the thickness at all.
Cheers
