what do you think of a board with a swallow tail and a swallow nose? what are the pros and cons? do you know if there allready is such a board?
I prefer “pin tail” noses on my shorter boards and “rounded” on my longer ones. Have yet to try a swallow or squash nose. Maybee you could install removable fins on the nose of a swallowtail. It would be a great travel board, pintail or swallowtail depending on which end you put the fins in on.
well that would be a great idee but i think it would be a hard time to make a working rocker. my idee was that you could have a faster outline because the tip is not on the stringer ( say the middle of the board).
that means you have the outline of a bigger board while riding a short board cheers clemens
after almost getting killed this morning at Leftovers by a guy that had to straighten out because of some kook dropping in on him, my board was basically cut in half, i would say i that i am very glad the guy running me over only had one point on the end of his board. i don’t care how well they work, i think people that ride these board are irresponsible no matter how accomplished they are at surfing. i have been out a few times when these things have been in the water and they strike fear into me, and besides the guys riding them are not surfing on some higher level then the rest of the pack… do the same thing with the tail but drop the double eye gouge would be my suggestion…
I really dont see where there is any increase in efficiency. Basically any wide nose board would perform the same as these. The only advantage is in paddling, the rest of the ride is conducted by 2/3 of the board which is the same as any other board out there. I have to agree that the more pointy edges is too dangerous to validate any performance gain…if any.
The rationale for a double nose board includes:
- The double nose is actually the result of the twin hull design (i.e., it is a catamaran).
2) This creates a very, very deep channel running the length of the board, the purpose of which is to generate lift and reduce the wetted surface area of the board (thus greatly reducing drag).
3) The overall length of the board is significantly reduced, as is the weight in the nose.
The attached photos are of a balsa blank I recently glued up for a catamaran type surfboard. It is still at a very rough stage and much work remains to be done, yet even so I believe the basics of the design can be easily seen.
This board utilizes the exact same template outline used for the 5’6” Lis fish I am also currently making (see “Making Your Own Balsa Blank’ thread on this site) with the following modifications:
1) The board is only 5’2” due to the cutout nose section.
2) The fish tail has been greatly modified. The original deep swallow pattern can still be seen outlined in pencil (pic #2), with a large rounded section filling in the area between the tips of the tail (in effect, the area taken from the nose has been added to the tail).
3) There is a deep channel running down the bottom (whereas the fish has a shallow concave).
This board is entirely experimental (i.e., it is the first one I have built of this particular design), so I have no idea as to exactly how it will ride (Note: it is intended to be a kneeboard). My expectations are that it will be extremely fast but I’m not quite sure how maneuverable it will be.
In addition, since other than the modified nose and tail, it will have exactly the same outline and fin setup (keel fins) as the more traditional Lis fish I am simultaneously building, it will be quite interesting to compare the two.
To be honest, I have never ridden such a board, but I have seen one in action at Big Rock (in La Jolla) in some fairly decent waves (and was rather impressed with what I saw), talked to the rider (don’t know his name) who was quite enthusiastic about it, and taken a close look at Alexander’s web site a fair number of times. Obviously my curiosity was aroused enough to want to go to the trouble of building one myself (although my design is not a carbon copy of Alexander’s Gemini boards).
As for the double nose being more dangerous (than a single nose), although there is some truth to that statement, the nose tips do not have to be ‘pointy‘. They could be rounded off a bit and it shouldn’t really make much difference in the board’s performance parameters.
But on the other hand, the pointy nose on a traditional thruster serves absolutely no purpose other than to look ‘cool’, yet I don‘t hear anyone complaining about how dangerous they are! (The same argument could also be applied to having three fins rather than just one or two.)
Wow retroman that is insane…that gemini board is rad to. you could prong fish if they get in your way 
nice board mate, i´d love to hear how it works. so pleas let me know when you tested it. I don´t see a two nose board as more dangoures as a one nose board. cheers clemens