The thicker the rail in the tail, the more forgiving but the less manouverable the board is, right? It ads speed in paddling in, but slows the board down once on the wave, right? So wouldn’t adding slight rocker and keeping a thick rail have the same effect as less rocker and a thinner rail in the tail? I’m also a little bemused at the effect of extra or less thickenss in the nose. In my experience the nose is pretty much out of the water all the time except paddle-in. So a thicker nose makes it more forgiving for paddle in, but has little to no effect once on the wave? Am I shooting wide here? Corran
thickness in the nose may not seem that important (at least, not unless you’re noseriding) but thickness can add weight, which is very important on the nose of the board, as it affects how quickly the nose of the board will move (inertia). Try taping a roll of quarters to the nose of your shortboard and see how it affects the performance… thicker nosed boards are harder to duck dive too, in my opinion.
Thicker tail is definately more floaty feel, harder to dig unless you are a real stomper/ grinder. I for one am not a fan of pringle thin boards, especially in fl(Home). I like more foam even in the nose so what if it is a bit harder on the subbie it’s makes up when you can paddle in on 3-4 pumps, and paddle out when it’s pumping. So much is preference that nothing is out of the question or dumb! http://www.soulsurfertv.com