Anybody out there making and surfing extra wide surfboards? I mean like 24 to 25". Maybe egging style for small waves.
Current SUP's for wave riding, some as short as 7'9", are 31" wide.
At 145 lbs., my old BlueHawaii log, at 9' x 24, sorta qualifies, considering my weight. I could stand on it without a paddle, or a wave, or a kite, or a sail.
Okay, I am newbee, but lots of stoke. I am thinking outside of the box, and wonder if this is a vaild question.
Disadvatages to a extra wide surfboard?, other than carring it. Paddling? Rail to rail speed?
Advatanges? stable? extra wave catching?
24+...
Easy stable.
Quick acceleration paddling, but very limited top speed.
Early wave catching in small waves. Needs tons of paddling to catch even 8' waves.
Very hard to turn in bigger waves...too much surface area to bank over.
Planes right up in smaller surf, even slow moving draggy surf.
Sluggish rail to rail, since you have to move your backfoot to each rail for each move.
Very susceptible to stress fractures and general breakage. Lots of surface area to catch the impact of the waves.
Easy stable once up, good for nose riding and walking around.
Horrid for any kind of offshore breezes.
I did a 23" wide retro fish. It was just over 6 ft… maybe even 6’3 or 6’4. Paddled into anything and super fast. VERY hard to turn in chest high and up surf, but could ride knee high weak, summer surf like nothing else.
Check Joe Blair, after years of looking for someone who can scale up shortboards, I think this guy has done it. See if you can eyeball one of his boards, he professes to understand all the nuances associated with surfing and has transferred all his knowledge to his shapes. I am not promoting his boards, just his eye for building wider boards and for anyone wanting to build wider boards, his designs are probably well worth studying.
http://www.jblairsurf.com/BIG_GUY_SURFBOARDS___SUP.html
Cheers
MrT
Thanks guys,
this is what I was looking at… As you can tell, old and overweight, and out of shape…
Baja, something like this
http://www2.swaylocks.com/forums/another-mahady-masterpiece-big-guy-short-board
Tom
Twenty three inches for a longboard in the 60's was considered wide. Most everything in those days came in on one side or the other of 22"s.
I am thinking it was beacuase of bottom contours restricted the way they made boards. With the new bottom contours and rail shapes, it might be a different story, might not.
I was just wondering if others are trying it. I know Ace does it with big sucess as well as a few other guys who were mentioned on the board…
It might make a diiference for us old fat guys.
dane perlee/pearson arrow custom
"frankenspud" 8.6 x 25 x 3 1/4
double stringer, rounded diamond tail
9.5 " & 10" larry allison flex fins
2-10' works fine
i was fortunate enough to get to ride a couple of Ace’s boards yesterday with great success
one was eps and the other was a hollow balsa wood, both were the same shape, about 7’6 and 23 1/2 inches wide
i was amazed at the stability of these board and the ability to even get right up on the nose and still make it through sections i didnt think i could make( especially on the balsa)
the waves were waist to shoulder high with some bump to it but when the good sets came through i could make some steep drops and solid turns
i was really surprised at the performance level of these board
the only down side to these boards is that im not a big guy (im only 5’10) so controlling these board when i wasent on a wave was a bit different than im used to but i still had alot of fun
Jim Phillips has made the 24"+ wide SWT, which started out as a longboard model, at 6’ and 8’ lengths. A stable, short single fin that trims beautifully and slips around stylishly. I think there’s some shots on www.jimthegenius.com.