Hey there, first time poster, longtime lover of Swaylocks.
I’m shaping my third board, the intention is to try to use it to get better at noseriding. I live in Oregon, surf slow mushy waves, usually not above 6’. I’m 5’9", 150lb, somewhere between beginner and intermediate in ability. My hope is that this board will allow some noseriding, while not being completely terrible to surf on a 6’ day (hence the 4" of nose rocker rather than 2")
This is an awesome site, I really appreciate any feedback from builders/noseriders! Thanks!
It’s a little hard to see the dimensions in the pictures, so here they are if it helps…
overall dimensions: 9’6" x 23"
tail at 1’: 14.25"
nose at 1’: 17.3"
tail rocker: 4"
nose rocker: 4.25"
tail will have slight belly, under the nose will have .25" concave, for about 1/3rd of the board bottom. soft pinched rails throughout, slightly turned down at the nose fading to slightly turned up at the tail.
Curvature creates a low pressure - basic physics of fluid dynamics. That nice curvature in your tail rocker will help hold up the nose when you’re up there. There may be too much curve in the nose rocker, and that will actually create suction, will keep you from getting all the way up, and will actually start pushing water before you can get up there. If you can get your hands on a good noserider from the noseriding era, you’ll see that they have very little nose rocker, and a fair bit of tail rocker. They’re great for noseriding Malibu and Rincon, but suck pretty much everywhere else.
But, as you said, you’re making compromises to be able to ride larger surf. In that regards, it looks great.
I’m a big believer in wide-point-back designs, but not for novice surfers. They’re more sensitive to paddling position and less forgiving when it comes to transitioning from paddling to surfing. You have to have significantly better wave judgement and timing, otherwise the board gets away from you. Especially in faster conditions.
If the OP is a raw recruit to surfing then probably better to pick a design that’s more forgiving. Also, don’t try to do one board-fits-all. If the OP is a novice then they shouldn’t even be paddling a longboard out when it’s head high because at that point they’re a menace to themselves and everyone around them. A loose longboard on a leash is a hazard to everyone within at least 20ft of the surfer, and that’s if they’re not getting dragged.
Besides, you can have a lot of fun on a longboard in small conditions - that’s what they’re for.
What sort of breaks do you ride out in Oregon? Are they beaches or points?
I built an all rounder for the same size waves, which was reshaped from an incorrect machine cut blank. It left me a bit limited to what I could do but ended up pretty similar to your design. It’s 9’2 x 22.75 x 3.
The deign you have is wide point forward, I have found in slower waves this works against you because the front is the fast part of the board and takes you away from the pocket, also in bigger surf you have a lot of nose to deal with.
The 9’2 I speak of has wide point back with a rounded tail. But, I used the nose concave (think blended rather than spoon) to adjust the rocker numbers, ended up with around 3.75 in the nose and 4.5 in the tail. In the tail as it approaches the fin I accentuated the curve and used a hard edge on very fine rails. Not what is traditionally thought of as a nose rider, but in the beach breaks we ride here it just works. If you can loose some of that nose rocker flip in the first 12-18 inches but add a flip in the tail you won’t have any issues surfing larger waves, and with a more foiled rail that water will happily rap around over the deck.
Also fin choice is a massive factor on this kind of board. My first true nose ride was in head high with a generic 9" 4a style fin. The same session I was covered up and doing cut backs and off the lips. On smaller days I use a rather large Tom Wegner Pivot fin and it locks in and stays steady on the front third of the nose.
Again there are many on this site who will favour the more traditional ideas of a nose rider and they probably enjoy nice long point breaks with many cut backs and shorter nose rides between, but if you look around at the current modern ideas, there are lots of pig style boards, more narrow noses and wide points aft.
It’s a common misconception here in Oregon by people who have never surfed much anywhere else that you can or should ride a Noserider in large surf. The Coast Guard chopper fishes people out of the water all winter long who paddled out on their “In The Pink” Surftechs. The only legitimate "Point Break " in the whole state of Oregon is off limits to Noseriders.
Thanks for your insight regarding wide point. My incorrect assumption was that I’d want more foam/buoyancy under the front if I wanted to try to spend any time out there. If I’m surfing in Oregon, it’s fairly slow beach break (as mcding’s design feedback mentioned, the point breaks here are owned by angry locals).
I’ll try to take 3/4" or so of nose rocker and send it to the last 18" of tail.
As the more experienced guys here suggested, it won’t paddle quite as stable as wide point forward, but I’m my opinion it will allow both styles of surf in the waves you describe and the only really compromise is choosing your fin wisely!
I know you’re off getting dusty, but I took a quick look at my 9’ 0" performance longboard: the nose rocker is 3 1/8" and the tail rocker is 3 1/4". There is a bit more flip in the tail than the nose to get the desired suction and to better fit the curl of the wave. Anyway, for a 9’ 6" that works out to 3 5/16" nose rocker and 3 7/16" tail rocker. I had a 9’ 6" in the early 00’s, and it had a lot more tail rocker and it would get stuck in the curl of the wave and not drop in until late - it never worked for me. I think it was my fault too: I told a shaper friend to add some tail rocker to help with noseriding; I think he tried it on this board, over did it, and I ended up buying it used in a shop. Otherwise, it was a great looking classic longboard shape. Now, I wish I’d taken a full set of measurements off of it: outline, rocker, rails. There were components of that board I wished I’d recorded. Yeah, the rocker sucked, but sometimes data on what doesn’t work is as insightful as data on what does work. Everything else was ‘classic longboard.’
As for my board, I’ve ridden it in as small as one foot Rincon to overhead Rincon, one foot Cowells Cove and Jack’s in Santa Cruz and double overhead Steamer Lane. It’s super easy to walk up onto the nose in all those conditions. Turns good in everything I’ve ridden it in too. But, I’ve never taken it out in beach break. I should work though, cause in secret it’s a 10’ 6" x 22 1/4" shortboard that has had 1’ 6" cut off the nose and rounded out to look longboard’ish.
If you want a good paddling board, put maximum thickness under your chest and distribute south thru your stomach, waist and thighs. Too many longboards hit the maximum thickness in one spot and do not distribute it evenly. I have preached this in past threads that are now archived and I’m tired of repeating myself. A Noserider will nose ride with anything in the nose from flat with down rails (ie Penetrator) to a subtle slight concave nose to a deep 1/3 length concave. My personal boards here in Oregon have subtle concave. I like a board that can be ridden on the nose when appropriate, but is fast at midpoint, cuts back and turns on a dime. I sell blanks and cloth in Pacific City. Come by and visit. I’ll show you my 9’0. It may give you some ideas. Lowel
