…so I need a little help. I went with this shape as I’ve only been long boarding for a few years, seemed easier to make and should be able to cheater five in SW England conditions.
At the moment it measures 6’6 X 21-1/2 X 2-7/8. Wide point is 4 inches forward with nose rocker at 3-7/8 and tail at 2-3/8.
My concerns are with bottom contours and rails. I’m just putting a 10.5 fin box in and would like a Vee out the back, unsure on the rest? I was thinking 50/50 rails or would rails like this not work so well on a board this size? Anything else I need to think about?
Thanks in advance and sorry for pic quality, Steve.
Hi McDing, Started with a 608RP and if my old brain serves is 3" but will double check my measurements in any case. It was a late start after finishing my work and dims were taken in haste. Looking at the rocker, something doesn’t seem right either. I have today free so will measure everything again.
What do you think on rail ideas? I’m still thinking knifey 50/50 but only riden logs like this.
I’d run a soft low rail that gets hard in the back.
I’d skip the v aswell and run it flat. - this said, I’m not afraid to shift my weight - on a tail like that I’m not sure how much v will do besides make it slower.
I did a couple boards that were much like like that 15 years ago (but slightly longer) and surfed the snot out of them for years. I still have one of them and if it wasn’t so waterlogged we’d still be surfing it. I’m doing another variation of it right now, albeit with more refinements. Flat bottom, round to eggy to hard in the tail (tuck the edge a little). Use a flat bottom but add a soft chine at the rails (like 1/10th") to smooth out your turns. You could go flat in the tail, but a touch of vee - like 1/8" or 3/16" starting at the front of the finbox will smooth things out a little.
You’re got too much flip in the nose rocker in that blank to expect cheater 5s but the design will handle a fairly wide range of conditions. Next time, use the SP blank and take your shape out of the middle. Also, 6-6 is a little short for a single fin; too much curve in too short a length in the template. It’s hard to engage enough rail to get any drive out of them. Singles don’t really get to working like a single until about 6-10 or so. You can treat them like a thruster at the shorter lengths and drive them off the fin but at that point why bother with a single?
Well one thing is for certain. Doesn’t matter how many times you read up, check out pics and footage, it sure is one steep learning curve once you turn the planer on! Hats of to everyone doing this full time or even ‘just’ getting through you first couple of boards.
Now here’s where I’m at - I tried to flatten out the rocker a touch, I don’t think it did much other than thin it out to 2-3/4. I don’t think I was measuring rocker correctly and should’ve taken increments down. Nose has 4" and tail is bang on 2" Nose would’ve been less if I knew how to block plane, kept tearing into foam? Maybe cheap or blunt blade?
I’ve done a soft rail with a slight roll (1/8"), going flat, then 3/16 Vee out back with harder edges (unsure if sharp enough) which starts with the Vee at about 20" up.
WideAWAKE, I’ve had some memorable boards with Vee and it’s the only reason I’ve gone with this. I tried to get a flatter rocker, but didn’t want to lose thickness. I’m not trying to surf it like a longboard however I love the drawn out turns and haven’t ridden anything else since buying it 3 years ago…so maybe I am without the hangtime. Nice board by the way!
gdaddy, you’re right about blank choices. I’ll understand a little better next blank purchase. Cheater 5s will be out but the slop I normally surf should be ok, time will tell. The single fin is purely because I have a box and fin, and well if its surfs like crap I can add some plugs later.
The board will surf just fine in meager conditions as a single. And a 4/2 rocker will handle a wide range of conditions into well overhead. It probably won’t be a fast board but that’s a good thing when it comes to surfing a single in smaller conditions. Sometimes you want to outrun the wave, but a singlefin is all about staying with the wave and milking it for everything its got.
Finish this one, surf it for a couple months then do another. Rinse and repeat.
Lammed the bottom this afternoon. Temperature has dropped a bit here so will do top first thing tomorrow. My first cutlap and damned if I didn’t pick the closest colour to masking tape!
