Do fishes necessarily have to have a swallow tail?? What benefits/disadvantages to you get with having/not having a swallow tail on a fish??
Now days defining a “fish” is getting harder with all of the offshoots of the original design. The wider the tail area of a board gets, the more it wants to plane. This can work for or against you. Too wide without being a swallow and it will be hard to get the tail to bite and there won’t be a lot of sensitivity. You can go to round or round pin for the sensitivity but then you loose the planing. The swallow just seems to be the best comprimise. There are exceptions to these ideas but that’s another story. aloha.
Now days defining a “fish” is getting harder with all of the > offshoots of the original design. The wider the tail area of a board gets, > the more it wants to plane. This can work for or against you. Too wide > without being a swallow and it will be hard to get the tail to bite and > there won’t be a lot of sensitivity. You can go to round or round pin for > the sensitivity but then you loose the planing. The swallow just seems to > be the best comprimise. There are exceptions to these ideas but that’s > another story. aloha. Hey tom, this is the ryan you’ve talked to about will (now posting under cheg). Anyway, would it be possible to hear the exceptions? I am debating as to what to shape with this 6’2c I’ve got; I am leaning toward a little egg, but not sure of exact dimensions yet. I come from a traditional longboard background and have kind of brought that style to my shortboarding. Therefore, I enjoy the trimming involved with eggs and the smooth turn of a single fin. Yet, I also want to be able to get more aggressive, if you know what I mean. I have recently surfed a little twin fish I made, and really loved the quickness- though still learning to pump for speed. I want a 6’ board that I can surf, without the current potato chip style, that catches waves, can trim and turn. aAny suggestions? Thanks- ryan (cheg)