Hey Tom, I was browsing the board archive the other day and my friend spotted a fish that you shaped for a friend. We went to view the board and noticed that you shaped it for a big guy. Well, my friend is 6’4, 220 and muscle. I am wondering if a 7’2x15x22x18x3.5 with dual fins would be good for him with a swallow tail? Also, is there a relevence to the deep swallow tail that you added to that board? Would a smaller swallow be just as effective? We will be surfing 3-4 ft. El Porto here in SoCal that tends to get sloppy in the summer. I am just looking for a few pointers as I have never ridden nor shaped a fish. Cheers, Erik http://www.mastermindsurfboards.com
Erik: That 7’2" board was a first for me too. It was for a guy who wanted to step down from a 9’0" with minimal “pain” in the process. He is on his fourth variation of that board and has managed to move the length down to 6’8" Like your friend, this rider is 6’7" and 225 lbs. and athletic. Right now the dimensions on his boards look like this: 6’8" N-17.0 W-21.5 T- 17.0 and 31/8" thick. All are twins with deep swallows. I’ve never shaped one with less than a 5" swallow, most are 6" + deep. Take your dimensions and just lay them out on blank/paper. I never force the numbers, just go with what looks right. I like 'em with a fairly straight outline in the rear of the board, so I work from the tail tips at 11"-12" apart up to the wide point at 21" or so. Herb’s input over the years helped me with my boards and lots of others posted in the archives. Check out some of the threads in the archives on Fish too. Good Luck. Tom S.
Tom, Thank you very much for your input. I will hit the archives and find out what has been said. Yeah, I never force numbers either, thats why I ask for suggestions, so that I can vary things and try new stuff. Well, I told my friend that I would shape a fish for myself first, then we would start on his board. I am not a shortboarder by any means, so this should be very interesting! =) Cheers, Erik http://www.mastermindsurfboards.com