I can’t see why you need to have the front at all ya mite as well cut a foot off and make it more compact. Just can’t see the advantage when it’s almost never in the water once the board is planning or turning.
every performance board I have owned eventually got its nose snapped off and it didn’t hinder its performance. Can anyone that specialises shaping performance short boards shed some lite on why we need a pointy nose and the advantages of that part of the design. I’m not taking the piss just figger it’s there for probably a good valid reason
Pointy noses look cool, and are easier to shape. That’s the only reason for them that I can think of. You are right about that end of the board being virtually irrelevant. Most shortboards I see in use aren’t even waxed on the front third. You could take every single shortboard in existence, cut three inches off the tip and round it off, and the board wouldn’t ride any different. They WOULD be a whole lot safer. Which reminds me, nose guards seem to have fallen by the wayside in recent years. I recall when damn near everyone used them.
True. But the board as a whole will still render a surfer unconscious on a wipeout. And chopping the front 1/3 might be fine for most surfers who never takeoff on steep lips.
**still leaves you vulnerable to razor sharp fins–those of which, I believe are more dangerous than a 3/4"-1" rounded shorty nose (which the big names are doing at the moment). **I surf Proteks in hommage of friend who had his lower leg soft tissue severed. Lucky he’s walking today, may never get normal gait back.
Add reefs, rip currents, and man eaters, the nose of the board is somewhere up there in terms of hazard. But less spears in the water is always nice. Round those tips down. They always look beautiful when you’re photographing the shape, but like concept cars, they require safety treatments.
I believe they serve a purpose in intimidating and consequently dissuading cooks who want to drop in on you. I have both roundish and pointy nose boards and I always “try” to be conscious about where the board goes on a wipeout regardless of it’s shape. That said, I don’t know why but I just love beak noses… Very pinny rhino chasers can also be dangerous but then I guess that end of the board has more to do with it’s performance, then again, Thrailkill used to charge giant waves on heavy square tails… Conclusion, surfing is dangerous… Another food for thought is that although we seldom use them, helmets can save lives, I can think of a friend who died at 2XOH Playa Negra, he was an experienced charger and Costa Rica resident for many years yet he was knocked unconsious in a wipe out and drowned, a helmet would have been nice in his case… Fishing is way more dangerous… not to mention driving a car in San Juan, Puerto Rico…
Surfboards shaped like cockroaches jajajaja, talk about surviving a nuclear war, jajaja! Almost wet my pants, ambrose that has to be one of your funniest yet! Love the prose : )
I’ve never seen a shortboard with a nose pointed enough to be dangerous. That argument is so stupid and played out. Keala’s face looked like that from the reef at Chopes and fins are far more dangerous than a point made out of foam and glass (that breaks easily) will ever be
That being said, I don’t see the point in the pointy nose either, especially when there is a lot of rocker. Does that extra rail line ever make a difference if it doesn’t touch water?
Greg Griffin razer sharp g-10 fins that you could use as a sashimi knife (ask head full of resinfumes guy)
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Exactly..I think I just looked at those fins and they sliced me. I still don't know how they did it. If they hit you at speed it would be a fast trip to the ER, and a very clean surgical type repair.
I’ve always thought it was a production consideration. At a certain point, a radius is going to require relief cuts and becomes just a little trickier to glass. Whereas with three passes of a sanding block to square off the nose, the glassing is wham bam thank you mam.
