I’m a backyard shaper, walking into the dark with this one. Making a mid length board for my buddy… few goals in mind, I want to make it fast, has to hold on a moderatley steep face (overhead beach break), and he wants to squeeze in a cheat 5 every one in a while. We have come up with the outline. But I thought it could be fun to hear where you guys would go from here!
Thickness? Rail? Contours? (Vee?) (how much) (how far up from tail?)
What are your thoughts on the outline? Would you change anything?
Thanks!
Most everything mentioned can be made to work. One key thing you didn’t mention - very important if your friend is to squeeze in a cheater five now and then, is rocker. Keep the forward rocker fairly flat - I’d say right around 4" or less. Sometimes an edge with a down forward rail helps with cheater fives too. Too much nose rocker and he’ll be breaking the tail loose in an unintentional helicopter maneuver… not good on a steep overhead beachbreak kind of wave. With that in mind, consider boosting the tail rocker a bit so he can pull the nose out on a late one.
In steep overhead beachbreaks speed will likely take care of itself. Did you have any ideas on fin(s)?
I would pull the nose in some. You don’t need a wide nose to do cheater 5s. I’ve made this outline in boards from a little over 7 feet up to 8-8. I have a thick one that is 7-9 and I ride it in bigger steeper waves, up to double overhead.
thanks alot guys, makes alot of sense. I’ll post the final product in a next few weeks. As for the fin, what do you suggest? Approximately how far up from the tail?
I’ve been using Greenough’s stage 4a and 4c for a while. I have the stage 4a in 9" and 7.5". Usually use the 9" in my 8’ boards, and the 7.5 in shorter singles. I’m also using a Brewer style fin 7.5" for some of my boards. I usually set a long center box where I can add side boxes later to make a 2+1 or a thruster, so that puts the end about 3.5 - 4 inches from the tail. Otherwise, the center box would be further up like 6 or 7 inches from the tail depending on whether you use a 9" or a smaller fin like the 7.5". I put the smaller fin closer to the tail. I like to look at the fin on the board then decide where I want the box.
I was using mostly 9" fins with a good amount of rake for a while. Then I started adding the side fins and going with a smaller center and side fins. I have the 4a in 9.5" too. I also use small double foiled fins on the side, but I just saw something where Terry Fitz was using small single foiled sidebites with the foils on the inside.
I’m making a 7-11 single now and I plan to have the box about 6" from the tail. Concave bottom from the nose changing up to vee in the tail. The rails have about a 2" chine that runs the length of the board and turns into the vee about where the fin is. I usually have a hard edge on a tucked rail all the way, but this board has a softer rail till about the last 18" to 24". I’ll post up photos when it’s done.
Awesome, I’ve been using a greenough 7.5" 4C for a year as well on my greg liddle 7’0, love it. I’m looking forward to seeing your board. Would love to get a visual of how you tuck the rails throughout. Concave at the nose, interesting, I’ve only shaped 3 boards up to this point, all of which have been a belly. Is it common to find gliders with concaves at the nose or just personal preference?
Thanks for the help man
If you have a Liddle, you should try one of the Liddle flex fins. I have a 9" L-flex from TrueAmes. More flexible than a Greenough 4C. Liddle’s boards are a totally different thing than what I am going for these days. If I surfed a long point break, I’d want a Liddle.
As promised here are a few shots of the board in progress. I sanded the deck fill coat, installed the fin box, and gave the deck a finish coat. These shots were taken after the deck finish coat. I’ll get more shots after I do the bottom.
This board is 1-lb EPS and I added a 1/16" balsa deck skin. It has about 4.5" of nose rocker and 2.5" of tail rocker, thickest part is about 3". I tried to get a shot of the rails.
