HELP AND OPINION

General Discussion
1

Hello boys and girls!

I've been reading Swaylocks for a while to get as much info as possible but this is my first post. I’m very new to shaping; only done one board and I got the template from Greenlight but for number 2 I've decided to design it myself and need some advice.

The board I’m going to shape is for a mate of mine that has just started surfing and over the summer has progressed on to a 7’0” fish.

He’s a big lad, 6’ tall and weighs over 80kg (180lbs+). The beaches we surf in Santander, Spain get decent waves with a bit of size and punch from autumn through to spring and get a bit hollow. We don’t get to surf very often so we go on every condition, onshore, slop, offshore and clean, big, small etc. so I want to make him something with a decent wave range and something he can progress on; I know you can’t have a board that works in everything though and he won’t be going on the bigger waves yet.

I’ll stop waffling and get to the point.

This is what I’ve come up with using shape3d and think I’m on the right track but need your opinion.

 PU + EPOXY construction

7’0” x 22” x 2 5/8 (45 litres of volume),

1ft off nose= 16”, 1ft off tail= 15”,

Nose rocker= 4 3/4”, entry rocker @ 1ft off nose= 1 3/8” (2ft= 3/8”),

Tail rocker= 1 3/4”, rocker @ 1ft off tail= 7/8” (2ft= 5/16”)

Bottom design= flat to 1/4” of vee from 22” from tail

Flat deck with full rails

Full nose and round tail

FCS X2 5 fin option

 

I have the following questions:

Is the nose and tail too wide?

Is entry rocker and overall rocker o.k?

Is the bottom design o.k?

Full rails are more forgiving, is this a good idea or would a medium rail be better?

Should I add a bit of vee at the nose too to help with chop?

 

Sorry for so many questions, I know it’s a lot in one post but I’ll
appreciate any input from you. Please point out my errors, I really want to
learn how to design and shape properly. Thanks in advance!

2

Hi guys!

The good news is that my mate is really pleased with the look of the board and another of my friends has seen it and wants one too, I’m on to a winner!!

The bad news is that I have to move out of my flat at the end of the month so I will have to hijack a bedroom at my new place and set up my shaping bay in there, the girlfriend won’t be happy…

I’ll probably start shaping in mid October after I’ve settled in and post a few snaps to let you see how I’m getting on…and probably ask for a bit more help as I think I´ll need some more advice.

I want to say a big thanks to all of you that have given me your advice on things, I truly appreciate it and will definately be posting more often.

Cheers!

 

3

Makes sense. I’m all for experimenting a little. Before I stared surfing I was into windsurfing and we used to move our fins up or down the box depending on conditions and how we wanted the board to behave. I couldn’t see the reason why shortboards had glass ons.

Originally the board was for my mate but I’m gonna make myself one too, gonna have a lot fun trying all this stuff out. 

Cheers artz!

4

No, but you have a reduced range of adjustment, to fine tune your boards handling with the shorter box.

5

ot too short j It’s just that you get more options on fin position with longer Box.  A good way to learn what works and what does not work is to move the fins around. mark off 1/4 inch intervolves on the box. that way you can gage where the fin is  If the board feels stiff move it up some.  Also good for useing diffrent fins get one fin dialed in and replace with another in the same location in the fin box. now how does the new fin feel? Same better, worse now move the new fin see how it changes the ride.  With some time you should get to Know what is working and what does not work 

6

Thanks Bill, found FU boxes from seabase in the U.K for a very nice price and postage should be ok too.

Is the 8" too short then? 

7

The FU 10 inch box, is the one to use with the 3 to 4 inch inset, recommended above.

8

Another quick question. I want to do a 4 + 1 fin system as suggested but don’t have a clue about fin boxes for a single fin. The only ones I’ve seen are 8" and 10" and know that Bahne boxes are inserted after hot coating, which is ideal.

Can you get 8" bahne boxes? What would you guys recommend for this board?

As for the quads I will probably go with an FCS X2 system, I tried Fusion on my first EPS board and it was a bit of a ball ache, I got a load of air in between the cloth and the plugs. Bloody nightmare!

I know FCS isn’t the most popular around on Sways but I’ve got a load of their fins and a set of Strech 5 fin set which cost me a fair bit so I’m gonna get my moneys worth out of em!

Thanks in advance!

9

[img_assist|nid=1076498|title=my design foil tweeked|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=313]

10

Here’s the modified design.

I’ve thinned the nose tip to 3/8", 6"= 1 1/8", 1ft off nose= 1 11/16"

1ft off nose= 15 3/4" instead of 16"

[img_assist|nid=1076497|title=my design outline tweeked|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=313]

11

Yes sir, surfteach sir! Hahaha. Only kiddin, I really appreciate your help and everyone elses. Thanks very much to everyone that has replied to my post, it’s helped loads!

I’ve been on shape3d again and thinned down the 12" to the nose and narrowed it 1/4". I’ll put the pic up soon although not too sure if you can see too much of a difference.

Duck diving is number 1 on the list o things to learn!

12

I would follow the advice to thin out the nose a bit with the deck curve.  Your beginner friend

needs all the help he can get to punch thru even small waves as he is learning.  Teach him

how to duck dive as quickly as you can so he is spending less energy just getting outside

and saving that energy to catch waves!  My tag name is not surfteach for nothin!  Just my 2c…

13

I like the idea of the quad set up, gdaddy also mentioned it, and with a fin box it could be very fun to experiment, 2 + 1, quad, single. I think I could have the best of all, not just both worlds. 

You’ve sold it to me artz! I also like the idea of the 60/40 rail.

Thanks for all your help so far boys!

14

Full rails it is then! Thought that would be the best bet as I’ve read they are very user friendly but I was worried it could have problems turning, I guess that’s the point of having the vee in the tail! Still got  a lot to learn! 

I’ll ask my mate if he wants a single fin as the board is for him. I think I’ll do the single for me as I’ve never had a chance to surf one before.

Cheers, Bill!

15

 It is hard to say about the rocker. If it were me I would make that forward curve exstend further back without adding any more lift to the over all rocker.  

 My favorite rail is a soft eggish rail. 70/30 or 60/40 ?  Can’t go too wrong with soft rail into a hard rail as Bill recommended. A good fin choice would be  a thruster set up  However a fun choice would be a 4 one set up that way once you get thee Board dialed in you can play with fins to see how they effect how the Board rides.   There are all manner of Fins and all manner of fin placements. You can be your own mad scientist . Oh and Have fun

16

Both your outline, and foil, look fine.    Full rails for a beginner, but put a hard edge in the last 8 to 12 inches in the tail.      Single fin box, 3 to 4 inches up from the tail.

17

I found rail dimensions on Greenlight and was using those as a guide. I was planning on doing modern full rails as my mate is a beginner. Do you think that maybe a medium rail would be better? 

18

Sweet! Will do, thanks very much gdaddy!

19

Smooth out the deck curve in the nose and thin out the front 12" and you’re good.  You could narrow the nose a little to clean up that curve or you could just leave it.  

 

Depending on how you do the rails I’ll bet there aren’t many waves at your spot that would be too much for that board.  

20

Hahaha, I had a feeling I’d have to post a few photos. The two piece rocker template will be very handy, I’ll definately invest a little time in making it. Cheers for the advive Greg!