Help on some Retro Fish rails to deck please

General Discussion
1

Hi Folks,

Almost nailed the planning of my first shaping experience, but have some questions about the rails. The board will be;

  • 6'2" Retro Fish
  • N 17" x 22 3/8 x T 17" x 3" (I'm a 190+ pound, 35yr old crappy surfer...thus the VOLUME VOLUME VOLUME :) )
  • Epoxy RR over reg blank
  • 1 x 6oz bottom
  • 2 x 6oz deck
  • 2 x (7" x 5"-5.5") single foiled keels with a little toe in and cant
  • Rails 50/50 @ nose, 60/40 through center, harder edge 12" through tail
From advice i have had from some Swaylokians and from pictures in the resource section i have some rail thickness and to deck questions;
  1. How thick should the rails be given the board will be 3" thick @: the centre?
  2. Should i dome the deck or keep as much volume in it and come up sharper from the rails? (thus keeping the deck flat)
I have attached a picture of my outline with an example of a sharper rail to deck slice. It's a very rough example and way to sharp off the rail but i think it explains what i mean :)

Any comments on shape etc are more than welcome.

Looking forward to getting it all started. I couldn’t have done it all without Swaylocks, this place is a goldmine if you are prepared to do a little digging and the community is excellent and, above all, welcoming!

Cheers

Wal

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2
Quote:

Hi Folks,

Almost nailed the planning of my first shaping experience, but have some questions about the rails. The board will be;

  • 6'2" Retro Fish
  • N 17" x 22 3/8 x T 17" x 3" (I'm a 190+ pound, 35yr old crappy surfer...thus the VOLUME VOLUME VOLUME :) )
  • Epoxy RR over reg blank
  • 1 x 6oz bottom
  • 2 x 6oz deck
  • 2 x (7" x 5"-5.5") single foiled keels with a little toe in and cant
  • Rails 50/50 @ nose, 60/40 through center, harder edge 12" through tail
From advice i have had from some Swaylokians and from pictures in the resource section i have some rail thickness and to deck questions;
  1. How thick should the rails be given the board will be 3" thick @: the centre?
  2. Should i dome the deck or keep as much volume in it and come up sharper from the rails? (thus keeping the deck flat)
I have attached a picture of my outline with an example of a sharper rail to deck slice. It's a very rough example and way to sharp off the rail but i think it explains what i mean :)

Any comments on shape etc are more than welcome.

Looking forward to getting it all started. I couldn’t have done it all without Swaylocks, this place is a goldmine if you are prepared to do a little digging and the community is excellent and, above all, welcoming!

Cheers

Wal

Being a big guy myself I would say make it longer, like 6’6". Your other dimensions look good. Rails, keep em eggy till the back area where you turn them down gradually. The deck crowns from about 6 inches off the stringer gradually down to the rail. I cut the bevels such that I keep the planshape edge at about an inch thick. This works for me. Also, because of the width maybe a chine on the rail would help keep it somewhat stable.

This was my first fish: 6’6" bevels blended and rails egged…

Funky pinlines aside (it’s not as bumpy as it looks…) there is a chine on the rail:

With big keels it flies down the line.

3

Cheers. I though about going a little longer, maybe 6’4" becasue of the blank i am using, any longer and i might get too much rocker on the nose.

BUT “A chine of the rail”, what’s a chine? :slight_smile:

4

I am way bigger than you (~250 lbs) and went for a 6’6" by 23" by 3" thick fish and even though its a great board to trnasition back to shortboards after riding mals for too long… Its a bit big and floaty, you will get away easy on the one you are doing.

For rails i used the deck roll templates from the steve lis fish in the surfboard design pdf and went pretty much with what you are doing now for the bottom rail. I really like the board handles waist high to well over head as long as its clean, choppy faces and the big area in the nose gets bounced a bit.

I am now just doing the finishing touches to a 6’2" by 23" by 2" thick compasand (~37 lt) to see if i can surf something smaller, got to find ya limits…

cheers

5

Sounds like i am nearly there, my research has been done well :slight_smile:

Where can i find this though 'steve lis fish in the surfboard design pdf ’ ??

6

http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=127847;search_string=chined;#127847

7

Just keep this in mind…

Less tuck = more planing surface, but more rail volume if you don’t take it off the top of the rail - and we all know what too much volume in the rail does…

So a down rail with only a touch of tuck reduces the volume of the rail while conserving planing area.

Error on the side of too much volume, so you can take it down if it dosen’t feel right in your hand when you put it under your arm, or when you slide your hands down the rails. I’m a hack, so I don’t even measure my rails… I do it only by feel.

8

Just a couple of comments from a garage hacking fish lover. You will be surprised, I think, at how much shorter you can ride a fish. I suppose because of all the volume. And, I start my hard edge a couple inches in front of the fins. Usually about 17 or 18 inches up from the tips. Mike

9

Agreed. I start my edge, slightly tucked, about 6 inches ahead of the leading edge of the fins, gradually making it harder and less tucked until the trailing edge of the fins, where it’s razor sharp and straight up.

10

Do you think my fin placement is about right on the image (OP)?

I’ve not put much thought into them, just that i will go for single foiled with toe-in and cant. Probably 3degrees cant and 1" toe in.

Any suggestion on Keel placement would be cool.

Anyhooo work is now officially over for Christmas so off to look at ply for the keels :slight_smile:

11

wal2,

Tons of info on fin placement in the archives. I usually put them an 1 1/4 inches off the rail and line the rear edge up with the top of the butt crack, usually 6 to 6 1/2 inches from the tips. Single foils I toe in 1/8 inch and cant about 2 degrees. Double foils straight up, no cant. Mike