Those of you who fit this category, I was just after a bit of feedback on the dimensions of your ‘high performance thruster’ board[s] ? And, perhaps comments on your boards performance, also…
thanks !
ben
ps - your size [height, weight] and the boards thickness especially would be of interest to me.
6’5" 180 pounds & 43 years old
6’6" 11-1/2" 19-5/8" 14-1/4" 2-5/8" squash tail dome deck single to double concave Red X Thruster
Real relaxed rocker from a 6’6"P blank
Works great from waist high to double overhead as long as the wave isn’t too square
Chip,
I am not giving up yet!
6’4"x18 3/4"x 2 1/2" squashtail thruster. 48 years young.
I beleive that if you keep yourself in shape and surf often that you can keep the shortboard thing going. When I lived on Maui from 80’-92’ I used to find myself out in the water surfing with Gerry Lopez often. That guy always amazed me with his abilities, and he always surfed boards that were pretty short and had little volume. And when I left there he was still ripping on small boards and was in his mid to later 40s. Then about 4 years ago I saw him out a Lower Trestles, he was surfing no more than a 6’4" max and killing it in his mid 50s.
I don’t quite have his abilities, so with more family time and less surfing I’m gunna bump up the volume a bit. Try and keep a 6’4" in the quiver just add a little more to it.
thanks guys…
keep 'em coming please, everyone over 40…
Glenn, what size and weight are you, if you don’t mind me asking ? thanks…
The dimensions of your board are around my brother’s [he’s also 48, and I’d be guessing around 80kgs [ 170lbs or so]…he’s 5’10. Whereas I’m 43, around 145 lbs and 5’9/10", roughly… think Rob Machado size [but not his ability, unfortunately for me !]
ben
hey Chipfish those are my specialty…Im almost 41, 175lb and sometimes surf circles around most guys half my age…recent sessions have validated that. The more critical the wave the more I stand out.
EPS/Epoxy is soooo great for older shortboarders…you can ride low volume boards and still get better float/paddling.
I ride mostly a 6’4 x 19.3 x 2.4 EPS for average FL surf which is mostly fairly weak to occasional dumping/critical. It weighs about 6.5lb and floats me to about mid-upper stomach. I ride many other boards in my quiver.
For average surf, one cannot under-estimate the importance of low/relaxed rocker…I find that with lower rockers its easier to get/maintain speed and keep your style smooth which is very important to me…too much rocker requires heaps of effort from the rider or the wave. My favorite small wave rocker is 2.25T and 4.5N…with 1/8-3/16 single concave.
Gotta stay in shape…4-5 hour sessions are not unusual for me.
I paddleboard, lift weigths (mostly for stress relief), do crunches, swim and ride a racing bike along the beach road with the sweet Bettys nearby…eye candy is a good motivator.
http://www.swaylocks.com/resources/detail_page.cgi?ID=1006
This board works really well for my friend Surf Troll John (42 and 180lbs pretty good shape). He gets more than his fair share of waves with it, He took it to the Northshore and surfed 6-8ft Sunset with it. It’s back in San Diego, and he surfed 2x OH Sunset Cliffs with it a 2 days ago, and he’s surfed 2-3ft Black’s beach break with it. It’s a very good all round board.
-Jay
I am 46 years old, I ride a 6-6" double winged swallow 12 x 20" X 14.5 The board is an experiement and is real thick 3 " !!! , But it flies in mushy point surf. I don’t like it for hollow beach break. Too much foam I don’t think you need in juice. So I just finished making a 6-6" 19 3/4" 12x 14" 2 5/8" thick, winged squash. Tail rocker is the blank stock 2" I hope that is ok. wasn’t confident to mess with that yet. I still have to finish sand so any tips send them. I left the bottom flat no concave. I can change that right now, but I didn’t know if it necessary. What do you guys think ? I am still surfing good, not pro caliber probably B level , did pretty good in contest when I was younger. I think I need the length to paddle. By the way I am 170lbs 164lbs after yesterdays 3 1/2 hr surf !
42 - 6ft/160 LBS
6’4" x 11 3/4" x 19 3/4" x 14 1/2" x 2 5/8"
Double wing swallow - flat bottom to slight v out of tail
4 oz bottom
6+4 oz top w/ 4 oz patch
I’m 42, 5’10" and 165 lbs. I usually ride 6’0" and 6’1" tri fins. I get my new board today if the sander got to it! It’s 6’1" x 18-1/4" x 2-3/16" with a squash. I found the thicker boards actually made me surf and paddle slower (or at least it feels that way) if you can imagine that. Fortunate enough to be able to surf any time it’s good and about 4-6 times a week… One of our visiting shapers nicknamed “T-Boy” is 56 and rides a 6’3" he’s good friends with Gerry Lopez (same age) and says he rides the same size as well. Don’t know the thickness on either board; I bet around 2-3/8".
Thanks for all the feedback.
Most important thing is where you surf, what kind of paddle, how cold is the water, side currents, rips, etc.
If I surfed close to shore EastCoast beachbreak, I could ride a 5’ fish up to 7’ easily.
BUT, I surf OceanBeach SF, and the drift alone is paddle speed with tide, then compounded by swell direction, and the distance to outside waves is easily quadruple the distance of most beach breaks.
Might need different board!
And at 55 going on, surfing only if it’s head high or bigger, needs are different.
Seehttp://longboardirl.2.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=216&st=0&hl=
I’m 44 165lbs 5’8" started surfing at 40. up to 4ft I ride a 6’7" X 19.5 X 2 7/16"(Red board in Link) very thinned out swallow tail kind of 80’s style thruster with large single concave, great for mush and very light. When the paddle outs are longer, the line up is busier or the waves are bigger I ride a 7 X 20 X 2 5/8 round pin(Yellow board in link).
For the past few months I’ve been riding a fish almost exclusively and that is really high performance, I surf 100% better on a twin keel fish, than on a thruster as I’m front foot heavy. Maybe I’ll make a thruster with the wide point 3" forward to compensate.
Chipster… I’m 41, 5’-9" at 155lbs. I don’t know if I qualify because I mostly ride twinzers and bonzers in the 6’-2" to 7’-2" x 2-1/2" range. I made this 6’-4" board for a friend who is 40 and he rips… I rode shortboards in my 20’s, longboards in my 30’s and now short hybrids in my 40’s maybe I’l ride kneeboards in my 50’s
this is good stuff.
What interests me is the length of board people ride for their height, and the thickness chosen for floating their weight, too…
Those who shaped your own , sounds like you used most of the original blank.
MORE, please!
…it’s interesting [for me, anyway] to get a bit of a cross section of the size of the boards ridden in my ‘age bracket’, and to hopefully get a few ideas for when I make one for myself. The photos have been very helpful for that reason…they help me see rail and tail thickness among other things.
thanks !
ben
At 55 and 150 lbs., if I was shaping my own all around medium wave board, and I don’t go out in small waves, I’d make a 6’8" x 18.75 x 2.35 thick. flat decked blocky railed rounded pin with slightly flatter nose rocker, normal tail rocker, thick point and WP 3" behind center with a thinned out nose to tip downwards.
I’d keep the tail rail blocky and slightly thick, so it rises up when I paddle for waves.
For 4-10’ surf at OceanBeach, SF.
Not yet 40 but close. 180 cm, 85 kg. Surfing for 25 years.
My boards for small to medium waves;
6.1 *21 * 2, 3/4 twin fin fish by Jim Banks
6.3 * 20 * 2, 11/16, three fish modern fish by Simon Anderson
6.6 * 19, 1/4 * 2, 5/8 squash tail, vee bottom by Jim Banks
Soon to start on my own fish which will be 5.10 * 21 1/2 * 2 3/4
IMO for us older guys that still want to carve, just need a little bit more length,width and thickness, fuller rails, maybe tone down the rocker a tad, and give deep concaves a miss.
and if u not are doing any yoga START NOW!!!
I am 41 and 195 lbs 6’1" tall
7’0" x 18 3/8" x 3"
7’6" x 18 3/8" x 3"
both are: roundpin - single->double, less than average nose rocker and more than average tail rocker.
very low rails and thin nose and tail
narrow = edges that hold and rail to rail looseness
nose rocker = front foot speed & wave catching
tail rocker = loosening a longer straight-railed board in the pocket
concaves and thickness for a bigger fellow = lift and float
these are my ‘shortboards’ for home (ocean beach sf) and abroad (north shore and indonesia)
all my other boards are guns or logs
I know these boards are a bit out of the norm but as it turns out, they bear a strong resemblence to the boards I learned on in the 70’s - the Brewer inspired pocket rockets of that era, with modern refinements a la foil concave and tri-fins.
->shred on dog
As you know I’m deffinatly not an oldie but I surf with alot of them… Theres lots of old guys on shorties at Avalon for some reason…
I always see the Surftech epoxy M13 and most of the guys are riding them around 6ft6…
However… you see those 7ft whatever, shortboards and I wonder how well they really work…
Mind you Ive seen Derek Hynd riding his chosen board nowdays… A 11ft Rhino Chaser… he rides it in everything even 1ft basin at monavale…
Back on topic… my guess for someone like you chip…
6ft4 2’ 19 1/4’ 2/3’ Epoxy Maybe… Get some FCS or something and experiment with big guy and self made fins…
If you arent shaping it yourself though… you might want to try a bigger guy shaper like Simon Anderson or Jim Banks… And the longboard companies often make bigboy shortboards…
But all in all the M13 is a good outline…
Josh.
Hi Ben,
I just got back from Hawaii and below are the specs for two boards I recently built for the trip. They’re both in the 7’ range and they treat my chronic shoulder pain very well (unlike my 6’8" Glenn Pang which I’m saddened to retire). I’m 52 and weigh #165.
7’0 x 19 x 2 5/8 round-pin, T-13.25, N-12, 5 degrees of cant, 3/16 toe-in (North Shore surf 6-8 feet)
7’2" x 19.75 x 2 5/8 squash (shown at left), T-14.25, N-12.5, 5.5 degrees of cant, 1/4 toe-in (South Shore and Chun’s surf 4-6 feet)
Both are single-to-double concave and performed well. I’d add a 7’3" or 7’4" slightly narrower version of number one for my next trip.
Maxwell
Not yet 40 but close. 180 cm, 85 kg. Surfing for 25 years.
My boards for small to medium waves;
6.1 *21 * 2, 3/4 twin fin fish by Jim Banks
6.3 * 20 * 2, 11/16, three fish modern fish by Simon Anderson
6.6 * 19, 1/4 * 2, 5/8 squash tail, vee bottom by Jim Banks
Soon to start on my own fish which will be 5.10 * 21 1/2 * 2 3/4
IMO for us older guys that still want to carve, just need a little bit more length,width and thickness, fuller rails, maybe tone down the rocker a tad, and give deep concaves a miss.
and if u not are doing any yoga START NOW!!!
welcome fellow Aussie…where ya from ??
how do you like the 6’6 Banks ?
Is he back in Cronulla again, or shaping on the Goldie now, perhaps ?
your last sentence…my brother says the same thing… good idea [I reckon I might have to start !]
Hi
I am not as old as you guys only 32 and 5’6 been surfing 23 years but suffer the same sort of problems. And looking for the same things in a board as you. Want to rip like a 22 year old but with out all the effort.
Here is my evolution over the past 7 years
6’3 chip major rocker major thin and narrow your average started out weight 68kg ended 74kg paddling was a real problem especially in point breaks. The board rip though.
Bought a modern fish 6’3 long 21 wide 2 3/8 thick. A great paddle easy wave catching floats nice but performance a bit limiting. at this stage I weighed about 76kg
Designed my own board using my suppliers machine shaping software a bit of glass, resin and a set of K2 fins and presto it paddles well and rips at the same time. Dimensions are 6’0 long 19 1/3 wide 2 3/8 thick
11 3/4 nose 14 3/4 tail with low entry rocker. I now weigh 80kg the total volume of the board is 30 ltrs
