looking for a nice relaxed nose rocker for gliding in early… I’ve been shaping by hand for a while, and usually go with the rockers built into the blanks. Now I’m beginning to try the computer thing. hows this look? thanks
whoa that’s a beast, over 22" wide and over 3 inches thick ? How large are you, is it a SUP maybe?
Not all of us are young and small anymore!!
I feel there’s always too much emphasis on how small of a board you ride today… I’m going to guess that 90 0/0 of people are on boards too small for them, because they want to be “cool”.
Me, I’m 50, 220 lbs 6’1
I’m into catching waves early and setting a good line… bigger boards help me do that.
O.K.
How long you thinking?
Eh, Huck, we got a live one!
6’8
You’re nibbling…
6-8, ok
What are your local conditions?
Any shaper worth salt would ask the same…
Oh, what blanks do you have access to?
Maintain the stoke!
Haha… ok, I’m biting!!
I surf Huntington Beach… usually pretty soft beach break.
Foam ez is near my house. I can get pretty much any blank as well as custom.
What’s your general opinion on the rocker for a softish wave and getting in early?
hi groggylbc I’m an older guy building and riding bigger boards - I have a thread on the subject at http://www.swaylocks.com/forums/old-man-and-sea
I put it in a different part of the forum because its a little off topic for most guys here, but take a look and join the conversation if you’d like, its a subject dear to my heart, cuz I’m fighting the good fight to stay out there past age 60.
Thanks buck!! Good read!
Sooo, any opinions on the rocker for socal beach breaks?? Come on people… I know there’s a lot of opinions here!!
Rocker looks good to me
for the sake of conversation I’ll chirp in, although I’ve only been designing and building boards about 7 years now, and then only as a sideline hobby, for myself alone.
I think your rocker looks great for what you describe, soft waves, getting in early. You say beach break, but that rocker would be right at home at the point breaks I frequent.
Normally I think of beach break waves as steeper, more pitching, and quicker to go vertical. Then a bit more curve in the nose, and maybe just a bit more in the very tail, might be appropriate.
There are other factors to getting in early. I think a little wider tail helps. I think a little thinner (not necessarily narrower, but thinner, more foiled) nose helps. I think a little bevel edge along the bottom of the rail helps.
And you also have to be aware, with thicker, higher volume boards, that the volume that makes paddling easier and more comfortable becomes a bit of a liability at the instant of takeoff. All that volume now wants to rise up over the face of the wave and out the back. You will see this most clearly with SUPs, when they have to fight to get in at the critical instant. Watch a smaller, high performance shortboard at a steep pitching wave like cloudbreak, and you will see surfers drop into waves effortlessly with one or two strokes. Yes, they’re pros, and placing themselves at the exact right spot, but a higher volume board will have to struggle down against all that foam at the critical moment.
Not a deal breaker on higher volume boards, just something to be aware of. Its one of the reasons that sometimes people who are used to lesser volume boards will say they have a hard time catching waves with a high volume board. There is a bit of a learning curve, IMO. When you paddle, you learn to stroke harder, and take a few extra paddles, placing your weight forward and really pushing the nose down into the wave. Once going, I don’t find the volume to be so much of an issue, a board riding a breaking wave gets its lift from the planing surface more than the volume, unlike when paddling. But I have found you do have to shift your weight more like on a longboard when turning.
IMO your rocker as drawn will work well for the conditions you have designed it for.
thanks for all the words… i do have a constant inner issue of what is too much vs too little volume. this is my first computer board…its a little odd only using my eyes to see the board and not using my hands and feel.