I say use a super light blank, 3/32" stringer, glass it 4/4 deck and 4 bottom, put lots of stickers on it and tell him “It’s what all the pros ride.” He’ll be stoked.
ps put a half inch strip of veneer over the stringer. Better yet make it 3/4". Tell him the board’s so light because you got a master glasser. If he breaks it, just say “Dude! You broke that board?? That must have been the heaviest wave ever! You’re legend!”
Take this as an opportunity to ASSERT YOURSELF as the older, wiser, bit-of-a-lunatic father of his girlfriend. Might help him make the right decisions later on down the road.
And ask your daughter what she sees in this loser. Then again, if he’s as egotistical, judgemental and stupid (a lethal combination in some places around the world) as he seems to me, he might not be around much longer to worry about.
Don’t know if it’s still available to view at Surfy Surfy, but they have/had Greg Long’s Eddie winning gun on display. Might be worth a phone call to see it it’s still there. Maybe he could take a look, and maybe even find out more about weight and glassing schedule. Here’s the board on the Surfy Surfy blog:
You should suggest surfing with him on a good sized day so you can see how he surfs and get a better idea of what would work for him. He may full of it and not be much of a surfer. Might be fun to watch him if he’s no surfer, but if he can surf, you may get along with him better.
Personally I like all my boards a little heavier and stiffer, but it’s because that’s how they were when I started.
I took my daughter out on a 10’ board I made her that has a 1/2" redwood stringer. It has double layers of 6oz top and bottom. We were riding tandem and catching double overhead whitewater. Just paddling inside and letting the wave catch us, and going in straight. I messed up on one and it tossed us around pretty bad. When we came up, I had to take her in because the wave ripped her top. When we were just about to go back out I noticed that the board had buckled and that was it for the day.
So if catching 12’ high whitewater (not a breaking wave) will buckle your board, I can imagine what 25’ waves will do.
I held gregs board last time I was at christiansens its not light but he is a kook and doesn’t know anything about surfing big waves (sarcasm implied) HAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHH
ACE, I want one! except not a quad and about 9'0' and a touch in waist and tail and ............. OK so I want a completely different board so shoot me!
The only other thing I have to say is you must really want your Daughter to be happy.
The fins are based around what I have been working on for a few years. AND from a board that he destroyed and liked, I at least got the tail section back to look at. Yes I made the tail a little wider and carried the width back from center. A different approach from a "old school " gun as he called em. The differences are subtle but there. He is a paying customer and you get what you pay for, sort of.
right on Ace, i ask because i was reading an interview with Linden recently (from an older TSJ article) where he is just starting to work on quads for his big guns. he was saying that he is able to keep some width in the tail wich was a benefit... i'm wondering also if keeping some width in the tail but still having a pin puts more curve in the outline back there? and, if so, does tail rocker need to be altered? seems like just taking the rocker from a standard "thruster" gun, widening the outline through the back and slapping on 4 fins is not the correct way to go about a quad gun. seems like with some extra curve in the aft, and the fins on the rail, you wouldn't need as much tail rocker as on a single or thruster... am i even close? really interested to hear your input as you are obviously a designer and shaper, not just a shaper (based on this and other boards you've posted).