Improving on SuperFun

General Discussion
1

Hey guys. I had my second surf on number 1 today. Was pretty dam fun.

Anyway… I was thinking about what i could do improve on number 1 and so i thought i would post it up and ask everyone else

as to how they improve some of their boards and maybe collect some thoughts on how a board can go BETTER!

So, i can improve number one by:

Taking some volume out of it mainly in the rails as they are beastly

Make the deck more rounded and less platter like

Maybe refine the outline a bit by making the tail a little less wide and the wide point thinner (just a tad)

last thing would be the rail shape. As they are now they look the part, ie look like they came right out of the 70’s.

So i would try and make them more of a modern style to get some better results :slight_smile:

So what do you guys do to make boards go better ?

Hope to get some interesting responses

Cheers

2

Pray.

3

Before I re-think my shaping, I usually pop in some different fins… see: “the chipsfish method”

usually just a different set of fins makes my board feel like a whole new monster… opening up new oportunities to wipeout in new and exciting ways…

if fins are not the issue, then i look to my planshape next, then thickness, then rails, then glass and test it. if none of the above work, i go inside, get frustrated, curse a little, swear ill never surf again, then getup the next day and start shaping.

P.S. If the issue is in the shaping, my most likely mistake is in the rails. find your weak spot in shaping and you know where to look first.

4

hi ‘cheater5’ [? “Chris” , isn’t it ?]

…much as I think balsa is a good bloke , and a funny guy , I sent you a pm with a few questions , so you can hopefully give us a little more detail ,

and then we collectively can take it from there …

cheers ,

ben

5

How about some pics of the board, and a description of the ride/performance. BETTER means different things to different folks. Fin position and rocker are very strong components of board performance.

6

until ‘Cheater5’ wakes up [it’s about 4.30 / ?5am ? friday 31st march in N.Z., at the moment, I think ?] …

here’s a fairly recent thread on it …

http://www.swaylocks.com/…guest=4225628#258996

cheers ,

ben

7

To Cheater5: I want to point out that my answer (“Pray”) was in no way implying something like: “your board must be a piece of crap and there is probably no way to fix it”. If that’s what you understood, I do apologize but it was not meant to be. The truth is, I just answered your question: “So what do you guys do to make boards go better?”, and my answer was meant to be funny. (Looks like I lamentably failed…) The idea was something like: “If only I knew what makes a board work, maybe I could attempt to make it work better…”

Actually, I think I know one or two things that make certain boards work in certain waves with certain surfers, but I wouldn’t be here reading every new post if I had nothing to learn…

So, that was just self-derision, you know. Just keep in mind that English is not my mother tongue and that, more often than not, you might misinterpret something I wrote. But “I’m just a soul whose intentions are good, oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood…”

(Ben PMed me and suggested that there might have been some misunderstanding, so I just wanted to clarify.)

8

Hey guys, i just got up :slight_smile:

Yes Chip its Chris and in no way did i misinterperate the “pray” remark, dont worry i got the joke.

The hole meaning in this topic was to see what guys do to improve their “art” lol

I have no problems with number 1, actually its realy fun it’l just take me a littlewhile to get used to the two fins.

Just wanting to know: what KINDS or rails, shapes, rockers fins etc work better ( theres that word again, better for a fish for me is fast, loose

and feels like a general fish does )

Anyway, if you have seen the topic on my number one you’d be able to see what it looks like. I think its main down fall was the thickness of the rails

and the rail shape also next time im going to try a vee bottom.

When i was starting to get all the info i needed for #1 wsomeone told me to do “hard” rails because it’d be a hole lot nicer to ride.

That kind of thing is what im looking for, not only for me but for everyone else out there looking at how a “better” board looks like

Cheers

Chris

9

dome the deck and pinch the rails are what kind of waves do you ride it in? pull in the tail and make the butt crack shallower.

10

hi Chris !

did you get , and read , the private message I sent you ?

Some of those questions , when answered , ‘should’ give us / you an idea what to modify ?

Also , did you read the ‘ideal paddling and volume’ thread , too ?

[There are some interesting thoughts there , for sure , also , on thickness , paddling styles , rocker …]

Depending on the waves you want to surf regularly , your paddling style , and HOW you [want to] surf , too .

with fish[es?] …

Try a board , if a friend has one , that is thinner .

Try a board , ditto, that is narrower .

Try shorter boards ,

longer boards ,

more rockered boards ,

flatter boards …

EXPERIMENT !

… test ride as much different [fish] stuff [and fins / keel templates] as you can , mate , so you can hopefully find what works best for YOU , in YOUR waves…

I could say what I like in my waves in fishes I have tried , and what I haven’t enjoyed …that would be my personal preference , and to some extent , my experience . And , it would be for the waves I ride here in Perth , West Oz…which may be WAAAY different to yours .

As an example , I like a bit of nose rocker in my fish . And a more pulled in swallowtail . And a shallower "butt crack" [if you MUST call it that ?!] .  And keels pointed towards the nose . And a flat bottom . And hard rails in the tail , to maybe at least 8" forward of the leading edge of the keels .

…These are things I have found to work well here , for me , for my ‘style’ of surfing .

Oh , and I also like removeable fins [you may have noticed ?!] , so I can change the setup to a twin FIN , instead of keels , or a quad fin setup , or a single fin … you get the idea, I’m sure !

the fish “purists” are probably covering their ears and eyes right about now , but the ‘traditional’ fish I have ridden I didn’t like …it was difficult making it work in shifty beachbreak surf [for me , at least].

okay , I hope this helps , Chris !

cheers mate ,

ben

p.s. - do you have any photos / a description of the sort of waves that you will be riding say 80 % of the time on your fish ? cheers , that would help !

11

Yep i got the pm chip

Most of these measurements are very approximate

Nost width - 16"

Length - 5’5

Thickness - 3" after glass

Wide point - approx 1m from tail

widepoint - 530mm

Tail - 16 1/2"

Tail point to point - 335mm

Depth of buttcrack - 5"

Nose rocker - approx 2 1/4"

Tail rocker - Very Little if any

Rail thickness 12" from nose - 2 1/8"

Rail thickness 12" from tail - 2 1/4"

Fins…

Base - 7 1/4"

Depth - 4 1/2"

Placement from tail - 5 1/8"

Dont know the angle of the fins, they arnt straight to the nose they are a bit shallower angled, so more straighter

Distance from rail - approx 1 1/2"

Glass…

1 6oz layer on bottom

1 6oz layer on top with another 6oz deck patch

I am :

about 55-60kg

about 170cm

also…

The waves i surf the most frequently are very varied.

On the west coast i have surfed powerful waves that are pretty short and sometimes have a decent drop to them, mostly head high and over.

Also on the west coast some pretty long and mainly about sholder to head high with a pretty decent wall to them.

East coast, short not to powerful easy to surf pretty clean most of the time, fun not to stressfull type of wave.

I live on the north shore in auckland, nz and have to drive 45mins to west coast and an hr and 15 mins to east coast surf so i surf both coast very frequently.

Hope this helps.

12

sabs is in auckland too !

show him the board , see what he says …he will know your waves better than me , obviously !

thanks for that info mate !

depending if you wanted to go vertical , you could have more rocker , a narrower tail [eg 14" , a 15" nose , 20" wide [max] , 2 1/4- 2 3/8" thick . You could try a pair of twin FINS , possibly even with a trailer [shallower ‘butt crack’ needed for THAT setup , though] .

But if you like the traditional fish setup, stick with that ! If you find it hard to duckdive , you could definately go thinner on your next one .

Being able to switch to a twin FIN setup might be nice , too, to give you an idea how THEY feel to surf .

As a comparison , I have ridden a 5’10 fish , 15" nose , 14" tail , 20" wide and 2 3/8" thick , with a similar sized pair of keels to yours [one from the thread I put up on twin fin templates ], and found it fairly loose / "turn -able " [?word?] . And I also tried it with a small trailer fin too , which felt a bit more controlled .

Play around with it some more …I find fishes take me a while to get used to ! They are fun as a change , though , I reckon !

cheers ,

ben
13

Yea when i finished the board i was like CRAP!!! this is one beefy board. So i’ve definately been thinking that i will go thinner

and thinner ( thickness ).

Thanks for the advice. What about rails??

Anyone ??

14

Cheater,

This may or may not effect how the board rides. Personal preferance. More curve inside the butt crack and bevel the top of the crack to match your rail curve. It may help you thin out the tail if you decide to do that. How far between the tips? Many people make the the crack depth is 1/2 the distance of the tips.I like mine deeper than five inches regardless. Between 5.5 and 6.5 inches depth. Nice board, Boy! Mike

15

Thanks man. it means alot to me that other swaylockians like my boards :slight_smile:

When i was shaping the swallow tail i got to the part where i was going to bevel the crack to deck art and i just

couldnt do it properly only because the stringer was making me angry. Every stroke heaps of foam came off the

board but little stringer. Its a real pain it in the ass. Every time i see it on another fish i think dam i should’ve kept trying.

Next fish i think the swally will be more curved and maybe a little less deep and the tail a lot thinner.

Thanks for your thoughts. Keep em coming :slight_smile:

Chris

16

Cheater,

On thing you can do to protect the adjacent foam from gouges when your doing the crack bevel is to tape it. Just go slow with a ‘rat tail’ file or round surform and it will come out good. Ninety nine percent of what little I know I learned on Sways. Have I neglected to thank everyone lately? Thanks, Ya’all! Mike

17
Quote:

When i was shaping the swallow tail i got to the part where i was going to bevel the crack to deck art and i just

couldnt do it properly only because the stringer was making me angry. Every stroke heaps of foam came off the

board but little stringer. Its a real pain it in the ass. Every time i see it on another fish i think dam i should’ve kept trying.

yea i found the most perfect tool cuz i had that problem to and boy was that a pain to glass. butt(hahaaha pun) it’s a round sureform, it is a dream on the butt crack.

18

Awsome. i’ve never heard of the taping method. I’ll give it a try next time.HOpefully it’ll come out good next fish.