Im pretty new shaping and am finishing off my first board, which is a 6’0 fish with wooden keels. I’ve been surfing since i was a young lad (in now 35) and the last few years graduated to longboards and larger single fins due to my large frame (200 LB, 5’11). Plus i like the feeling of a solid hunk of glass under my feet and I cant surf a potato chip anyway!
Anyway, i was having some thoughts about my second board and I really like some of the larger gun like boards in the resources section. Basically, I want to make a board that had some of the attributes of a high performance long board (ease of paddling, wave catching, good small wave boardetc) with some of the attributes of a thruster/gun (less nose area for ease of take off, more rocker, tube riding and more hollow waves and duck diving.). So i guess i want a board that will surf smaller waves say chest high and use the same one to surf overhead hollow type waves. a sort of one board/many conditions.
something around 8’5? Is there such a thing?
Any help greatly appreciated.
Ado
ps- pictures of finised fish coming to a post near you
I have had a few inquiries from guys like you. We all want a board that paddles easily, catches waves, rips, floats and all that - the perfect board, a great all-rounder.
We want our cars like that too - easy on gas, big enough to haul all your stuff, quicker than that guy’s Ferrari, and so on.
There’s good reason that such things don’t exist - the performance requirements are mutually exclusive. Put simply “you can’t get there from here”.
Light weight and low inertia will add performance. Less is more. But light weight boards are prone to be easily damaged, as many have discovered.
I got just the thing for you. This is my 8-0 x 22 x 3 “fun gun.” It’s really too wide and thick to be defined a gun and too pulled in to be a fun board. But it is fun. I made it for big waves at a kind of mushy spot (although I was out there yesterday and one 7’ face wave threw out further than I’ve ever seen anythin g throw out at that spot). I now use it all the time because it catches waves really easy, can pull in and bust out of small tubes, turns good…is just basically really fun. It came out heavy but that hasn’t been a problem, in fact yesterday the surf was big and kind of bumpy and the weight was a plus. the one thing I don’t like is I can’t duck dive it (I’m 155lb.). I’m sure you could. I just turtle on big waves but I got rag dolled a couple times yesterday.
Afraid i can be of much help, but i’ve been thinking of the same thing for awhile now. i’m about 5’10" and weigh 155, intended waves would be head high, on shore, mush burgers to wicked inside shore pound beach break at my local. i like to think of it as a mini long board gun - like a 9 something long board gun with the middle 1 foot cut out. 2+1 fin set up. Hoping to build this spring when other obligations mellow…
I’ve been looking at anderson surfboards “flowmaster” and patagonia’s “rounded pin” for inspiration.
hope this helps would love to hear others thoughts.
I’m just about exactly your size and age and have a couple of boards in that range that are the go-to all-arounder both 8’.
One with more of a pulled in nose at 21.5 with a 14.25 rounded pin and one that is more suited for what you are talking about.
That is 22" with a 14.75 nose and a 15" rounded pin" (Wide yet still tapers to a pin for larger stuff). If I have no idea whats going on at the water I bring that.
That is a beautiful board Basswave. I would dream of making a board like that! Those fins rock too. Picked up a gun blank last night from my local supplier – it has dimensions of 8’4 x 22 x 13.5 (n) X 14.5 (t)x 3.75’ thick, with 6” nose rocker and 3.5” tail rocker. I could probably net an 8’0 x 21.5 x 14 (t) x 13.5 (n) x 3.25 thick. I would have liked a wider blank but the price was right and rocker and thickness was on the money I think. Will 21 be wide enough? I might be able to squeeze 21.5 but the outline would be very close to the margins of the blank – does this matter? Thanks for your helo
Hi Hicksy, blank was from Col Earles and was $108 which I thought was a good price considering Shapers Aust wanted $126 + $46 postage for the 8’9 which is more of a long board rocker anyway.
Now ive got to find a piece of plywood long enough to make a template drawing.
