About to shape a new board for myself. I’m having so much fun on the quad I made for myself last time (board #3) I’ve decided to make another, but this time I want to try something a little closer to the standard high performance thruster. I have a 6’1"/11.25"/18.5"/14" 2 5/16" standard shortboard shaped by one of the local shapers here in Hawaii. The quad I made myself is 5’7"/14"/20" wide at 2" forward/14.5"/2.5" thick with an 8" wide swallow that goes up 4". Front fins toed in and the rear fins parallel to the stringer. Quad is single to double and absolutely flies. Lots faster than the thruster. I am looking to make a NEW quad that is something between the two shapes so I can ride it in bigger surf up north but will have the speed that I’ve felt with the quad. I want to try the quad setup on a more performance based template, and I’m hoping to get some suggestions on a template and bottom contours that might work well for a quad like this. I was drawing it out…and came up with something like this 6’0"/12.5"/19" at 2" back from center/15" and about 2 3/8". Not sure about the specifics with the diamond tail…that is new to me too. I am planning on spreading the fin cluster slightly, and moving them more toward the rails. Been looking a lot at Brian Bulkley’s shapes and they are close to what I am picturing for myself. I want the tail to look something like this. It’s a pic taken from Gary Linden’s site.
Would love to hear some ideas from the more veteran shapers on what would work well on a board like this. I’m 5’8" and weigh 160lbs. I’ve got a Clark 6’3" R to work with. Have some ideas about the fin placement from this pic (looks like the back set toed in slightly and the front set toed in a tad more 1/8" and 1/4"?), but would love some guidance here too. I’m going to use Future Fins too, so I would like to nail it on the 1st try. I haven’t shaped a “higher performance” board for myself yet so I’m hoping to get some valuable input that will help me with this shape.
Gday oahu surfer,Im interested in how things turned out with this board.I am planning a similar board ,roughly the same nose ,wide point and tail but she will be a six four.Im interested in how wide you went with the diamond tail and how the board performed.
I am thinking of taking it to Indo so I am interested in how your board went in waves with a bit of power.I usually like to hang out at a beach called Balangan when Im in Bali.Its a fast wave and you need to take a high line,also something that scoots around sections would be real handy there.I thought a quad would be worth a try .Aloha.
Haven’t surfed it in a while, since I screwed up my back again, but I love the board I made after that posting. Ended up going 19" wide, but its thin and flexy. It does exactly what you want…holds a high line and scoots around sections I don’t think I’d be able to make on other boards. I’m still impressed with it and finding it able to do things that still surprise me. Fin selection is key, but I have found what works best for me. I get comments on the board all the time, and will be making myself another out of EPS/Epoxy as soon as I’m healthy enough to shape. Hope this helps. Once you go quad, you may not ever go back.
Aloha Josh, Sorry to hear about the bad back,especially if its keeping you out of the water.Thanks for the reply about your quad (is that the one with the aqua marine resin swirl bottom,if so it looks sensational)…In my post I actually meant how wide did you go with the diamond tail as in the tail itself,like the pin to pin measurements on a fish…Im just about to mark out my template tomorrow,my instinct is telling me to go for 7" with the diamond tail,Im going 6’6" x 19.5 x 2.5 ,15" at 1 foot from the tail and 12.5 " at 1 foot from the nose.Putting in futures boxes at 11" and 5".I saw an article which quoted Rusty saying he puts the back ones halfway between where you would put a thruster trailer and 5.5" which ended up being 4.3" or something like that…I havent seen one in the flesh out here in oz,only in photos.Hope you feel better soon. Matt
Check out www.mckeesurf.com Someone referenced it on a similar thread a bit ago and it has some informatine stuff relative to setting fins - toe, measurements off stringer, etc. Even charts it for different length boards and tail widths.
hello! i am German from uruguay, and i am going to order a quad shortboard but i don´t exactly what tipe of tail put in.
which type of tail is better to a quad shorboard, a shallow tail, a diamond , or a bat tail? first of all, i don´t know the function of the bat, and the diamond tail! because i never used in my boards! if anyone can say me some inforamation thanks
i built myself a 2lbs EPS quad (6’1"x12x18 5/8x14x2 3/8) double concave thumb tail, i left meat throughout and kept the rocker low, i was lucky enough to test it on the gold coast of australia this summer, when i got back i built another based on what i thought would make it better, i made a 6’2"x11 1/4x18 5/8x14 1/8x 2 1/8 (was 2 1/4 before the single concave), i did a single concave, thumb tail with a slight hip at 16" (about where the side fins begin), for fins i did glass-ons, i used a standard 4.5" for the sides (11 1/8, 1/4" toe in, 6 degrees, 1" 1/4 off the rail) and used two center fins grinded down to 3.25" for trailers(5 7/8", 1/8" toe in, 4 degrees, 1" 3/8 off the rail), so far i have only ridden it in florida but if its 2-4ft and punchy the thing rocks, it like my normal short board but faster and looser when i want it to be, the single concave definitely seems to work better than the double, the thumb tail and thin rails seem to make the board hold when its on rail and when you get to the lip it will release on command (the wider tail quads i have ridden seem to not want to carve as much to me) i have been having a lot of fun on this board in head high and under stuff, just my 2 cents
