I need some inspiration for my next creation. My Girlfriend and i have recently had a lovely baby boy ‘Sonny’ - so she had last year off surfing. Whilst she was pregent a promised that i’d make her a new board for the summer - so this brings me round to the question - dimensions for a Girls Longboard.
The dims for the girlfriend are as follows - Height 5’4’’ and weight 8 stone (50 KG approx) - She’s fairly proficient at surfing, but only surfs in the summer when the waters warm and the waves are small ( i wish i did this sometimes - UK winters suck!!) She only goes for a wave when the surf in smaller that 2ft - and surfs a local break which has very sluggish waves (Saunton Sands for those in the UK)
Anyway i was thinking of something like 8’6’’ x 22’’ x 3’', rounded pin, fairly full nose and maybe a 2 + 1 fin setup.
What would you guys do? (I know alot of you guys would say don’t bother, you’ll never get it the right colour!!) but she did give birth to my son after all
look forward to any suggestions - take it easy, Rgds - Charlie
My experience with the only girl (friend) i made a surfboard for:
she wanted a pointy nose to slice her board through breaking waves = get out the back sooner, but if the break is a pointbreak: don’t bother.
Volume is a good thing till the moment your board is being pulled back to the beach and you get dragged with it, 8.6 at 3 inch thick is a lot of volume, maybe too much.
What i would do for your wife:
Go shorter, maybe around 7.2, same width-22, pointier nose, and let her pick the color/colour [what is the right UK word?] and have her make the design, not you…
Oh- and a single fin is good enough for her i reckon. A big one. Rounded tail, or square tail is my choice too.
My wife has been surfing with me for 30yrs, my 17 yr old daughter has been surfing ALL her life. I have always made their boards. ONE THING I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT WOMAN, is they are usually smarter about their equipment. Both wife and kid like boards that float good. I cheat and leave a little extra thickness than make the rails fit their hands. Your dimensions sound good just “cheat” alittle. Most important as you said LET THEM PICK THE COLORS. Than everyone will be happy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Girls board, that’s a good one. They can ride anything, just with more style.
That’s the template for a minimal I made a few months ago for a girl with approximately the same height and weight as your wife. It’s a single + 2 (Bahne center box and Futures on the sides). Reports have been good so far.
Hey guys, really appreciate your ideas and thoughts
I agree it’s best to leave the colour choice to the lady and also to cheat alittle with the volume. Seeing she only surfs small surf i think it would be good to have as much volume as possible.
I discussed the width with her yesterday, she’d like a board she can carry under her arm (Bugger), but this will mean a fairly narrow board. Is there any way of getting around this (apart from stretching her arms) i.e can i made it slightly narrower maybe say 21’’ and put a bit more thickness in it?
That can certainly be done, but be a bit carefull with the rails so that the board doesn’t become ‘tippy’ (that’s the word my wife used to describe a narrower 7’8" egg that I shaped once with her in mind. Everyone’s got their own take on things, but for small, soft waves, a slightly wider board with plenty of curve in the tail so that it’s easy to turn at slow speeds is a fairly sure ticket for fun. Step up and be a gentleman and carry her board for her (if that’s politically ok in the UK) and you’ll get gallantry points as well as stoke.
Glad you brought up the topic, it has me thinking about the new board I promised my wife for the summer as well.
