Mod Fish? ...or fat shortboard

I’m looking at designing a ‘post-modern fish’ …a la Dave Parmenter’s “How to Shape” i.e. a slightly wider shortboard with a swallow tail. I don’t want a traditional fish …yet; I want to design the basics first. I’m mostly a shortboard rider, though I certainly haven’t mastered the little shredder style. From what I’ve read it’s functional in sloppy surf like a shortboard, but is more forgiving. The problem is that I don’t have a board to base this off of, short of taking my 6’0 and adding a little bit around the hips and waist. So here’s what I’ve come up with …based almost entirely from literature I’ve found on the net – so please comment on anything that seems out of line. Start with a 6’0”R, and shoot for 6’0”, 20” at center (2 1/4” thick), 12” at nose (1 3/8” thick) and 15” at the tail (1 1/2” thick) …btw I’m 5’10” 155lb, and have a pretty strong paddle. Rocker I would base off the blank (4”/2”) though try to squeeze a little more out of the nose if possible. Dave P suggests the bottom to be a “flat bottom with mild vee panels that are slightly dished out”. Now I was tempted to try a slight concave center leading to double concave on the tail for my next board, but I really don’t know how it would effect this design (that’s why I’m here in the first place). Although I’m usually an experimenter, this being my second board I’m still shooting for functionality, so I will probably wuss out and play it safe (go with Dave’s suggestion) unless someone can tell me otherwise. I was going to stick a 3-fin FCS on there so I could try it as a twin. For the rails Dave suggest’s “Low, soft rails tapered into the deck. Bottom edge is nonexistent.” Would this be the same as a rolled over edge? And what about on the tail, no more sharp edge there? Providing that I’m in the ballpark, I have a few more questions. Where do I measure the center fin from? - the center of the notch, or the bottom of the two points. And still 3.5 – 4” off? About how wide should the tail be? …as in at the tip not at 12”. I realize this is a lot, usually I would just dive right in and see what happens, but there are enough other places to go wrong this early in the game, at least my design should be correct. I’ll try experimenting after I complete building my quiver… only a fish, a shortboard, an egg and a performance longboard to go… Thanks to anyone for helping, heck, props to anyone who actually read the whole thing. Cheers,

I’m looking at designing a ‘post-modern fish’ …a la Dave Parmenter’s “How > to Shape” i.e. a slightly wider shortboard with a swallow tail. I don’t > want a traditional fish …yet; I want to design the basics first. I’m > mostly a shortboard rider, though I certainly haven’t mastered the little > shredder style. From what I’ve read it’s functional in sloppy surf like a > shortboard, but is more forgiving. The problem is that I don’t have a > board to base this off of, short of taking my 6’0 and adding a little bit > around the hips and waist. So here’s what I’ve come up with …based almost > entirely from literature I’ve found on the net – so please comment on > anything that seems out of line.>>> Start with a 6’0”R, and shoot for 6’0”, 20” at center (2 1/4” thick), 12” > at nose (1 3/8” thick) and 15” at the tail (1 1/2” thick) …btw I’m 5’10” > 155lb, and have a pretty strong paddle. Rocker I would base off the blank > (4”/2”) though try to squeeze a little more out of the nose if possible. > Dave P suggests the bottom to be a “flat bottom with mild vee panels that > are slightly dished out”. Now I was tempted to try a slight concave center > leading to double concave on the tail for my next board, but I really > don’t know how it would effect this design (that’s why I’m here in the > first place). Although I’m usually an experimenter, this being my second > board I’m still shooting for functionality, so I will probably wuss out > and play it safe (go with Dave’s suggestion) unless someone can tell me > otherwise. I was going to stick a 3-fin FCS on there so I could try it as > a twin. For the rails Dave suggest’s “Low, soft rails tapered into the > deck. Bottom edge is nonexistent.” Would this be the same as a rolled over > edge? And what about on the tail, no more sharp edge there?>>> Providing that I’m in the ballpark, I have a few more questions. Where do > I measure the center fin from? - the center of the notch, or the bottom of > the two points. And still 3.5 – 4” off? About how wide should the tail be? > …as in at the tip not at 12”.>>> I realize this is a lot, usually I would just dive right in and see what > happens, but there are enough other places to go wrong this early in the > game, at least my design should be correct. I’ll try experimenting after I > complete building my quiver… only a fish, a shortboard, an egg and a > performance longboard to go… Thanks to anyone for helping, heck, props to > anyone who actually read the whole thing.>>> Cheers, Dave’s not here! … have fun … I am

I’m looking at designing a ‘post-modern fish’ I don’t > want a traditional fish …yet; I want to design the basics first. I really > don’t know how it would effect this design . Although I’m usually an experimenter, this being my second > board I’m still shooting for functionality, so I will probably wuss out > unless someone can tell me > otherwise.

I’m looking at designing a ‘post-modern fish’ …a la Dave Parmenter’s “How > to Shape” i.e. a slightly wider shortboard with a swallow tail. I don’t > want a traditional fish …yet; I want to design the basics first. I’m > mostly a shortboard rider, though I certainly haven’t mastered the little > shredder style. From what I’ve read it’s functional in sloppy surf like a > shortboard, but is more forgiving. The problem is that I don’t have a > board to base this off of, short of taking my 6’0 and adding a little bit > around the hips and waist. So here’s what I’ve come up with …based almost > entirely from literature I’ve found on the net – so please comment on > anything that seems out of line.>>> Start with a 6’0”R, and shoot for 6’0”, 20” at center (2 1/4” thick), 12” > at nose (1 3/8” thick) and 15” at the tail (1 1/2” thick) …btw I’m 5’10” > 155lb, and have a pretty strong paddle. Rocker I would base off the blank > (4”/2”) though try to squeeze a little more out of the nose if possible. > Dave P suggests the bottom to be a “flat bottom with mild vee panels that > are slightly dished out”. Now I was tempted to try a slight concave center > leading to double concave on the tail for my next board, but I really > don’t know how it would effect this design (that’s why I’m here in the > first place). Although I’m usually an experimenter, this being my second > board I’m still shooting for functionality, so I will probably wuss out > and play it safe (go with Dave’s suggestion) unless someone can tell me > otherwise. I was going to stick a 3-fin FCS on there so I could try it as > a twin. For the rails Dave suggest’s “Low, soft rails tapered into the > deck. Bottom edge is nonexistent.” Would this be the same as a rolled over > edge? And what about on the tail, no more sharp edge there?>>> Providing that I’m in the ballpark, I have a few more questions. Where do > I measure the center fin from? - the center of the notch, or the bottom of > the two points. And still 3.5 – 4” off? About how wide should the tail be? > …as in at the tip not at 12”.>>> I realize this is a lot, usually I would just dive right in and see what > happens, but there are enough other places to go wrong this early in the > game, at least my design should be correct. I’ll try experimenting after I > complete building my quiver… only a fish, a shortboard, an egg and a > performance longboard to go… Thanks to anyone for helping, heck, props to > anyone who actually read the whole thing.>>> Cheers, Wow, that’s a lot of questions…let’s see…go for the double-concave I do them in all my boards. u don’t have to go too deep…shallow at first…then go more later if you like it.as for the tail, i still go hard and sharp! stock rocker should be ok to start with…fins I have the mrx/fcs carbon twins and a SMALL trailer(sanded down from a G-S) and it’s a blast. same idea but bigger cause i’m bigger twins at 10.5" trailer at 3.25" from the crotch of the swallow. thats my 2 cents…good luck

“flat bottom with mild vee panels that are slightly dished out”. Now I was tempted to try a slight concave center leading to double concave on the tail for my next board, but I really don’t know how it would effect this design (that’s why I’m here in the first place). Although I’m usually an experimenter, this being my second board I’m still shooting for functionality, so I will probably wuss out and play it safe (go with Dave’s suggestion) unless someone can tell me otherwise. - Go for the slight concave center - it’ll provide a little more lift and speed. For the rails Dave suggest’s “Low, soft rails tapered into the deck. Bottom edge is nonexistent.” Would this be the same as a rolled over edge? - No. Tucked edge and soft rails are different. And what about on the tail, no more sharp edge there? - I’d go for a down rail with an edge at the bottom in the tail. Maybe bastardize something off a board you like for the middle and nose. I like a down rail in the tail, a tucked edge in the middle and a softened rail in the nose. I start blending the tuck from about the front fins. Where do I measure the center fin from? - the center of the notch, or the bottom of the two points. And still 3.5 – 4” off? - I put a straight edge across the tips and measure up from that. 3.5 - 4" is probably about right. With a couple different sized center fins, you will be OK with that. Leave enough thickness for your fin plug. About how wide should the tail be? as in at the tip not at 12”. - Depends how much curve you want in the tail hips. Also consider where you want the wide point in relation to the mid point (i.e. up, back or mid) - with the wide point in the center and 15" tail width, 5" - 6" might be about right. Draw it out to scale on paper and see what you like. Good Luck!

About how wide should the tail be? as in at the tip not at 12”.>>> - Depends how much curve you want in the tail hips. Also consider where > you want the wide point in relation to the mid point (i.e. up, back or > mid) - with the wide point in the center and 15" tail width, 5" > - 6" might be about right. Draw it out to scale on paper and see what > you like. Good Luck! I just did a 6’2" (out of a 6’2"C). 14 3/4" tail; 6 1/2" at the tips. It’s got a fair amount of curve in the last 12" of the tail. Will this result in a slower board? Than, say, a double bump, keeping the rail line straighter, but still transitioning from 14 3/4" to 6 1/2" at the tips?