Try to look at it as defining the “sweet spot”. You can define > that spot with rocker or foil, but a great board combines the two. In > general, foil dictates where the balance point (trim) is while standing. > That is the board will float (or sink) equally with you standing on that > point. If that point corresponds with the curvier part of the rocker you > will have made the turning sweet spot correspond with the trim spot.>>> What mucks up the whole picture is the length of the board, outline, rail > type, fin(s) location and even bottom contour. So it’s all a matter of > compromise. And that’s also why there is no “perfect” board. If > this is your first stick, put the thickest spot in the middle. But it > should be so subtle and smooth that you really couldn’t tell exactly where > it is. Also you can steal it from the blank…the guys that shape the > plugs have been shaping for decades and know their stuff.>>> Newbs Thanks Newbs, pretty shocking that out of 150 views a design question gets 2 answers and “what’s your favorite music?” gets about 4 days worth of posts. Wouldn’t the thickness at the curviest part of the rocker,as your example, be a slow spot, pushing water, which would (I guess) accommodate turning? I’ve hacked out a couple using natural rocker and foil of the blanks. As someone put it, “shape by numbers”. Now I want to get creative. I understand surfboard aspects individually but I’m trying to get the whole picture by first understanding combos of a couple of these aspects, like my question of rocker/foil on which you’ve enlightend me a bit. I wish I had the money to buy twenty or thirty of the same blank to tinker and test. I’m sure this approach would bring it all to light but I’m more along the lines of 2 or 3 longboards a year which lends itself to forgeting.
Thanks Newbs, pretty shocking that out of 150 views a design question gets > 2 answers and “what’s your favorite music?” gets about 4 days > worth of posts.>>> Wouldn’t the thickness at the curviest part of the rocker,as your example, > be a slow spot, pushing water, which would (I guess) accommodate turning?>>> I’ve hacked out a couple using natural rocker and foil of the blanks. As > someone put it, “shape by numbers”. Now I want to get creative. > I understand surfboard aspects individually but I’m trying to get the > whole picture by first understanding combos of a couple of these aspects, > like my question of rocker/foil on which you’ve enlightend me a bit. I > wish I had the money to buy twenty or thirty of the same blank to tinker > and test. I’m sure this approach would bring it all to light but I’m more > along the lines of 2 or 3 longboards a year which lends itself to > forgeting. …It’s a basically a combination of boyancy,balance,and plane.This also involves/effects, weight displacement,arch curves,and gravity weight.Herb
I gave you a real simplified answer as the foil thing has a very subtle affect on the boards performance. Try these analogies: You want a long board for turning rather than nose riding or trimming. The most amount rocker curve is going to be in the tail area to facilitate turning. If you move the thickness to the rear also you will have a board that trims better from the tail and also turns from the same place. You can also move the trim spot back by putting hips or widening the tail a little (see, all the aspects are connected). To make a trimmer, you put the thickest part toward the middle or a little up and keep the rocker flat. Foil is going to affect the paddleing characteristics more than anything else so you want the thickest part of the board to be near the middle because thats where your chest is when you paddle. Now one of the boards I ride has the thickest part well behind center (right about where my hips and thighs are when I paddle) yet the sucker turns and trims from the center to a little in front of center. Why? Because the widest part of the board is 4 inches forward of center, it has a very parallel outline and the rails have a significantly different rocker shape than the stringer. If your foil is flowing and smooth, you can’t really screw it up too much moving it around a couple of inches or so. If you are really into figuring this stuff out, I’d make all your boards have the same outline and move the rocker and foil around. That way you’ll have eliminated one of the variables and will learn faster what works and why. Newbs