my 1st longboard: recommend me a shape

General Discussion
1

I am planning on building my first longboard.  I've never owned or ridden a longboard before. 

But I'm getting back into surfing at age 54, and am not catching enough waves with my shorter boards.  I have a lot of surfing experience, was pretty hardcore for many years, but have been away too long (23 yrs.), so I'm finding in the water that I'm really just a kook all over again, which sucks.  My mind keeps trying to write checks my body can't cash!  I was told better, but I had to try - bigger fishes than I used to ride, thicker, a 7'6" hybrid, but none of 'em are clicking for me.  I guess I'm not ready for those yet.

Don't get me wrong - I've gotten some good waves on my shorter boards, and the moves and balance are coming back...slowly.  But overall the bigger picture, I'm only getting 2-3 waves per session, even when I stay out longer.  So I want a wave-catcher.

I'm a goofy foot but mainly surf backside, Ventura point break waves (c-st. stables, pitas, rincon), also some Malibu and Leo Carrillo.  Generally less than overhead surf.   I'm 5'7" tall, about 175 lbs., reasonably good shape but working on getting the paddling muscles back!  My favorite shape is a fish, but I can't paddle 'em like I used to.

What do you pundits recommend size/shape wise?  Photos would be appreciated!

I'd just go buy a board but $500 plus is out of my budget right now, I'm in a crunch like a lot of people, and I found a few used ones I like, but of course the ones I like are the same or more than a new one!  If I sell my jobsite trailer I might have some cash for a new one, but I'm probably gonna have to make one, which is ok with me, I've made 3 so far and am anxious to start on my next build. 

Just awaiting your sage advice!

2

Huck,

Are you building foam, or HWS?     How ''big'' do you want to go?    I have several Ideas about how to approach your goal.   Also, how ''wild'' do you want to get, with respect to design?  Give me something to work with.

3

My suggestion 9 foot by 22'' by 2 7/8'' thick with a fair bit of deck roll, with a slotted centre fin box with a 9'' fin and 4'' side fins. 

Most importantly is the amount of rocker in a modern high performance longboard.

Mine has an 8'' rocker, 4 1/4'' nose lift and 3 3/4'' tail lift and it is so easy to turn.

 

4

Gidday Huck, I've just finished this one, if this doesn't paddle easy & catch plenty of waves nothing will.......

9'7" x 24 1/2" x 3 1/8"

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[quote="$1"]

Huck,

Are you building foam, or HWS?     How ''big'' do you want to go?    I have several Ideas about how to approach your goal.   Also, how ''wild'' do you want to get, with respect to design?  Give me something to work with.

[/quote]

HWS, yes.  Size and shape wise, I'm open to any and all suggestions.  I'm trying not to limit myself.  I personally think an 8'er would be plenty big, but I have zero longboard experience to base that on.  In my younger days I used to ride a 5'11" fish for anything up to head high, and a 6'7" swallowtail for anything too big for the fish.  I now ride a 6'8" fish, and I love it - when I'm actually riding a wave.  But I've come to realize I need to catch more waves to get my groove back.  Esp. since I no longer live near the beach, so I just can't get out that often.  Maybe once every two weeks, except when I have remodeling work anywhere near the beach, then I'll go every day.

6

[quote="$1"]

My suggestion 9 foot by 22'' by 2 7/8'' thick with a fair bit of deck roll, with a slotted centre fin box with a 9'' fin and 4'' side fins. 

Most importantly is the amount of rocker in a modern high performance longboard.

Mine has an 8'' rocker, 4 1/4'' nose lift and 3 3/4'' tail lift and it is so easy to turn.

[/quote]

OK, I'm definitely listening.  So can you post a pic?  I would love to see that rocker in a photo.  Any "flatter" areas, or a pretty uniform curve the whole way?  Is this more rocker than a vintage longboard would have?  The "fair bit of deck roll" - is that so your volume is in the center, but the rails are thin enough to sink?  How about a pic of the fin configuration?

7

Wow - 9'7" by 24 1/2 (I'd need an SUP-type grab handle!) by 3 1/8 - do you think that's a bit large for me, or are you recommending that size?  (I'm pretty small stature, 5'7").  Awesome looking board, by the way!

100_2092.JPG 

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Huck, I'm 5'8" & 160.......I can "just" get my arm around the bugger. It's really up to you & how easy you want it to be. 50/50 egg rails, bit of roll up to the rails, light nose concave. I'll give you the final decision as to what you want....

9

I sold it when I moved out here to California (no room to bring it), but I used to own a 10’ Hansen 50/50.  It is said frequently that boards are “wave catching machines” but that board would get into waves way way early with minimal effort.  Moreover, in Florida, there where days were the bouys would be reading .5ft @ 3 secs, and that it would find lumps to trim and walk around on.  I spent a week in Cape Cod with it in some good surf (clean waist-head beach break) and it went great in that too.  The dimensions on it were: 10’x23.25"x3.5", nose:19 1/8" tail: 18.5".  Goddamn I miss that surfboard…  When I get around to building a longboard, it will definitely be done with that board in mind.

Also, I am 5’6" and 165 pounds.

10

Hello Huck,

 I like you. We will meet some day and become real friends. It will happen....I'm going to throw some stuff out at you....Don't get mad...we're friends....

Ditch the HWS thing. I know you are a skilled wood worker. Build a quality surfboard with EPS foam...dial in the shape...then make one out of wood...Wood boards are nice but ......you need to dial in  the whole shape/ rail/ rocker thing.....The wood is holding you back...work it out with foam...you have the skills.

Do you own a Clark Foam Catalog? It's one of my best tools. The numbers you need are there ,The shapers comments...!!!

I believe in Magic.....3 and 23 are magic numbers....work around it... Don't stray too far from the magic numbers....

I like extra tail rocker on my longer boards. I also like 50/50 rails.....I like single fin long boards....

MarkSSD loved my new longboard shape so much he claimed it!

 I told him...It's shaped for me...If you like it you can have it. Buy me a new blank and we will work out the details later...

...Funny stuff....The board did not work for Mark....I Iove the board!   Best longboard I've ever owned .....

3 and 23 are magic

Ohhh...recomended shape.....Sorry ..you're on you're own....It's nice to have friends...

Ray

11

http://www.stewartsurfboards.com/surfboards/2009/86808

 

this would work well

12

I agree that you should switch from wood to foam. You’ll be able to produce a board with much less labor involved. For someone 5’7" and 175 lbs, I’d suggest a length of around 9’8". Back when virtually all boards were between 9 and 10 ft, that was the standard length for a person of your weight.

I’m also puzzled by your statement that a 7’6 hybrid is limiting your wave catching. What are the specifics on this board? A 7’6 that’s properly proportioned and of normal weight should catch waves easily.

13

I just measured a 9’4" noserider I own. Shaped by Tom Eberly.

N 18"

W 23"

T 15"

It is pretty thick, with plenty of rail volume. Board was built in 1987.
I weigh 150 and it floats me high and dry in a fullsuit. I would guess the thickness to be at least 3-1/2".I rarely use it for anything other than a ‘paddle cruiser’ on flat days. It actually feels like far too much board, for me. It was the first new board I owned that was over 7’6" since switching to shortboards in the late 60s. My current day “longboard” is 8’. I can knee paddle that one.

I see no reason to make a mid 9’ board wider than 23, and in this particular case we’re speaking about a noserider so it’s wider than a standard shape, anyway.

In conclusion, I recommend a 9’8" at around 22" to 23". At 175 lbs, if you have trouble catching waves on it the problem lies with your paddling technique and timing, not the board.

14

I suspect part of the problem is also my vision - its gotten worse (nearsighted), makes it tough to judge waves when all I see is a blur LOL.  But hey plenty of surfers have the same problem, and do fine.  It'll come back, I'm just trying to speed up the process! 

15

 

Why suffer with that? Many of my friends wear disposable contacts in the water. You just have to close your eyes when duckdiving or wiping out so you don’t lose them.

16

Actually, I’ve got an old 9-10 single fin that I built a long time ago for one of my kids and which has been through the wars.   I took the template off a Hynson Hy-II so it’s a legit shape.  Clark blank, of course.  It’s got some spots on the rails that would need fixing and there are some stress cracking up in the nose area but the fixes would be real easy and the board would hold up just fine in small conditions so long as you didn’t drill it into the bottom.   

I was going to scalp it and recycle the blank into a smaller board but if you want I’ll sell it to you for the price of a midsized blank.    It’s a quick and cheap way to experiment with a traditional style longboard.    I need the room because my kid has an 11-2 pig coming next week, so if you want you can pick the board up now and we can work out the blank later on this summer.  Surf now, pay later.  

 

If you liked the board you could scalp it (carefully) yourself and reglass the blank later on at your leisure.  Maybe vacuum veneers on it to scratch your wood fetish.  If you didn’t like it you could do what I was going to do and reshape it as a smaller board, having not paid more for it than the purchase of the blank anyway.  Shoot, I think I’ve even got a board bag for it - if so I can throw that in too.  

I’m just throwing the idea out there for you.  Think it over.  

17

I don’t have a shape to recommend. Just posting to say that what stingray and sammy a said struck a chord for me. I have seen your pictures and you do some nice woodwork. Good luck with the foam. As a novice, dicking around with superfluous methods and materials, I need to focus way more on basic design, myself. Maybe you and I both would do better to keep it simple.

18

I appreciate all who took time and effort to respond.  I have to work within my own circumstances, but every viewpoint has merit.  I do have a foam blank (I won at the shaping roundtable), which I could shape into a 7' egg with volume but it's not a longboard blank.  And my working space is limited, as is my budget. 

And there are other considerations.  My board storage space is limited.  I'm a general contractor, and my garage is packed to the gills with tools and materials.  I hate it, but can't afford a yard or warehouse in this economy.  Well, I do have a storage unit, but I'm trying to get rid of it and lower my overhead.  Heck, I'm not far from going under, but thankfully picked up a few small jobs recently (just finished one in Pacific Palisades -yeah!). 

Not that I couldn't fit a longboard in there somehow, just that its a bit less practical than a shorter one.  And a 7'6" is the max size that I can fit into the king cab of my truck, so I could lock it up if I have to leave it unattended - but I'd be willing to go longer, maybe 8 foot?  An 8'er is probably about the max I could reasonably build in my little 9 x 14 shop, although I've been told I could build a much longer board in that space.  Maybe I could.  I just finished my 7'6", and lost count of how many times I whacked the walls or ceiling, amazing I haven't knocked my fluorescent lights down yet!

Anyway, check out this 8' board I saw at Malibu last week:

 

I'm really trying to open my mind - I'm determined to get back to some degree of proficiency at this.  I was never a ripper, but I surfed the Ventura coast almost daily for years.  Summer camping trips to San Onofre, walking the tracks into trestles.  Camping trips at Jalama.  Used to work in Santa Barbara, and commute from Ventura - I'd throw my fish in the car, and hit Rincon on the way to work in the morning.  Two trips to Maui.  But I let so much time go by, and thought I'd never surf again in this life. 

I know most guys here have way more surfing ability than me, I don't pretend to be in the same league.  But I have to believe that I can recapture some of the skills I once had.  Really, part of my battle is psychological.  I know that.  I have to regain my confidence, and I'm working my way back to it.

If that means I have to go to 9' 6", then I'm going to 9' 6" (or whatever size).  I'm gonna do it.  But since I always rode boards in the 6' range, I'm wondering why are longboards so much longer?  I've paddled out on a few longboards, back in the day, and just felt like it was too much board.  Of course, I was lighter then (145 lbs, compared to my 175 now). 

The wood boards are not really complicated for me to build.  They are time-consuming in comparison to a foam board, for sure, but I don't mind.  I enjoy the process.  And rails, rocker, template, foil - its all the same design wise, foam or hws.

- Huck

19

Huck, a couple of things you said jumped out at me. 

1. Your fitness level. Getting wet once every other week for hour or two ain't gonna cut it. You need to at least swim or ride a bike pretty much daily to build your stamina, which will let you sprint for waves.

2. your age. It sucks, but as we age we slow down and lose some fast twitch needed for surfing at higher levels. I'm 60 and I know it sucks, but you can somewhat stave this off by exercise.  See point 1.

3. Longboards are not just bigger shortboards, they surf differently. That's why when you were a young buck and tried out a longboard they felt so freakin' weird. Newer longboard designs, with more rocker, maybe a little "v", will help you make the transition to a long board. But you will have more success if you ride the board the way it 'wants' to be ridden, if that makes sense.

I had heart surgery a couple of years ago, and I got back into it on a 9'3" Dennis Ryder longboard.  The board was long enough that I could paddle out and pick up waves easily enough, but it took quite some time to build up my endurance close to anything I had before, back when I was young and in shape.

I'd urge you into some sort of exercise program (swim at the Y? mountain bike?) and a board in the middle 9s. Pick up some longboard movies and watch they way they were surfed back in the day, and know that newer designs are easier to surf than the old logs.  Hang in there.

 

Mike

20

Hi Huck,

                  I understood that by definition a "Long board" is a board that is 3' longer than you are tall . So 9' would be ideal!