Thanks to your encouragement, today was one of the most enjoyable sessions i have ever had. i have a noserider, very similar to the In the pink model from takayama. it had a hard edge in the tail. i sanded that shit off and made the tail 50/50, and took it out today in head high clean beachbreak. previous to this sesh i had never ridden a board with a soft tail. I think it was a combination of my style changing and watching single fin yellow 100 times that made me hungry for some real flow.
the rails completely transformed my longboarding. my turns were arching and smooth and i was on the nose on sections that my modern longboards wouldnt dare to noseride. i was just so comfortable up there, putting my arms down by my side and just feelin it. this board didn’t work well in head high+ waves with the hard tail but for some reason it works amazingly in surf of that size with the soft rails.
it also catches waves significantly earlier now. its really outstanding getting in that early and setting up for a noseride. i dont know how ill ever go back to an edge on a log. i cant really picture a more perfect session then the one i had today. clean fast lines, a heavy single fin log, and no more edges. the turns feel so good.
after my experience i am confused about the hard edge in the tail of the majority of logs on the market. how could people have forgotten something this sensational?
So, this was your first time on a soft tail longboard? How about a single fin longboard? I ask you these questions because I have never ridden anything but a soft tail single fin longboard. Although I wouldn’t call the Wingnuts WII a classic log.
I’m planning out a longboard right now that is a single fin with edges in the tail. I was understanding with a hard edge in the tail would creat lift and push in the early stages of catching the wave. Which you described the 50/50’s did better than your edge. Which if that is true then hell making a soft egde all the way down has to be alt easir than blending Egg>down>hard edge.
Swaylocker’s you care to open up and explain this topic.
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…and watching single fin yellow 100 times
ain’t NOTHIN’ wrong with THAT!!!
skimmer. i havent ridden a tri fin in probably two years. except in panama last summer i swapped boards with a guy because he wanted to try my single fin. i got on the tri fin and after three waves i had to switch back. it feels like im surfing on train tracks. i hate it. i thought the same thing about the hard edge and catching waves that you are thinking. after catching waves much earlier yesterday i did some investigation and found myself on tom wegener’s website, where he has articles about rails and other things, and he said the same thing about catching waves.
i even threw in a round house yesterday at the end of one of the sections.i really didnt feel a loss in performance, maybe a loss in drive, but in my opinion it just made all of my turns look cooler (although i didnt see any of them because i was doing them) by being a bit more pivitol and without the nose of the board bouncing around because of the edge, know what i mean?
ya, singlefin yellow is great, theres another one way of life that cosists of people riding soft tailed boards throughout and its also very well made.
see ya
Interesting observations you make… strange - I was about to start a thread about how much better my shortboard works with hard edges all the way up …
Horses for courses eh? I guess where you want flow (and have speed and momentum to burn), I want drive and speed.
Now I can see where soft edges would be a help in noseriding but wavecatching…hmmm…I thought the exact opposite would be true…I rode a friends 9 6 x 23 soft tailed longboard a while ago cos he was complaining about it not getting into waves very well. I have to say the board was ridiculously difficult (for a LB) to catch waves with althought when up and riding it did all the things you said. We put it down to the soft edges “sucking” the tail down… Given your experience tho’ maybe 'twas summat else?
Hello,
With the experience i have had in the past year i have experienced all kinds of surf on a hard edge board and a soft edge. I have found that one board that works for my friend who has a multitude of different types of boards all depends on the surfer at hand and the surf conditions. I liked the softer edges because i caught the wave earlier and stayed on the nose with not alot of travel necessary if a flat section were to appear. With my friend on the other hand he prefers the hard edge due to he finds it more stable when on the nose and the ability to move about the board freely. Those are his words.
Anyway It also depends on the size of the surfer and the board that he is on and that ratio of buoyancy to weight.
i’ve always felt that the down rail in the rear was more for a hi performance 2 +1 set up. a board primarily for riding off the tail, although, yes, they can be nose ridden also. most of these boards have been shorter, (8’10 or so) lighter narrower (21.5), thinner.
recently, this last year, i made a few boards with a round neutral rail in the last 2’. along with an xtra inch of rocker as well, and one board with a fully turned up rail in the last 18 inches. 2 of the boards were thicker, 3 and 5/8+.
found noseriding to be easier. on the largest board 28 lbs/9’10/24.5, found that in conjunction with a wider hip and a deeper pivot type fin, turns were easier to make and affected the lower back minimally as opposed to heavier “classic” boards" with 50/50 rails.
wierdly enough, the thicker board with the fully turned up tail performs pretty well and also noserides well, although standing ALL the way back does get a bit squirrely. report from a friend who tried it out on a small day as a change from his hi performance board, reference catching 1- 1.5 foot fl waves: “felt like it had a supercharger on back there”.
a commercial reference here for the rolled up tail: see any Bud Gardener noserider.
and so yes, i agree. makes longboarding much easier and enjoyable.
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Although I wouldn’t call the Wingnuts WII a classic log.
skimmer. you have the WII? how is it? what is it like? its an interesting shape, probably not something i would ride, a little too gunny, but interesting none the less. it seems like the WI model should have the soft tail and the WII should be hard, judging by the templates. strange. i have videos with him in it and hes either riding the WII or the martinson stepdeck. both of those martinson boards look great.
516, Yes, I have a hand glassed 9’6" WII w/ a 9" Wingnut Cutaway on it. Pic of my boards: http://www.skimonline2.com/scripts/mediacenter/showphoto.php?photo=1752&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1
How do I like it? I must say, it’s not the perfect Fla longboard. As it doesn’ catch small weak waves with ease. My main disliking of the board. With that said. The WII loves bigger {4+} or faster pitching waves. I ride with the fin 3/4 forward and it turns great.
I really think if I had to do it over again I would have bought the Wingnut Noserider. I didn’t notice it then but look at the wide nose and the smooth flatter mid section. I think the tail is very close to the same as the WII.