I’ve been riding single fins for about 8 yrs now (I’m talking shortboards here. Longboards that have more than 1 fin don’t count as longboards to me)
Oddly enough I was giving a lot of my friends crap for riding single fins back then. I would say the typical “they’re hopping on the whole Rob machado/Thomas Campbell ride everything approach.” Which, don’t get me wrong…a LOT of people did, but I think it’s a good thing. It made people realize you could ride something other than K-slater’s step up board and still be cool…and maybe surf better. I remember putting off riding my buddies 6’8’’ Barry Vandermeulen forever, session after session. I can’t really tell you why. (back then I also thought air attempts were cool too…so who knows what I was thinking as I rode my epoxy tuflite popout that was 3 inches too short for me.)
I do remember finally giving in and taking off on that thing though. Still to this day I remember it. I remember how easy it was to get into the wave, how fast the board was, how easy it was to maneuver and most importantly how fun it was. I remember being in such shock that you could ultimately turn, cutback and eve “bash the lip brah” It wasn’t until later years that I really found out how to ride these boards.
Needless to say I all my boards feature a single fin now. Long or short, bought or made. I have no desire to ride the thrusters at all. Every now and then I’ll see a super wide round nose quad or something that I think would be fun, but ultimately I never own these kinds of boards. They just don’t hold my interest anymore. I just think it’s funny how I’ve completely 180’d.
Anyway! just an out loud thought. My first build was a 5’10’’ single fin that was complete garbage (ofcourse) the second one was even worse! haha
for the next 20 or so boards I mainly stuck to longboards. This is me revisiting that Barry Vandermeulen shape that got me into riding these things. It’s not necessarily the same outline, but the intent is there mixed in with a little inspiration from John Wesley’s latest creations.
(a link to my build blog is way easier than uploading pics here)
BTW. That original Barry V board was ultimately ridden into the ground. Last year my buddy and I stripped it and reshaped/glassed it. He rode it once and said it was as good as new. Then it got stolen that night out of his car. I just hope whoever has it, is having a blast on it!
G’day Andy that pintail looks quite interesting, is that the first one youve made?? ive been experimenting with them too and can say that they are one of the most functional boards ive owned, i went into it thinking it was gunna be a mad experiment but the narrow tail seems to go rail to rail super easy, your one looks pretty extreme how does it go ? could imagine that the curve in the back + the pin would allow for super tight turns. ?
I’m on this drawnout tear drop pin tail kick too. My first board was a 7-6 single fin pin, with a really round nose. I wanted something that could handle a steep sharp drop, but also trim the nose. I’ve ridden it a few times, and it pretty much does just that. I went a little nuts on the bottom contours (first board) so it tracks up the face pretty bad. But I don’t mind. Just gotta pay attention.
Then this morning I tried a similar board with a much different bottom. A 6-9 hull borrowed from a friend (I didn’t shape this one). Not sure how I feel about the hull in my hometown. A little too cruisey for a steep beach break, and it paddles like a beach ball. But once on the open face, it cuts back like a dream.
My next board is going to be smaller. Close to what you did. Narrow tailed single fin with a fat belly. Not hull’d though.
I’ve been feeling the same way about shortboards. I pretty much only ride single fins or my 5-7 stubby quad. I tried riding a typical thruster for the first time in like a year and it was such a pain. Paddling, pumping, the whole thing. Maybe I’m just getting old.
I personally don’t like pins unless it’s really pumping, so that is why I asked. Seem slow to me, until the surf gets juicier. I guess everyone has their own preferences. have fun with the board though
Blake, did you pick up that Knost board? I saw it on craigslist this week. Looks pretty fun. Didn’t seem like it was a hull shape, but yeah I feel you on that one. Gave hulls a shot for a couple months and just didn’t dig em.
Anchors- i had the same feeling, i bought a brand new hull and couldnt bottom turn to save my life, found them abit slow aswell. not really functional for sydney waves. I have an interview with michael peterson aswell where he talks about his morning of the earth board which is a hulled entry/ to vee and he pretty much said it doesnt work in anything but fast tubes, you can see the board in beach breaks and it only performs half as well.
That John Wesley guy is doing some great stuff, the first pin i made was for a guy who wanted to copy the space-pin and i was stoked on his so i made myself one. All seems to link back to what knost is doing with his ones. That blue one looks epic, as does the dewey webber.
Blake- I rekon you should go with that knost template, maybe widen the tail an inch or two and go straight flat, with a low entry rocker with some kick out the tail. I used it on mine and it seems to work quite well, I also use one tab fcs side fins with a 3 inch base, i feel it adds a pivot point for turning and holds the sharper rail in more. Ive never liked single fins with hard rails, i feel like they spin out to much .
I didn't buy the Knost, my friend is the one who's selling it (and Alex is a mutual friend of our). It's definitely too big for me, and the fin is set too far back. I was borrowing it cause my 2 short boards are out of commission, and I wanted to try something hully.
The board is great, but weighs like 50 pounds. I don't know if it's because I'm used to EPS, or it's glassed with a blue bed sheet, but it sure feels dense.
right on. Is Alex glassing his own stuff? A lot of people are using volan it seems these days. I’m not really a fan of volan if it’s on anything other than a longer board, but yeah, cloth inlays don’t seem to help either I’ve noticed from previous builds.
I think he’s using Pure Glass. Don’t quote me on that, cause I haven’t asked him personally. But my buddy who owns that blue board told me that’s who he’s using.
Board is all zipped up guys. I’ll be taking it out once I get over this damn cold. I ended up thinking straight yellow pigment was too boring, so I added a hotcoat of messy red tint over it. Loving how it turned out.
I rode my bastard child this morning in very dumpy thumpy barrels. We got our first south of the year, and it came with really low tide. Skidding down the face on a super thin pintail with a single fin feels so vintage, and awesome.
Found this trying to dig up bottom contours for these boards and thought I’d revive the thread. I’ve been inspired to shape one of these boards after seeing some of the videos of Ellis Ericson. Here’s what I came up with.
I love building singles. Whenever I can convince somebody to try one.
I love that solid holding power and glide. Been doing some shorter
boards with single fins.
