My second board design- request feedback

Thanks to this site I’m now off in search of the holy grail- the perfect surfboard. My wife will never understand the search. She asks, “What’s wrong with the last one?”

Anyways, what do da Swaylock boyz tink of this-

Me- 5’-11" (that’s 180 cm for da international crew), 155 lbs (65-70 kilos?), 44 years young, strictly shortboarding. My motto (and thus the rationale for my search) is- “I just want to go fast and turn hard.” Of course I should add, “with a flowing style and an occasional tube ride.” When I see a guy ripping it’s because he’s going really fast and punctuating with big, full rail turns.

Locale- South bay of LA, beachbreaks. That’s what I surf 90% of the time, usually head high and under, usually kind of hollow (often closed out). This morning was shoulder high but I saw one wave spit twice. I always dawn patrol (try to be the first one out) so it’s usually pretty glassy or slightly off shore.

Board- I use to ride a Chalrie Smith , 6’10" x 18 1/2" x 2 7/16". Magic. It got ran over by a lady on a three stringer old school single fin. History.

I got another 6’-10" but this was 19" x 2 1/2", six channel. Really fast but way too stiff. I just made myself a 6’-4" x 19 1/4" x 2 1/2". I was thinking shorter and wider, but it’s still more float than I think I need. I also put a little vee in the tail and that made the board surf like a single fin, fun rail to rail turns but no drive (SPEED).

So now I’m thinking 6-2" x 18 1/2" x 2 3/8". Kind of like the Charlie Smith- thinner and narrower. But I’m thinking of putting the channels on it. Maybe 1/16 - 1/8" concave in the middle, then flat in the tail but with the channels. To compensate for the stiffness I want to go with a pretty narrow tail so I can put a lot of curve behind the back foot (less than 14" going to a 5-6" wide swallow)>

I glassed my last board with Resin Research and am sold- no pressure dings after three months of surfing! This time I’m thinking of going EPS in which case I would adjust the thickness ( 2 1/4" ) and take some volume out of the rails (the Charlie Smith had pretty thin rails). I’m kind of worried about EPS. I’m afraid I might hate it. Also, going to use FCS k-flex fins toed a couple inches in front of the nose.

How about that? Waddayathink? Any feedback is highly appreciated. Mine is a totally selfish pursuit (my own board) but I sure thank all the guys on this site who are making boards for others and sharing knowledge.

Channels are horrorshow for the laminator and sander.

All this detail on the board… but it’s the loose nut behind the wheel that makes it all happen. YOU have to be able to surf. The board won’t do it for you.

OK Dude , You are headed in the right direction. But to make this board work for your height and weight you need to rerfine your dimensions and thickness. Drop down to a 5’2’’ and 2 1/4’ thickness. Carve the channels deep 3/16’ to 3/8’. Don’t stop at 6-channnels but go to 8 or 10. That’s the “Magic” that you desire. McDing

Howzit?!? “Good Luck”. Live and learn brother. Aloha…RH

Sounds like you have a good handle on what you want. Trust your instincts…you probably know better what would work for you than someone else. I’m pretty much a proponent of a basic flat to vee bottom so my recommendations would’nt work for how you want to shape your board.