I’m looking to get a pig shape for San Onofre. I’m considering the following shapers: Michel Junod, Bing (Calvani), Fineline, Hobie (Terry Martin). If anyone has any input on pigs, specific or general, I’d appreciate hearing it. Size? Shaper? Fin (Barn door or swept flex, etc.) and placement? Rails? Concave? Thanks in advance for your advice.
There’s a couple of great articles on rails and fins on www.tomwegenersurfboards.com
Although they’re not strictly “pig” shapes, he does use very wide hips and pulled in noses on his nose-riders. He goes into great detail about how the soft rails and wide hips work, and why he uses such big fins.
Well worth a look!
Jim Phillips. Nobody does pigs like JP. Not retro cubed…form follows function here.
Encinitas, CA
All the guys named so far are great shapers. My personal favorites if looking for a pig are, Lance Carson makes a incredible pig shape, there are a few guys down at San O that just got theirs and nothing but great feedback, fast, loose, noseride great. Next as you have mentioned Junod, makes a incredible board definitely check it out and my wild card is 12th floor foam & glass. Small custom shop that makes some great boards also, they do all of Lance’s glassing, also work with Gene Cooper and shape and glass all the cooperdesigns. Their boards are a nice mix of old and new. Also go with a D-fin, they work best with that design, with all the extra curve in the tail the D-fin will feel pretty loose, thats my 2 cents.
i got some pig advice
dont fck them, they will squeal on you
I love semi-pig shapes. I have two. A 9’4" by Spencer Kellogg with a fin box (similar to a Yater Spoon) and a 9’10" by Jim Phillips with a big D fin glassed about 3 inches from the tail. They surf very differently due to the size and weight but they are both great boards depending on the conditions (the 9’10" is for smaller surf).
50/50 rails and no concave. Concave will slow you down. Go with slight belly in the mid section.
Sorry for my ignorance but what exactly is a “pig shape”? How is it different than a big-ass longboard? I was on a surf trip and described one of my boards (9’ by 24" by 3.875") to one of the guys on the trip and he said “thats a pig board” which sounded pretty derogatory coming from a short boarder. Its a Secret Weapon model from Infinity. Wonder what he’d say about the one I am building now (9’6" by 25" by 3.75").
If you live in the San Diego area, I would say that you should pay a visit to Mr. Jim Phillips. The work that I have seen by Mr. Phillips has been incredible. A visit with him would be time well invested, and assist you in making an educated decision on your choice of craftsman when ordering your Pig. Top quality in every aspect of surfboard manufacturing.
Quote:
Sorry for my ignorance but what exactly is a “pig shape”? How is it different than a big-ass longboard? I was on a surf trip and described one of my boards (9’ by 24" by 3.875") to one of the guys on the trip and he said “thats a pig board” which sounded pretty derogatory coming from a short boarder. Its a Secret Weapon model from Infinity. Wonder what he’d say about the one I am building now (9’6" by 25" by 3.75").
In short - pig longboards had the wide poing pulled back behind center and the nose is somwhat pulled in. I don’t like the extreme pig shapes like that Velzy above (he invented the pig shape) but the semi-pig shapes of the early Bings, Hansens, Yaters, Velzys, Jacobs, etc… are all beautiful boards. Nose should be less than 17" in my opinion. Oh yeah, the Greg Noll Da Cat model is classic example of a semi-pig shape.
The modern shortboard with the narrow nose and wide tail is like a short pig shape.
Perhaps the “Laser Zap” of longboards? Or is the Laser Zap the pig of shortboards? (don’t get me wrong, I like laser zaps)
May I highly recommend a pig board from Michel Junod. He has a couple great templates. One is the “Pignar Biscuit Supreme”, with artwork from Thomas Campbell (this one tends to be pricey b/c of the artwork, but the board works unreal). He also has another similar one that features his own fin design. It’s a D-fin with a slight cutaway on the back that allows a bit more looseness. A red-tint and black fin model of the second board I mentioned should be making its way down to Icons of Surf in San Clemente before the end of the month if you live down that way.
Yeah. Michel’s boards are really nice and of course Dano in Costa Mesa did the first Pignars with Thomas Campbell and he still has the Pignar model:
Junod Pignar:
http://www.thaliasurf.com/mijupi9.html
Dano Pignar:
dano makes a sick pig, its called the pignar breadbasket
check it out on its website
Trichinosis. Most of these undercooked pigs are jump on the bandwagon boards pumped out as designs rather than shapes. The pillsbury pigs I’ve seen have been poorly shaped - square rails, bumps and wiggles along with over-hyped color. Look beyond the candy coated shell…any glass shop can do an abstract, inlay, gloss color or multi-tone split lam jobs (if they can’t run like hell) and get to the substance.
"It is the pervading law of all things organic, and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things super-human,
of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, that the life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function. This is the law."
i agree with dutchy, i saw this guy shredding the exact same thomas campbell artwork michael junod board you were talking about at san-o
you could always get one from tanner, he makes SICK boards, most of which have pointed nose, with big tails. his name is tanner prairie, hes out of costa mesa, he makes a lot of boards for al knost. let me know when you get this, and ill get the link to his myspace.
I have a balsa pintail pig from Donald Takayama.
I also have a balsa pintail semi-pig from Jim Phillips. Both are fantastic boards.
If you can afford a balsa I would recommend it. The original pigs were balsa you know.
I made one for my son a few years ago and he really likes his.
No concave. Please.
Just make sure the fin is big.
This little piggy was designed a couple years ago by Paul Gross and Spencer Kellogg
Recreatable through Spence
