one for the Hawaiians

General Discussion
1

What are the current shaping trends (if that really matters) for standard big guy shorties on the south shore?

Im interested in common rocker themes (relaxed or curvy) or measurements, typical bottom contour (are single concaves common), if any, and width(s), thickness for boards in the 6’6 to 6’8 range made for a 215lb 40 y/o surfer surfing the breaks at and around Kaisers, going mostly left.

For a speed/performance oriented board, is this advisable:

Semi-curvy squash or round pin (JC’s sean moody model comes to mind)

6’6-8 x 19.25+ x 2.6

very smooth relaxed rocker, 2.25 tail rocker, 5 nose (basically a std R blank)

medium (1/8") single concave peaking between the feet

flat or slight vee behind the front fins

medium-thin soft rails center & front half

large, long-base fins for added drive and control (TC Redlines or Rusty) with medium toein

Big mahalo in advance!

Additional background info……only if youre bored

I’ve got a good friend who lives in Honolulu and is an avid longtime shortboader, 6ft 215lb, 40y/o and surfs mostly in the Kaisers area. He owns a good quiver of mostly big guy shorties in the 6’6 to 6’9 range. He was very disappointed with a recent custom shape…he complained of having too much vee in the board (almost the entire length) which he claimed caused him to get hungup near the top when trying to paddle into waves. This board is 6’6 x 2.5 thick x width???. Amazingly he uses very small fins like G3 or G5s sizes…???

I’ve watched him surf for more than twenty years and IMO, he has always used too small a board (width and thickness) for his size…the result is below average speed…his board seems to be too much under the water while surfing. But he is very stubborn and is cautious heeding my advice which is basically more volume, less rocker and more width. When I visit Honolulu (from FL) I immediately noticed that most boards have racier shapes, i.e., narrower (yes there is more power on the SS!). I rode one of his 6’9s and it was only 18 ¾ wide…vary narrow for my taste but functional. However, I weigh a lot less at 175lb. Mahalo again!

2

Being a 50yr old 200lb southshore hawaiian I’d say go with less nose and more tail rocker. A lower entry point will facilitate paddling and a more pronouced tail rocker will allow you to whip it around.

I personally like bonzers doubles in the hot spot infront of the front fins and a slight vee throughout the rest.

I ride Ewa slop so my boards are bigger and thicker than thse needed in town. I really like my 6’8" Surftech Merrick Flyer and I believe it’ll do up to 230 depending on age. A pretty skippy and turny kind of board but no swing weight to say. You can see the rest of my quiver on the surfermag.com forum site under pictures. I do ride a 6’6" Brewer Sting and a 6’6" Alexander Gemini but that’s another story…

a no-nose squash profile, thicker and not too wide 19.5 max with low entry and heavier than normal tail rocker with a bonzer double barrel engine infront of the back foot would be my call. I’d go sharp rails too… especially for Kaisers since it’s hollow and fast.

There’s lots of options in this shape, JC, Tokoro, Minami, Bushman, Rawson and the town undergrounders. Check Da SurfHut on kapahulu or for something really extreme, checkout Downing’s “Slippah” up the street.

Good Luck!

3
Quote:

What are the current shaping trends (if that really matters) for standard big guy shorties on the south shore?

Im interested in common rocker themes (relaxed or curvy) or measurements, typical bottom contour (are single concaves common), if any, and width(s), thickness for boards in the 6’6 to 6’8 range made for a 215lb 40 y/o surfer surfing the breaks at and around Kaisers, going mostly left.

For a speed/performance oriented board, is this advisable:

Semi-curvy squash or round pin (JC’s sean moody model comes to mind)

6’6-8 x 19.25+ x 2.6

very smooth relaxed rocker, 2.25 tail rocker, 5 nose (basically a std R blank)

medium (1/8") single concave peaking between the feet

flat or slight vee behind the front fins

medium-thin soft rails center & front half

large, long-base fins for added drive and control (TC Redlines or Rusty) with medium toein

Big mahalo in advance!

Additional background info……only if youre bored

I’ve got a good friend who lives in Honolulu and is an avid longtime shortboader, 6ft 215lb, 40y/o and surfs mostly in the Kaisers area. He owns a good quiver of mostly big guy shorties in the 6’6 to 6’9 range. He was very disappointed with a recent custom shape…he complained of having too much vee in the board (almost the entire length) which he claimed caused him to get hungup near the top when trying to paddle into waves. This board is 6’6 x 2.5 thick x width???. Amazingly he uses very small fins like G3 or G5s sizes…???

I’ve watched him surf for more than twenty years and IMO, he has always used too small a board (width and thickness) for his size…the result is below average speed…his board seems to be too much under the water while surfing. But he is very stubborn and is cautious heeding my advice which is basically more volume, less rocker and more width. When I visit Honolulu (from FL) I immediately noticed that most boards have racier shapes, i.e., narrower (yes there is more power on the SS!). I rode one of his 6’9s and it was only 18 ¾ wide…vary narrow for my taste but functional. However, I weigh a lot less at 175lb. Mahalo again!

Current trends are moderate to medium rocker…say at around 6 2 would have around 2.25 in the tail and 5 or 5 1/4 in the nose usually single to double concave at around 1/8 to 3/16 in depth. Looking at most shapers boards fall in these parameters.

More importantly is how do you surf? What are your abilities and what are you trying to do on the wave.

4

Kaisers or “The Kaisers Area”? Bit of a difference between Kaisers and the neighboring reefs, the neighboring reefs being a bit less crowded and competitive except Bowls- (Ala Mo). If Kaisers, then I’d say anything is being ridden by everyone, depending on what they want. You’ll see young guys on thin hypers sitting in the bowl, big guys on tankers sitting outside, chicks on tankers sitting on the shoulder, older guys sitting on mid-size boards sitting outside, spongers inside, EVERYTHING works (yes, even… caugh… Geminis), but does your buddy want to give up paddling so he can enjoy and shred the few waves he’ll catch, or will he compromise and go wider/thicker to catch more? Kaisers doesn’t need a lot of volume- it’s fast, and sectiony or peeling depending on the angle. I watch a lot of very marginal/poor surfers out there glide in early, catch a lot of waves, then hoot at themselves when they are actually looking embarrassingly bad. Maybe your buddy would rather get that lucky couple of waves just by being in the right place at the right moment and rip them to the best of his ability? Or maybe he’s like a few of my buddies who are surfing less frequently every year and need longer/ thicker to even paddle. You know your buddy. But for an all-around board, your stated dimensions look solid to me for someone that size. But sounds to me like your buddy needs more than one board so he can see for himself what works, during what conditions.

5

thinking about it…

(Unless you’re going to Swaylocks-like make it yourself)

There’s already alot of good name and unknown shapers who surf that break/area.

Maybe your friend can find one to tag up with in the water so the shaper can actually see your friend surf and what he’s surfing on. That’d be the best chance of getting something he won’t be too drastically dissapointed in versus trying to figure out all this stuff on your own and then trying to relay it to a shaper who doesn’t know you from squat…

I’d at least take a look at that option… Ask around, Tokoro, Pang, REX, Aipa, etc they are all in the water there sometime or another.

6
Quote:

thinking about it…

(Unless you’re going to Swaylocks-like make it yourself)

There’s already alot of good name and unknown shapers who surf that break/area.

Maybe your friend can find one to tag up with in the water so the shaper can actually see your friend surf and what he’s surfing on. That’d be the best chance of getting something he won’t be too drastically dissapointed in versus trying to figure out all this stuff on your own and then trying to relay it to a shaper who doesn’t know you from squat…

I’d at least take a look at that option… Ask around, Tokoro, Pang, REX, Aipa, etc they are all in the water there sometime or another.

Tokoro, Pang and Aipa are not what I would consider “underground”

7

I agree, there’s so many of them in town I wouldn’t want to leave someone out so I listed some of the “Brand Names” that at times surf in that area. In reality most of them would be hitting country now…

The point is if the guy’s a regular at Kaiser’s he’s bound to be surfing next to someone who’s making boards on the side…And it’s always better to buy from someone who knows exactly how you surf and what you’re surfing with, than to try and figure it out from a spec sheet and some imaginary explaination of how you think you surf…

Seeing it in real life is worth more than a thousand words…