Opinions on a new board, in depth, lets see pics etc.

General Discussion
1

My wife has been surfing for about 5 years, we live in England and surf pretty much every swell. She has done a little travelling around the UK, surfed some respectable reefs and points etc. She predominantly rides a 9'6 Empire singlefin mal or a 7' x 19" x 3" Chris Jones Pintail Singlefin. She is super comfortable on both of those boards, I would say that in the last two years she has never struggled to hold her own in size - up to head and a half pushing double overhead on more mellow stuff. Shes strong and fit, very confident in the water, she turns a mal well, cuts back, reads waves well, shes elegant in the water and shes had some cover-ups in the right conditions, she surfs well…but she has hit a bit of a wall with equipment.

She is about 5'8, shes skinny and weighs next to nothing. She has a really relaxed style, she stands up tall, drawn out turns, she isn't interested in shortboarding and aggressive turns etc. She struggles in big/heavy/steep/hollow surf with the equipment she is using, the Chris Jones has a lot of volume and fairly mellow rails etc. She pulls in, makes drops fine, draws a line etc but she struggles to be as manouverable in these conditions as she needs to be to make sections etc. She struggles when caught on the inside of reefs/points and heavy beaches because she cant duckdive that amount of foam. She struggles less to get outside and out of sticky situations on a mal.

She's at the point of wanting to experiment with more reefs, points and slabs and travel a bit further afield; north africa in december etc.

She is very open minded, she has surfed a lot of boards with varying success. She was surfing a big fat Rob Royal 6'3" semi dialler quad thing for a bit, she could surf it but it was again, way too much foam for duckdiving and being manouverable, were talking 6'3x22"x3+". She also has recently got a 5'5x22x3 mini sim she is looking to experiment with in less challenging condidtions. She has surfed some of my boards but finds them too light to get going (6x20x2 3/4 quad fish).

She's looking to get something shaped, we have a shaper in mind who is going to be making her what his interpretation of what she needs is after a 2 week trip surfing with her in a wide range of conditions but it might not materialise for a while, which is fine, but its always interesting to get a range of opinions and ideas from as many interested people as possible as to what she should be looking to ride, we might get her two new boards in the near future - maybe before morocco.

As much insight and info would be amazing from you guys!

Thanks

 

 

2

sounds like a small fish would suit her well…can you borrow one somewhere for a test ride?

3

I'm actually in the process of shaping a 5'10 twin fin. She has surfed my 6' fish a few times but I'm not sure weather shorter is the best option for her, she did get on well with the 6'3 fish she used to surf but it was a lot of board for her to manouvre.

I think she is convinced on something a bit bigger. Said shaper friend was concerned about fish for her as the forward wide point can push water and make things tricky, I know what he means from surfing fish personally but I adapt my surfing to take that into consideration and get a lot out of surfing them.

What kinda dims you thinking Keith?

Thanks

4

Here is the 7' next to the 5'5 mini sim she just finished shaping (first board)

2448×2448 1.41 MB

5

sounds like she needs to go smaller but doesn't want to go smaller…

maybe she should just go smaller?

6

if she's five eight, then something in the low five foot range (5'2" to 5'6") should be plenty.  Coming off a longboard she shouldn't have too much trouble with "wide point forward"… but you can always try a more pulled in rocket fish if that appeals to her…there are a couple of fish templates on blendingcurves.com if you want something to play around with…

 

 

7

Seems like some kind of egg or Simmons hybrid would suit her, maybe hull instead of with concaves, something that makes more of its own speed rather than having to be pumped.

Self shaping, I'd also use Proboxes if it were me.  Often, changes in placement or cant can be the difference between a board that really works and one that seems to suck.  If she doesn't like that mini-simm, I would bet it's either mainly because either (1) the hull is wrong, (2) the foam volume is wrong for paddling and getting in, or (3) the fins aren't working like they could be.  Sometimes the weirdest fin combination will take a board from seeming to suck to being outstanding.

8

Thanks, some good advice so far. Batfische, the mini sim goes well, I've surfed it 3 or 4 times now, one good reef session, im sure changes in fin set ups etc would adjust the way it surfed for the better, but it goes well as it is for now, we had a bit of help with fin placement etc. 

I guess theres lots of different ways of going smaller, width, length, foil, rockers etc. Its about finding a design that is going to generate its own bit of speed, hold in drops and be manouverable. Some sort of 2+1 eggy hull kinda thing might be an option maybe if anyone knows of any good boards in existence that might be that kind or option? Thanks guys!

9

We're talking about adding to what she already has, right?  Filling a hole as opposed to replacing anything.  She wants something that's easier for her to paddle AND duckdive.  More surface area in the paddle zone but thinner rails and less volume overall.  

I'm going to buck the trend here and suggest going 6-3 to 6-6 and thinner/narrower to reduce the volume, with a fairly low tail rocker and a moderate to agressive nose rocker.  Wide point a little forward and a fairly narrow tail such as befits a liteweight.  Do it in conventional construction in order to maintain the weight and glide.  

Since she's already surfing single fins and working on some style a Bonzer or a 2+1 would add some drive through the second half of her turns.  Maybe even a Widowmaker or a Neal Purchase Jr style 2+1 setup, both being centerfin biased.  

10

Probably not the best shaper to make this kind of board but based on advice from a few people now, we were pointed in the direction of a diplock 6'6 x 19 7/8 x 2 5/8 widowmaker reasonably cheap second hand.

It'll be really interesting to see how she gets on with it and weather that's a direction that she might like to explore a bit more down the line. 

640×960 72.9 KB

11

The  board in the above photo, is exactly what we were building at Surf Systems, in Sept. of 1970.    Right down to the fin setup, which was removable with no tools or screws.    Think about it, 1970.   Fortythree years ago!    Me, I'd put her on a 6'6'' or 6'8'' x 21'', 2 5/8ths thick.      Widow fin setup, with really small sides.      You really don't need much fin near the rail.

Shaper since 1958

12

(Obviously)   I think it's a good choice.  That board can almost definitely handle more than she can.    Hers'a a link to Rasta surfing a similar 2+1 from Neal Purchase Jr at smallish Backdoor:

 

http://nealpurchasedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/06/rasta-on-66.html#comment-form

 

You might have to play around with fin combinations - perhaps 2 sets for different conditions.  Neal Purchase Jr is doing 7.1/2" and 8" fins for his 2+1s  that are very similar to the Bonzer templates.  

Links for sizing and placement:

http://nealpurchasedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/06/21fun_05.html#comment-form

http://nealpurchasedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/06/pink-ladya-21.html#comment-form

(As you can probably tell, I'm a fan)

13

"She struggles in big/heavy/steep/hollow surf with the equipment she is using, the Chris Jones has a lot of volume and fairly mellow rails etc. She pulls in, makes drops fine, draws a line etc but she struggles to be as manouverable in these conditions as she needs to be to make sections etc."

Big/heavy/steep/hollow surf isn't the easiest type of surf to negotiate… on any board.  The Chris Jones board with a more pulled in nose and 2+1 fin setup might do the trick.  Think: Small version of a Rusty Desert Island board.  Sometimes running a smaller center fin with sidebites allows for quicker maneuvers than a large center fin farther forward. 

A narrower nose might be less likely to 'stick' that forward rail.  With a wide nose, the forward rail can engage and make vertical maneuvers harder to perform.

"She struggles when caught on the inside of reefs/points and heavy beaches because she cant duckdive that amount of foam. She struggles less to get outside and out of sticky situations on a mal."

Again, tough on any board.  Is she duck diving the mal or turning turtle?  There are situations where trying to hold on to the board might not be the easiest thing to do.  Kudos to the people who can.  I can remember the days before leashes when a big clean up set would result in many lost boards and many people swimming after them.  Now with leashes, it's not necessarily kooky to take a deep breath, dive, and hope the leash holds.  Plenty of people do it but everyone has their own threshold as to when to bail.

You've presented something of a contradiction here… I.E. a mal can get her out of trouble but is likely harder to handle when she does get caught(?)

The 'mini-Desert Island' concept makes sense all the way around and that widowmaker looks to be a good choice.  If not, she'll know soon enough.  Working with a local shaper at that point will give everybody a better idea as to what works, what doesn't and why.

I think gdaddy's ideas on fins make alot of sense too.

14

Thanks again for the great advise and the links to the NPJ stuff, makes for some interesting reading and definitely food for thought in terms of fin set ups. There are a lot of options to explore. The boards coming with a centre fin (not sure what yet) but no sidebites so we will have to put an order in for some based on some of this advice. 

John Mellor, I think the contradiction comes from the fact that she can paddle hard and pick speed up quickly on a mal in sticky situations/between sets. Because she doesn't have the weight behind her to get a mal under the water to duckdive under just broken waves she has developed a keen eye for timing I guess, wait in a safer spot where you are in control, then the second the opportunity arises, paddle like hell! She can puncture a hole through with the front of a mal and kind of slip through with the speed taken into it, although sometimes she will have to just eject, swim for bottom and hope for the best. 

Trailkill, thats an interesting option for the fins too to explore, might be worth trying it in some conditions pretty much as a singlefin with two very small stabilsers. that extra inch of width each side might be useful for taking off but if she can adapt to the 19" its going to be preferable in the kind of waves she wants it for I guess, we'll see!

Plenty of good shapers about, we spent a bit of time with a legend local shaper who is going to come up with something he thinks will work, I think that could be very interesting seeing his quiver at the minute, lots of good and unique ideas that serve him very well indeed! 

Thanks guys, any links to lokbox fins in the UK would be cool!

15

Mick can be rearhed on 01825 721117, or 07968175021. Always been really helpful, and a great supporter of backyard shapers… jonty