Im thinking about cutting an alaia but I was wondering the purpose of severe parabolic rails (like on some Wegener alaias). i want to consider using them when I am planning the outline. Do they work like skis or carve snowboards? if you lean into a rail that is parabolic like that does the board carve up the face of the wave? i have no idea because the closest i have come to surfing an alaia is taking the fin out of a longboard. any info would be helpful. this is a creative project for me so just learning and experimenting is worth it.
Parabolic rails on an alaia work very much like snowboarding in powder. Because you have no fins to create lift and drive, you engange the entire rail on an alaia from nose to tail to help you turn. When you stand close to center with your feet relatively close together, kinda like a snowboard stance, and you push down into a bottom turn, you create a variable rail rocker along the inside rail that engages the face of the wave. This combined with the flex of a proper alaia (not one made from pine, but paulownia, etc.) and the sharp rails on the alaia will help project you up the face of the wave and forward at great speed. Then as the board releases, kinda like engaging in a jump turn while snowboarding in powder, you transition to your outer rail and re-engage with the wave, re-flex the board, once again creating an engaged variable rocker on your other rail, and re-connect with the wave.
This is how you surf a more 'hi performance' style alaia...that is, if you want to turn and not just glide in one direction.
why go backwards? get a thruster
the boards never stop. i have 7 thrusters and one is only 1 month old. sometimes its a fun to try new/old things. sometimes it is progressive to go backwards