Bigger Boards
It’s hard to NOT come to the conclusion that nearly all longboard surfers these days are just dressing up in the same old, tired costume. Their boards are so generic, so retro, so focused on cosmetics, so unimaginative, so truly NOT custom. Not that they realize this of course. What the average Joe is riding is so disheartening. In many ways it’s only hurting them, but at least they don’t know it, proof that God is kind.
So, what is the problem?
An insightful friend pointed out to me that most surfers today have some sort of ‘X’ length formula burned into their brain. It states something to the effect that they feel ‘OK’ about riding a 9-0 at age 35. It’s safe, not too prone to ridicule…All based on what the ‘culture’ tells them is OK. At age 40, they compensate upwards to a 9-6, and continue upward. Just add 4” for every birthday over 40.
This is the most basic situation in the ever-aging surfing population. And even with that being the case, do you EVER see anything different for this huge mass of surfers? Never. What is culturally acceptable, not personally interesting, is what determines personal board choice. If you step outside this culturally accepted ‘norm’, watch out. What? A guy with something different?
Take your average aging surfer, liking longer boards but not really having the skills to ride like David N. on the nose. I fall into that category. I love the glide and trim of longer boards, but I’ve never hung ten, rarely five. How about you? Anyone else want to raise their hand?
So, why is it?
There are few forward thinkers in the surfing world, maybe even less so in the ranks of your common shaper. Unimaginative shapers, all replicating someone else’s tired ideas from 10-30 years ago. If left to the shapers out there, your average 45 year old will be riding the same board in 2045 as he is today. If the surf culture en masse started experimenting, the average guy’s surfing would improve. So too, would shapers be forced to begin a sort of design quest, and you might have 500 shapers making improvements and contributions.
Read any sailing magazine and realize how skilled and educated even your basic boat designer is, and the difference between him and a surfboard shaper is almost cosmic in the distance between the two. Look at all the truly innovative boat hulls coming out, and witness an industry that is truly led by change, and willing to move forward and try new things. There’s little that’s even close in the surfing industry. There is the shapes themselves are about as refined as they’re ever going to get.
Back to the ‘challenge’.
For me, over the years, after experiencing that feeling of ‘the glide’, I fell in love with it. The sensation of being so in trim, not outrunning, not falling behind the wave. Just locked in to the waves speed.
Where I surf, we have a lot of beach breaks. When the seasons change from summer to fall we get a lot of swell. Combine that with some stiff offshore winds, and you have excellent conditions. One of the drawbacks to those conditions is the expanded playing field. Paddling power is paramount to getting good waves, with shifting peaks up and down, inshore and out. Shortboarders sit inside, duckdive and get quick rides. That’s fine if you like to duckdive and get quick rides. With a more powerful paddling board, I have the vehicle in which to sit 50 –75 yards outside and get in the waves way early. I’m able to catch a cresting unbroken wave, drop in, set a line and speed, high and tight through where the shortboarders are and fly way further down the line, due to the speed achieved from a longer set up area. Ride fast and kick out and use the paddling advantage again to get back outside before the next waves catch you inside. The key is paddling speed.
How can you ride one and NOT see the benefits of it all?
The “average” longboard has just too much width in the nose and middle. On waves with some juice, that width just gets in the way…If you’re not gonna really ride the nose, why have that width. It just doesn’t fit the waves as well as something more streamlined.
The board I’m riding I shaped a few years ago. It sat mostly unridden for a long time. But I broke it out early this summer for some very clean, empty point waves in this region. That session has hooked me on the undeniable quality of the ride these boards offer. The more I ride it, the more it makes sense.
I’m not talking about 17’ boards or anything in that range…Human scale here.
What’s got me so stoked is a 12’ Surf/ Paddleboard. I envisioned a board that had the qualities of both genres, without compromising the better aspects of each. A tough balance, but do-able. Out of a custom cut Clark 12’3", I templated a narrow, fairly parallel outline. Maximum width 20”. The maximum thickness is 3.75”. I shaped a typical paddle board entry, rolled vee for the first two feet or so, running to a gentle belly roll for a few more feet (we are talking lots of board) and ending in a harder edged pulled in round tail, with a flat vee panel running up about three feet from the tail. Single fin box, thank you. The key to combining the best of both aspects of paddle / surf, is having a generously domed deck to carry the thickness, and a bottom with moderate belly that rolls out to a rail that’ll still wrap water and hold in. A full length chine can add some more bite if you need that. The rolled bottom and the large flat vee panel keep it loose rail to rail. The boards length precludes most sudden direction changes, but the early entry, and the speed available through that, allow plenty of set up time for what’s ahead. With practice some mind bending right go left ( and visa/versa) takeoffs are achievable and repeatable.
It is a great riding board, it can get around falling sections and of course has a lot of drive (what would you expect from 12’ of rail). Besides, you can catch a ripple with it.
Finally, because of their stubbornness to expand their minds, other surfers might look at my board and laugh, think I’m a wannabe big wave hero, and misunderstand the principles behind the design choice. Yet at the end of the day my wave count is almost always higher. And I guarantee that I’m the one smiling when I leave the water.
You can argue it is all fun, and it all works, but it is a lot more fun when you catch more waves and at this age that is all I really want to do.
Some might figure that I ‘went big’ to compensate for my age, when in fact that has never figured into my formula. My fitness level is well above average for my years. I’ve got witnesses.My inherent surfing skills are about as refined as they are ever going to be (realistically, I’ve passed the peak of my inherent refined surfing skills, and at this point of my life it’s mostly refinement).
As has been said before “If you can’t out surf ‘em, out think ‘em.”
CAUTION: Anyone with such a powerful wave catcher MUST NOT over use such an effective tool in even moderately crowded conditions. It’s just not cool to be a wave hog. Instead, smile, encourage and share.
Hey Paul, good to see you posting again lately. Loved your artist collaboration board, hope the show was a great success.
Now - is this your post from a few years ago, or just one you copied and pasted? An April fools' joke? Why no pics? I'm over that proverbial hill too, and can relate to much of what the post contains.
But my thinking keeps running in the other direction - I love my 9' longboard, but wish I could get the glide and paddle with a shorter board. Thicker? Wider? Step-deck? At this age (57 in a few weeks) I still can't imagine ever going bigger than 9' (although I do have a 9' 6" Walden Magic popout in need of some remedial work, that can be fun too).
But 12'? Its not a peer pressure thing, its a logistics thing. Way too big to fit in my shaping shack, or my car. Fold the seats down and my 9'6" fits in my wife's little Corolla, but 12'? Never happen. Plus, do I really want all that much board out there in the lineup? I dunno.
Like I said, some accompanying pics would help.
.jpg)
whoa!
That's incredible! It actually looks bigger than 12' in the picture.
Love to hear more about the actual board, now that we have the back story. Weight? Surf with or without leash? Knee-paddle? How is it holding up? Does it ever land on your head?
Man, that looks beautiful. I bet it was a helluva project to shape and glass! I would love to try to paddle out on that thing and catch a few at a particular slow breaking reef/point break I know of.
Didn't John Mellor build one about that size awhile back? Come to think of it, he's made some comments in the past about volume and glide, related in thought to your initial post.
Heck, ACE just posted up a beautiful 11 footer, for a big guy.
The challenge has already been met. It is called stand up paddle boards.
[quote="$1"]
The challenge has already been met. It is called stand up paddle boards.
[/quote]
Yeah, I thought the same thing, initially. And I might try an SUP someday, for fun or exercise. But in the lineup, I think I'd be more comfortable with Paul's monster board than an SUP.
Wonder how close to 50 pounds it weighs??
I have a 12 footish clark, extra wide blank if anyone wants to get nostalgic.
I don't think I would be comfortable in the line up with a super heavy board like that unless it was totally empty.
Will Garrett be riding this board at pipe this winter???
i remember talking with Ace about some big boards that he loved riding that were in the 11 and 12 foot range
hopefully he will see this and post some pics
Being 59 closing on 60 fast and landlocked 99% of the year, my max length for some mellow wave catching would be 9-6 to 9-8. They are great for wave catching, cruising and an all-round mellow day with a big manure eating grin at the end but they always feel sluggish to me.
My biggest beef with the longer board is if a steep face pops up you ain’t gonna catch it.
How old are you? By your 9-6 formula at 40 (+ 4"/yr), at 12’ = you are 47.5 years old (40 + [144 -114]/4).
According to your formula, I’d use a 16-2 longboard. With a little wave time, I’m pretty sure I could handle a 7-6 single.
7-6 is a good size for me, up to 9 or 9-6. Like I say, I'm always trying to figure a way to get the paddle and glide from a smaller board if I could. But if the waves are rolling, and the rides are long (long paddle back out), or breaking way out on the reefs, then I want the 9 footer, because I just rely on that paddle-ability of the longer board.
You're right, I'm no good with it on steep vertical drops. I've seen video of guys doing it, but everytime I try I end up going straight down the mine shaft, or over the falls. That's when I want to drop down to 7-6 or even down to 6-6, but I have to have some recent wave time to enjoy myself, otherwise I might as well just sit it out and take pics.
But if I had access to Paul's board, I would definitely give it a try under the right conditions. Just to see. I guess its like anything, you have to be committed to something if you're gonna succeed with it, and really enjoy it. He shaped and built the board custom to the way he wanted it to paddle and the way he wanted it to surf at his spot, and its his baby, you know he's gonna have some fun on it.
Roy posts up video of himself on his wood boards, and he takes a lot of heat for his unorthodox shapes and huge, heavy longboards, with his orange wetsuit and helmet, but he does get waves, and looks like he's having fun doing it. If Roy showed up at one of the spots I frequent, and offered to let me take it out for a few, I probably would, just to see what its all about.
But when its a crowd situation, then no, I don't want to be out there kooking out on 12 foot of surfboard where I'm gonna get somebody hurt. Or if the waves are grinding, I don't want to be hanging on to 12 foot of board with a macking lip coming down on me - but these guys who have it wired, they have it under control.
Like everything, it really boils down to the right equipment for the conditions, and being in tune with your equipment.
Wouldn't it be cool if you could go to a surf camp where you had say six weeks of good surf, and each week you had to pick a board radically different from what you're used to, and ride it for the week. I bet it'd be a real eye-opener.
Got nothing against longboards. I’d try a 12 footer in the right waves.
But I don’t see me owning/riding anything over 9-8, even after 60.
Ride what you like.
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjlk-ZiCiF4]
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q3FZJ3iino]
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFgssdjdBUc]
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywfuGTXK-KQ]
That board is a 13’5" that was shaped by David Falkenau (sp?)…I traded a 24’ paddleboard for it…Looks like crap…Hot coated and unsanded…Lap ridges top and bottom…50/50 rails all around…The blank looks like it was made from Home Depot foam glued together…It weighs in the low 30# range…It’s about 22" wide, and maybe close to 4" thick…Leash yes, our waves here in Washington State break far from shore and the swim in water as cold as ours would be brutal…Sure it knee paddles…I can do the SUP thing with it but don’t…A board like that can paddle unbelievably fast and that my friend is the key…No it does not land on my head…???..
Adapting to a board this size isn’t that hard…You just need to pre-plan turning the board to paddle for a wave…It’s a big board and it pivots slow, but once you get pointed the right way and start double arm paddling, it moves out…Steep waves aren’t hard because you can get innto everything early…Ride one and you’ll see…
John Mellor makes beautiful bigger boards…The ones I’ve seen in person are works of art…Balsa (Guilhelm) also makes some of the finest big boards you’ll ever see…The passion shows…
(above)The expanded playing field was talking about…
(above) Rarely this good, but when it does come together, my strategy is early entry…
(above) Dead of winter, PNW beachbreak…Size matters…
Hey Paul,
I’m looking at your wave and thinking about the ice cold ass kicking waiting behind you… Respect. Mike
May I ask a question? Well, screw it, I am going anyways.
As a professional boat builder (mentioned in first post) I came into surfboard building (hobby) not to long ago. I think there has been advancements just like the marine industry, heck, I would say they are running parallel. Boats just had the golden age from 1910 - 1940’s that surfboards really did not. After that they have run similar courses.
Am I missing something, because I look at board design just like boat design - you can’t make a perfect (insert board, boat or hull) design for every condition and use, you have to try to maximize the experience in a majority of the experiences and know that it is not the best or the worst at anything, if they want perfection then they get (insert board, boat or hull) design that is the best for 1% of time or experience?
Just like a 17ft Boston Whaler for fishing with one other person in a bay is GOLDEN, if a group wants to booze cruise hop in a 20ft 1955 Chris-Craft and do it in style, if you want to ski we use Ski Nautique and if everyone wants to do all in one boat use a deck boat which is not great at any of it but it can do all of it well enough to be tolerated but not very exciting. Same with surfboards right? Particular conditions and wanted experience you need a special board, but if you want it all well grab a SUP and you can suck on all conditions but be tolerated (maybe).
I can't speak for Paul, and I'm not sure I understand the question, anyway.
But I appreciate the discussion being opened. What I got out of the initial post is that board length, like a lot of things, is determined as much by fashion and peer pressure as it is by pure function. As a result of thinking outside the box, Paul decided to go with a longer longboard, based solely on his chosen performance criteria.
I think that kind of thinking is important to finding better solutions. As I see it, Paul isn't claiming his 12 or 13 foot longboard is the be-all do-all, only that it is the right board for him under certain conditions, and his experience has borne this out.
I may never build or ride a 12 foot longboard, but I will say I have begun to look at longboards a bit differently since reading this thread, and that's a good thing. The mind needs to be stretched, occasionally.
Huck:
Great points, I think we both took different angles to the post. Mine was that surfboards have not evolved like the marine industry. After your post I see exactley what you are saying. I am enjoying this thread because of the different angles one can look at it. I am going to read it for the third time after what I have taken from it and what you have and see if I find any other nuggets.
But all this can be due to the vapors from projects that may have hindered my reading comphresion skills and I am one more can of varnish from being a mouth breather.
On a side note I want to try that tooth pick, granted I will tip over but it would be fun to try.
Hi Paul, good post and thank you for the kind words. Some of my “gliders” have already been posted in other topics but i just want to post this one again. It was made some two years ago for a customer from Brittany who had a lot of fun with it then sold it to another guy in Vendée. This guy in turn had a lot of fun with it when the waves got good enough in his area, then he put it up for sale on our equivalent to your “Craiglist”. Since the board was still basically almost new and the price quite reasonable and since I remembered liking it a lot when I had just finished shaping it, I bought it back for myself. Back in Guéthary with it, I showed the board to my friend Robin Kegel (of Gato Heroi fame) and he asked me if he could try it out. Of course I agreed. Actually, Robin liked it a lot, just switching to another fin with less rake and a bit more flex. Now, Robin is an excellent surfer (way better than I ever was or ever will be) and he’s not an old man like me either, which goes to prove that these boards, properly designed, are far from being “big logs”. My take on it is that they need either a thinned out nose or step-deck or a more or less piggish outline so that you’re not going to be hindered with too much weight in front. Well, here is the beast, anyway: (it’s a 11’3’')
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us