I shaped up a 7’6" hybrid a while back and after test riding have mixed feelings. In steeper, more powerful surf, where I can surf off of the tail more, the board is great…but in mushier waves (which is what I usually surf unfortunately), when I try to shift my weight foward for a bit of speed (like I can do on other boards), the board starts pushing water and slows right down.
Now here’s the question…If I remove the glass from the bottom of the board and shape in a straight-sided concave in the front half or 2 thirds of the board, thereby straightening the rocker out some… will this give the water somewhere to go and solve my problem.
I was just thinking that the board is mediocre at best how it stands. I figure that as I only get to ride it once and a while, I’d rather try to tweak it to make it better and if I make it worse…well…I only rode it now and then so no great loss. I have a longboard that had numerous stress factures across the bottom of teh nose. I removed the fractured glass and blended in new glass…with a few well placed pinlines, you could barely notice the patch. Thought I’d try the same thing here, just do a little reshaping during the process.
I was just thinking that the board is mediocre at best how it stands. I figure that as I only get to ride it once and a while, I’d rather try to tweak it to make it better and if I make it worse…well…I only rode it now and then so no great loss. I have a longboard that had numerous stress factures across the bottom of teh nose. I removed the fractured glass and blended in new glass…with a few well placed pinlines, you could barely notice the patch. Thought I’d try the same thing here, just do a little reshaping during the process.
Dee, Shaping a concave along the length of the board will definitely help with trim speed. It will reduce the rocker, as you stated, and it will also by nature, cause the board to plane better. (the spoon under the faucet experiment comes to mind. The simplified principle: concave surfaces repel water, convex surfaces suck in). Doug