Hey guys, longtime lurker here. I wanted to get some feedback on my latest board. Especially what type of rails to use and how the rocker looks. Never made or designed one of these new type of thick wide boards, so just want to see if I’m in the ballpark.
I’m 40, go from 190 to 200lbs, surfing 25 years, in decent paddling shape. More backfooted, less skatier style. I surf NJ beachbreak 90% of the time with some Hatteras trips. I love thicker and wider swallow tail boards for here, plus I like to have good float.
It’s got a very shallow singe to double concave to flat off tail.
I’m not sure what type of rail to use. I want to go sharp to front of fins; to a down rail? Not sure if I should carry it all the way to the nose, or go more neutral from widepoint to 50/50 at the nose.
Going with the 5 fin convertible. Not sure about fin placement, either going 1-1/8" off rail @ half the distance for rear quads or McKee Type setup.
I used to shape my own stuff but I ran into some serious sinus problems/surgery so I’m having this board done by Chucky Barfoot. Great guy, he just opened up a new shop on LBI on the East Coast.
Sorry for the long post, any feedback is appreciated.
more neutral for a more forgiving board to suit a wider range of waves...lower down rails for going fast in clean good waves...and less turning..
not too disimilar to a design I do called 'the Quadfather', check it out at www.moresurfboards.com if interested....round tails really compliment that fin set up, just my thoughts.....shame you cant shape coz of the hooter, can't wear a good mask ???
I highly recommend rusty's quad fin placement for this board. I made one just like it 5'3 though, and the kid loves it alot.
Also, even with your size, you could scale the board down a LOT, and do a bit more volume carried out to the rails. Down, eggy, rolled, whatever suits you. you probably know what shape of rails you like, so i'd be more concerned about rail volume. I think Al's ci pod is recommended for 6 inches shorter than your standard SB. Do you really ride a 7'0 as a standard shortie? Also, with 15.5 in in the tail, I'd recommend some Vee or double barrel vee in the last 2' or so.It helps with rail to rail transitions on a tail that is a bit wider.
I like the Quadfather, similar outline, awesome logo haha! I rode a round tail quad that I bought from Barfoot and I couldn’t stand it, had a super deep single concave from nose to tail. I kept getting hung up in the lip, I liked it going backside though, not really an east coast board.
The crazy thing is I brought the board back and he gave a full refund and offered to make me a custom for no charge! So I really want to nail this design.
Yeah no go with the nose thing, I guess I could go all Haz-Mat Outbreak suit style though. I developed an epoxy allergy/skin sensitization problem after building a boat so it’s only Poly for now.
I really shouldn’t call it a Pod, I just took the back half outlline of the Pod and matched it up to the front half of my last shortboard I made but a lot wider.
I probably could scale it down a little. I took all the boards I made and entered the dims into boardcad and figured the volume on some of the older boards I rode, I went from a 6-4 chip 10 years ago to 6-9 x 21 Rusty Catfish template which I loved and back to a 6-7 19.5 which rode great but I had to swim paddle it. With some of weight/volume formula suggestions I settled on something around 40 liters. I know area is a different story too, it’s around 8.6.
I have a 6'4" CI Pod and a 6'6" CI M 13 that are obviously in the ball park with that sweet curve back to the narrow swallow but are a bit wider in the nose.
Rails are full forward and bottom is a slight single to double with vee out the tail.
Boards are in Barnegat Light if you want to check them out (Farias also has some Pods on the rack to check out)
Thanks Paul, appreciate it. Yeah, now that you guys mention it I think I’ll add a little vee out the back.
Full as in boxy/thick at the rail, what’s the shape? Is the bottom of the rail tucked under or soft all the way?
I can never make up my mind, It’s going to be my all rounder so maybe I’ll go with a down rail to the mid point and gradually soften it towards the nose.
I understand you are getting opinions from people here but your shaper should really be helping you on this one, especially seeing how the previous one didnt go well, if it was me, I'd be working closely with you to work out why it didnt go well and then create the board that will go much better for you..and if possible, watch you surf either in the flesh or some footage, sometimes things become so much more obvious when you see someone surf, I have been asking customers of late to send me a bit of footage if they have some, and sometimes when you think you are making a shredder a HPS, it turns out they arent a shredder at all, makes a massive difference to board choice..... talk to your shaper, take in any old boards that do work for you...all the best with it....keen to see pics when its doen and hear how she goes....
Gotcha pridmore, thanks for the help. The board in question was bought off the rack on a whim, not a custom. Now that I think about it I don’t even know why I bought it. I can’t thank Chuck Barfoot enough, he’s originally from NJ but he has a shop in Ventura I think and just opened one by me. No shop in Jersey would ever let you use a board and return it, and offer to shape a new one, insane.
Never really rode round tails out here much, needless to say with a huge single con/quad. It’s always been swallows or squashes with wide tails and flat. I know what I want I’m just trying to nail down the rails and the fin placement.
I checked out the McKee setup and it came out very close to what I have on that drawing. The quad cluster would just be 3/16" back of what I have now except the rears would be 2" off the rail.
How cool is it that Chuck Barfoot is back in NJ? Guy is a legend in snowboard circles and was always a pleasure to be with back in my snowboarding magazine days.
Anyway, my .02 on the board, coming from another 41-year old Jersey guy (used to weigh 190-200 but recent running blitz has me down to 180):
I would try to go shorter if you want a good everyday board. As you know, Jersey (especially LBI) has very steep/tight transition waves when it’s good. 40 Liters is plenty of float for you, but why don’t you drop it down to 6’3" and increase the nose width to 15-ish to preserve volume. That will fit into tight spaces better and be more versatile. Rockers could be slightly reduced as well, like 2 1/4" tail and 4 3/4" nose. As for rails, keep the volume low-ish, especially with EPS, so you can get penetration into the wave face. I agree with your quad placement. I have settled on 2" off the rail for the rears slightly back of half-distance between fronts and tail (like Rusty) and found this the best balance of drive/looseness/predictability.
Thanks Jaime, alway helpful when someone knows how it breaks here. I get what you’re saying about shortening her up along with the rocker, but I didn’t want a real wide nose. The thing ends up being a 5’ 3/16" (6-6 over curve) thats why I have a little more rocker fore and aft to fit better into the wave. Lower rail with that volume and eps makes sense. I have one of those 9Fishes that’s like a cork, you can’t sink that rail no matter what.
I do have a Dwart style board on the back burner that has those rocker, length, nose dims you mentioned.
