nobody’s answering this poor guys question. so i guess that leaves it up to me to do my best for a brief run-through of longboard design. first of all, i have only shaped 3 boards, but ive been surfing for 8 years (im only 18), and this is basically what i have discovered after riding my equipment (check my profile for a list of my quiver, if interested) and after talking to sunny vardeman and various other shapers/surfers. so anyway… here goes… rocker: flatter rocker paddles much faster. it is easier to pearl on a wave but it is better for noseriding. more nose rocker will decrease your chance of pearling as it fits the contours of the wave better, however it tends to push more water (paddles slower). more tail rocker is better for noseriding, makes turning easier, but you get less drive out of your turns. rails: soft rails are better for noseriding. more of the actual rail is in the wave and it creates more suction allowing easier noseriding. soft rails are a little harder to turn with. they are more forgiving, smoother, and you can lay them over harder and they wont catch. soft railed boards ride a little higher and tighter in the wave. hard railed boards bite the wave more. they hold in better, especially in steeper stuff. they are easier to catch but they also turn much better. slightly upturned (and soft) rails in the tail also better noseriding. Parallel rails make the board faster but it is a little harder to break the rail line in the wave (little harder to turn-they like to go straight). more continous curve on a board will turn easier, but wont noseride as well, is a little slower, and tends to sit lower in the wave wanting to be turned more. foil: as for foil… well i dont really know to much about foil. a thicker board will float better, but also adds weight which will make turning harder. a thicker area under your chest would make paddling easier and a thicker area under the tail would make turning easier. but with a longboard you use the whole board so i dont think it really matters all too much as far as making certain parts a lot thicker or wider, etc. noseriding: noseriding and footwork being my specialty, i know a little more in this area than the others… so here goes… ill just explain my noserider type boards. longer board - i guess its more planing surface… glides more soft rails all the way around (slightly upturned in the tail) - holds in better parallel rails - faster, holds in better very slight rocker - flatter planes better concave under the nose - creates lift holding you up when on the tip single fin - single fin way back… stable board, holds in. (thrusters tend to rise up a little bit) HEAVY - i like a lot of weight in my boards. glassed with 7.5 - 10oz volan cloth. the weight gives it a better feel and helps noseriding (my personal opinion) slightly rolled bottom (more so near tail) - makes the board work more rail to rail… turns better (especially since we have the parallel and soft rails) wide tail - stability wide nose - larger, more stable platform to stand on wide board - stability… more room for footwork as far as dimensions… i like around 9’6. and 19nose 23width 16tail 3-3.25 thick bottom line: figure out what you like and make (or buy) a board that suits your style and the way you like to surf. but as far as all this talk about jetliners and how they work… well they have very aerodynamic cabins (like a long bullet)… the wings of the plane help to create lift (this refers to what we call Bernoulli’s Law - whereby if air particles are moving faster than those around them… the particles around them will want to move faster and join them (a basic explanation). this applies to airplanes because do to he foil and shape of the wing the air moving over the top of the wing is moving faster than the air under it. the air under the wing wants to move faster (like the air going over the wing) and therefore the air under the wing pushes up (creating lift). and when the airplane reaches speeds of approximately 177mph the lift is so great that the plane becomes airborne. (ahh… 8th grade physics class)… well, i hope that helped and satisfied everyone. rocker, foil, rails, noseriding (airplanes (bernoulli’s law)
Steve you are the man that was a great intro to shaping a longboard, thanks for replying!>>> nobody’s answering this poor guys question. so i guess that leaves it up > to me to do my best for a brief run-through of longboard design. first of > all, i have only shaped 3 boards, but ive been surfing for 8 years (im > only 18), and this is basically what i have discovered after riding my > equipment (check my profile for a list of my quiver, if interested) and > after talking to sunny vardeman and various other shapers/surfers. so > anyway… here goes…>>> rocker: flatter rocker paddles much faster. it is easier to pearl on a > wave but it is better for noseriding. more nose rocker will decrease your > chance of pearling as it fits the contours of the wave better, however it > tends to push more water (paddles slower). more tail rocker is better for > noseriding, makes turning easier, but you get less drive out of your > turns.>>> rails: soft rails are better for noseriding. more of the actual rail is in > the wave and it creates more suction allowing easier noseriding. soft > rails are a little harder to turn with. they are more forgiving, smoother, > and you can lay them over harder and they wont catch. soft railed boards > ride a little higher and tighter in the wave. hard railed boards bite the > wave more. they hold in better, especially in steeper stuff. they are > easier to catch but they also turn much better. slightly upturned (and > soft) rails in the tail also better noseriding. Parallel rails make the > board faster but it is a little harder to break the rail line in the wave > (little harder to turn-they like to go straight). more continous curve on > a board will turn easier, but wont noseride as well, is a little slower, > and tends to sit lower in the wave wanting to be turned more.>>> foil: as for foil… well i dont really know to much about foil. a thicker > board will float better, but also adds weight which will make turning > harder. a thicker area under your chest would make paddling easier and a > thicker area under the tail would make turning easier. but with a > longboard you use the whole board so i dont think it really matters all > too much as far as making certain parts a lot thicker or wider, etc.>>> noseriding: noseriding and footwork being my specialty, i know a little > more in this area than the others… so here goes… ill just explain my > noserider type boards. longer board - i guess its more planing surface… > glides more soft rails all the way around (slightly upturned in the tail) > - holds in better parallel rails - faster, holds in better very slight > rocker - flatter planes better concave under the nose - creates lift > holding you up when on the tip single fin - single fin way back… stable > board, holds in. (thrusters tend to rise up a little bit) HEAVY - i like a > lot of weight in my boards. glassed with 7.5 - 10oz volan cloth. the > weight gives it a better feel and helps noseriding (my personal opinion) > slightly rolled bottom (more so near tail) - makes the board work more > rail to rail… turns better (especially since we have the parallel and > soft rails) wide tail - stability wide nose - larger, more stable platform > to stand on wide board - stability… more room for footwork as far as > dimensions… i like around 9’6. and 19nose 23width 16tail 3-3.25 thick > bottom line: figure out what you like and make (or buy) a board that suits > your style and the way you like to surf. but as far as all this talk about > jetliners and how they work… well they have very aerodynamic cabins > (like a long bullet)… the wings of the plane help to create lift (this > refers to what we call Bernoulli’s Law - whereby if air particles are > moving faster than those around them… the particles around them will want > to move faster and join them (a basic explanation). this applies to > airplanes because do to he foil and shape of the wing the air moving over > the top of the wing is moving faster than the air under it. the air under > the wing wants to move faster (like the air going over the wing) and > therefore the air under the wing pushes up (creating lift). and when the > airplane reaches speeds of approximately 177mph the lift is so great that > the plane becomes airborne. (ahh… 8th grade physics class)… well, i hope > that helped and satisfied everyone.>>> rocker, foil, rails, noseriding (airplanes (bernoulli’s law)
Steve you are the man that was a great intro to shaping a longboard, > thanks for replying! I but together a website with some basics as well: http://scsurfers.com/boardpage.html Gioni http://scsurfers.com/boardpage.html