I am just about to embark on the building of my first board I have visions of it being a 70’s insprided single fin. Anybody have any dimensions to help me out?
Check this out:
http://jfmillbiz.home.comcast.net/swaylocks/Surfboard_Design_and_Construction_1977.pdf
And try the search engine, tons of usefull infos in the archive 
Regards Flavio
Thanks that is awesome!
Why go retro, you already know it doesn’t work as well as modern boards…
Narrow the nose 3", move WPoint back to around center, widen the tail by 1.5", and consider adding sidebites for more solid hold without resorting to huge tail fins.
Or search out specs for the Parmenter Widow Maker or 5-fin Bonzer, both examples of an evolved single fin, and both heaps of fun to ride.
Don’t listen to these guys. Single fins work fine.
Not knowing what length you plan to make the board makes giving suggestions a bit more difficult, but no matter what size you plan on doing, a moderate rocker, coupled with a basic flat to vee bottom in the last third of the board should result in a fairly decent or better first time attempt. I have a 7’0" single fin posted in the photo section that works pretty good. Good luck…
FD
7’0 square tail about 3" thick and 22 wide. Let me know if this is realistic or am i dreaming.
so, if you’re "fatbob’ , are you also tallbob , to go with it ?
how tall and how much do you weigh , and what kinda waves [size , shape] do you mainly ride ?
are you a good paddler ?
young ?
old ?
all these things will have a bearing on things …
cheers !
ben
i am 5’7", weigh 65kg and 32. i am a average paddler i normally ride a 9’42 Robert August. i normally surf mushy beach breaks or whatever is working in this land of fickle swells.
you’re not that big , then . You could go a lot smaller , narrower and thinner in the board , if you want .
for a comparison , I am 62kgs (140lbs…65kgs is another 6.6lbs on what I weigh , for the “non-metricated” !) and 5’10 [don’t you love mixing metric and imperial ?! …us Aussies do it often !!]
I find my 7’ x 20" x 2 7/8" pintail single fin too thick and TOO floaty for me [hard to duckdive, and harder to turn because of the thick tail]
I guess coming off a 9’4 , the dimensions you mention may seem small …it’s all relative , I guess .
See if you can try out a few boards around the range you were thinking of .
ben
this is only me personally , but I prefer my 6’4 x 20" x 2 1/2" pintail single fin [my current “avatar” photo] , and even then wish it was 19" wide at times . Of course , there are lots of other factors like rails , foil , rocker , fin size , shape and placement , and the board’s bottom that all have an effect on how it will perform .
As well as , of course …what do you want to achieve in your surfing [apart from having fun , of course !]
for example …are you a cruiser ? have you ridden [m]any shorter boards than your 9’4 before ? do you want to do more turns ?
What a load…Tell that to Tudor, Knost, and all the other surf hippies tearing it up on vintage/slash retro equipment (mostly single fin). Those disposable chips are so much better with that great 4oz glass and attention to detail…It’s all about the surfer and his skill level. Rarely is there a board thats to big…but there sure seem to be a hell of a lot of boards that are too small. Single fins are still around for a reason, not because they are cool, not because they are, retro, beacuse when you break it down they work so much better for all around surf. You buid that fatty single fin brother and when those chumps on the chips are trying to catch up to that wave you caught five minuts ago flash em a sideways smile.
Quote:
What a load....Tell that to Tudor, Knost, and all the other surf hippies tearing it up on vintage/slash retro equipment (mostly single fin). Those disposable chips are so much better with that great 4oz glass and attention to detail...It's all about the surfer and his skill level. Rarely is there a board thats to big...but there sure seem to be a hell of a lot of boards that are too small. Single fins are still around for a reason, not because they are cool, not because they are, retro, beacuse when you break it down they work so much better for all around surf. You buid that fatty single fin brother and when those chumps on the chips are trying to catch up to that wave you caught five minuts ago flash em a sideways smile.
Those who don’t learn from their past are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. There’s a REAL reason we all dropped our single fins in the 70s. Today’s singles are better, for sure, but the physics of why multi-fin systems are better have no changed. Now, good riders can look good on video riding old equipment, but only because there are not good riders on modern equipment next to them.
For a 70s style single fin, try this…for your size, in a 7’0" square tail 3" thick (quite appropriate thickness)…
WP 5 inches forward.
WP 20.5 inches (22 is a little crazy).
Rails turned down all the way up, not thinned, not hard.
Bottom contour flat. Maybe a little Vee, maybe spiral vee. But the earlier ones in the US were flat.
Tail width 13 inches.
Nose width 12 inches.
Tail rocker 1.5-1.75 inches.
Nose rocker 5.5 inches.
10 oz volan cloth top and bottom. Pigmented blue or red.
After its done, if you kick it a bunch of times people might even think it is authentic 70s.
HTH.
Wow…I did’nt think there were actual people who thought that just because it is newer it is better. Well have fun with your electric car and your Ipod while you chug back a 12$ star bucks. I suppose man made waves are better also? Multi fin systems are no better, just different, just like a twinz, or a bonz. If you look at the last few years of oxbow events (not a surf video) where guys like tudor are riding singles, vs guys on tri’s like perkins (and almost every one else) why is it that he always seems to come out on top or close to it. He seems to look way better than those dude’s on “modern” equipment. Again, why is it you can ride pretty much any wave on a fatty single but the thruster seems to fall short as an all around board. Better…no. Different…sure. It’s all about the wave and the rider and folks seem to get alot more stoke out of a board that floats than 4oz sinker.
And if you kick that chip a few times…well you’ll have to make another because it will snap when you sneeze on it.
Chicksav,
Ah what a breath of fresh air you are. Your observations are exactly right. Keep up the good work. Contact me sometime, coffee’s on me. Better yet come to the Windansea Luau at Windansea Beach on Sept.10 (next Sat.), or the happy hour at Su Casa Restaurant above Windansea on Fri. the 9th. Drinks on me. (within reason)
Just a question of style and surfer preference…
Old run and trim guys love singles just the way they used to be…
Old backfoot only surfers wanna move WPoint back, widen the tail, narrow and shorten the nose.
I rode twins and tris back in early '70’s, couldn’t get a 14"tail to hold with one fin.
I’m backfooted only, hate the run and gun thin tailed foiled boards.
Not saying they don’t work, author of EssentialSurfing only liked run and gun WPoint forward, foiled to the gills, super thin tailed boards…
For the record:
I’m backfoot only.
I like the widepoint forward of center.
And I’ve never had a problem getting a 14" tail to hold in with a single fin, up to and including 15’ Sunset Beach.
Proper design of the board, placement of the fin and its depth, rail shape and rocker, make it happen.
If there is a design flaw, it will usually show up in a critical situation.
Did I forget to say I’ve NEVER had a problem getting a 14" tail to hold in with a single fin?
N E V E R .
never ever?
Always have preferred singles myself. I’m a product of the seventies. Tried twins and thrusters but never liked that loose feeling they seem to have under my back foot. Love the stable drive a single fin gives me. Different strokes for different folks I guess! Having fun is what it’s all about!
Marc.
Still love the glide!
Rick,
With all due respect. What part of never is unclear. I rode 7"/7 1/2" squaretails in the Islands from 1969 through 1972. I preferred to ride high in the wave, and the board would not spinout even when turning. The fin was an 8" glass FU, 5" base, with the leading edge 11 1/2" up from the square tail. I had the luxury of riding a board that allowed me to ride to the limit of my ability.