I was hoping someone could help me with a custom board I am about to order. The board is going to be 7’ 2" in length, 22" wide, 3" thick, with a 15" tail and a 17" rounded nose. The wide point is going to be in front of center, the rails are going to be downrailed (sp?), and the bottom is going to have a single to double concave. As above, it is going to be a single fin with a diamond tail. It is going to be glassed with double 6oz on top and 6oz on bottom. The board will be used exclusively in beach breaks. I am 35 years old, 5’10" tall, and weigh around 170-175 lbs. and am notorious for taking late drops on waves that everyone let pass because they thought the wave was too “peaky”. Other than that I have a very laid-back style (ie. slow, rounded turns). With all of this said, does anyone have any recommendations/rocker measurements that they feel would be conducive to the type of board I am having shaped, to my body frame, to the conditions I will be surfing in (I almost forgot - East Coast beachbreak waves ie. 2-8’ in height), and to the style of surfing I have. Also, I tend to surf from the middle or front of the board, but never off of the tail. Thank you in advance for any replies.
SFG: Let the shaper determine the correct rocker. He is the one that will be creating all the curves, foils, contours, etc. and should therefore have the best inclination on how the rocker should compliment the other required design elements.
An element that may need re-examining is bottom contours? SINGLE TO DOUBLE CONCAVE? Consider a slight rolled bottom in the nose to a flat mid with light vee out the tail. This combo seems like a tried and true winner. Simple and effective. As long as it is supportive of down rails(i don’t know)? From what i understand the belly in the nose allows the board to handle chop and assorted conditions better than a concave which, will only come to life in glassy conditions. The flat mid…well you can’t go wrong with a flat mid. The light vee out the tail will facilitate rail to rail transition and aid in turning. Remember everything in moderartion. Don’t go too far on any one extreme.
That sounds awfully similar to one of Channel Islands single fins…very little rocker…like 1.8 tail and 3.5 nose…check their website
Rocker and fin config are the two most critical features of a board…find a shaper that really knows your style of board and style of riding…I dont know who that may be but I think an old-school guy who shaped boards in the 70’s would know best (Gerry Lopez comes to mind maybe give him a call and ask if he knows any shapers on the east coast…gerrylopez.com…???)…collaboration is your best bet…by far…
call around…Clark Foam in Melbourne would know someone good
I see multiple conflicting design elements in your description.
Often a shaper is presented with a customer who wants multiple design elements the shaper knows will fight each other. In such occasions, the customer is asking to shaper to make him a dog’s breakfast board. Should he really get what he is asking for?
Be prepared to listen to the shaper. A single to double concave is a more traditional thruster design. Singles tend to come with Vee, sometimes spiral, sometimes tail. A 7’2" single fin with a 15 inch tail would not be a great “late drop” kinda board. But late drop and drawn out turns would mean front rockers in the 5.25" range and rear rockers in the 2-2.25 inch range. I do not think it is reasonable to suggest a 3.5 inch front rocker. Clark doesn’t even make a blank in that range. Also, to me, relaxed rocker on such a board would be 1 7/8" minimum.
Really, tell the shaper what boards you have, and what you want the new board to do. Be prepared to LISTEN and be open minded. You can always pick up the planer yourself if you really want to do all the design.
The only reason I wanted to go with the single to double and the 15" tail is that these are the dimensions/characteristics of my current 6’8" retro single fin. I am looking for a board with a similar feel, but one that will aid in the paddling department. Thanks for the advice. I do plan on discussing the board with the guys at my local shop before I do anything.