I’ve been building a prone paddleboard 13,1x24 aprox 5 inches of thickness throughout. It’s my 13th board I’ve built but my first paddleboard. I’ve never seen one in person, here in chile I don’t think there any. Right now I sealed the board with some epoxy and microballoons. What do you guys think about it? It’s definitely the biggest thing I’ve made, had some problems with my planer though
Well, now. That looks pretty good to me. Nice hull, good overall.
For what it’s worth, I’ve never built one but I’ve fixed quite a few competition paddleboards that were built far too light. 2 ounce cloth if I remember right. They would ding if you gave them an unfriendly look. Couple of the local beaches got into it, spending a whole lot of money on boards that were strictly for lifeguard competitions, useless for actual rescue work or more than the races themselves. Even practising, the decks would crush and delaminate if you knee paddled the things much.
They spent a lot of money. Foolishly.
They snapped in surf. The guy who was importing them from Australia was a friend of mine, just shipping them pretty much wrecked two out of three in every shipment. He was glad to get out of it.
For actual use, and a nice paddleboard is a lot of fun, give it the weight of glass you would use on a longboard. A good deck patch and a foam pad on top of that. With reasonable care, you’ll get years out of it. Saving a couple of kilos with crazy-light glassing isn’t worth it.
for some ideas, see Bark Paddleboards
hope that’s of use. keep up the good work.
doc…
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Thanks for the tips man! I appreciate it! Yeah I was thinking about a doing 2 layers of 6oz on top 1 layer 6oz on bottom and a deck reinforcement where I hollowed out. Also I’m going to be paint it with some pu automotive paint and want to finish with a pu clear coat.
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Looks good to me. What are you using it for? I know very little about prone paddleboards.
Why is weight a concern? I would think a little more weight is a good thing on the open ocean.
Looks good so far, what is the planned color scheme?
Im not too concerned on weight actually, its just for general usage, not for a performance. And paint job is going something like the last board I made red striped but with a yellow background
Cool!
What are you using it for - is it just for training purposes?
I would go 2 layers of 6 oz on the bottom also if weight is not an issue.
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For training purposes and yeah I think 2 layers on the bottom will be a good idea, thanks!
You did a good job shaping it. Especially for someone who has never seen one in person. Getting that hull set up so that it splits water is tricky. Looks like you did well. Automotive paint and a clear is a good way to go. That method of finish is what the top shops use these days.
Thanks i appreciate it man!
De nada, Sebastian. We’re all in this together, no?
Umm, decisions, right? It’s quite long…but it’s quite thick. Strength is probably going to be fine as long as you don’t try to surf the thing. I would reinforce the bottom in the fin area, you won’t need a large one, indeed something keel-ish would work to your advantage, helping it track. The paint plus clear coat, yeah, UV protection too. Good.
You have a good eye for a hull. Did you train as a boatbuilder by any chance?
Huck, you’re right, a bit more weight can be a good thing. Admittedly, a lot more isn’t, more weight = more displacement = more wetted area = more power needed to drive the hull at a given speed. But…you’re dealing with not only the weight of the paddleboard but the weight of the paddler. A hull a couple of pounds lighter is insignificant. Especially when considering a fat fuc# like 100 kg me. You only have something like 1/16 horsepower to push it, arms and shoulders alone over a long course.
What advantage does ultralight construction bring? Well, not really any for the owner other than bragging rights (which was a big deal for beach department administrators). It was a good thing for the guy selling the ultralight boards. Typically, a year’s use would have it pressure dinged from paddlers, cracked everywhere from banging it into things ashore (car racks, lifeguard stands and what have you), pretty much clapped out…so, had to get another one in the latest greatest model.
Oh, for something similar, rowing shells. A single shell can be up to 27 feet long and 12" wide at the waterline, your butt hangs over the sides. Like this sweetheart. Peinert Dolphin Rowing Shell for open water racers
And rowers. They make the shells relatively light (give or take stiffness, a flexy shell is slow) but the elite grade rowers themselves are Great Big Guys, 6’4" and 240 lbs isn’t unusual. But they can develop a lot more power.
hope that’s of use
doc…
Yeah a keel type fish is what I’ve seen in picture and for placement I thought about going around 3 in from the tail? I am also going to put a future box deck side a little farther up than the hollowed out part for this bottle holder I made. I’ll be sure to put a fin box patch too on the bottom, thanks for all the info doc
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What is foam density ? Layup must be adjust according to foam density.
It’s a 40 kg/m3
It’s a high density foam ! Are you sure? 2.5lb eps foam is not common, even more in big block. Those kind of board are in general made with 1 to 1.2lb, 15 to 20kg/m3 foam.
If 2.5 you will have a weight problem quickly. 1x6oz every where with wide ovelap on rails all around and 6oz deck patch under stance place. Forget hotcoat, squegge a thick layer of lightweight epoxy mastic instead. An effective way to have, after sand, a nice light finish ready to paint.
Yeah I went with a high density foam, I thought it would be better since the board is so long, I thought it would break in half while shaping it if it was a lower density.
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So how is the build going?
any more pictures, would like to see the deck.
i always tought of building a prone or an adventure gun for long paddles so i was very inspired with your work.
cheers and good waves.
Finished up both deck and bottom lams going to do a hotcoat today, going pretty well, I would do go for it I’m having great time shaping and everything, learning a lot. First time working with eps [grid]
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On such big board i encourage you going with the mastic finish instead brush clear resin. Weight gain is not negligeable.
what is the mastic finish by the way?
Squegge a thick coat of lightweight epoxy mastic (epoxy+micro+cabosil) instead of brush paint a clear resin coat.
This is the way most painted composit parts are finish. Lightweight filler are lighter and easier to sand.
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