My current “go to” board is a 24" wide 6’06" quad fi*h. Before that it was a 23.5" wide 10’04" noserider, but that was before I broke my longstanding longboard habit.
I’m considering going shorter still, mebbe something mini Si***ns stylee (is that a rude word yet?).
Thinkin’ 5’06", but tempted to go WIDE (using 1lb EPS CompSand).
Would 25-26" be too outrageous?.. taking into account my fat-knacker status and prediliction for width.
No way - do it.
Been there, done that. For optimum surfing, tried and true length-to-width ratios is a safer bet. Everything works to some extent, but why waste time and money?
Sickdog
It seems to me that a board 5’6" x 25" would be more curved than any other board; and in my uneducated, full spirited Swaylocks self deprecating opinion, it seems like anything curvier would be damn close to a complete circle. Could you elaborate on your opinion, sickdog? I’m only jumping in here ‘cuz one board I made is close to 23" wide, and it’s one of my favorites. It is 6’ 6", though, so I don’t know anything about riding on a really short frisbee like that… but hey, it could be fun! Only thing is, it might suck having to carry it for any distance, rail jammed up into your armpit and yer knuckles turning white trying to reach the other side
For my liking, if you can't hold it under your arm comfortably, it's too wide.
I guess I can't say that, but I did a series of ever wider sub Six footers (I weigh 180), and at a point got to 25", which was the worst yet. But you are right, I looked at that board, and it does have curve The thing is I can go vert more. and tighter arcs, fit into the lip better on equipment that is two feet longer. It seems part of the board needs to be stretched into a curve, just in front of the feet, like a fulcom point, or something, Imagining surfing on a disk, ....., no projection.
Sickdog
I have an Aipa that is 7’4" x 23 3/4" it works everywhere. I have had it in 12’ cerritos (baja sur); 8’ at the ranch (mex), 8’ at daytona beach on hurricane Noel, 8’ blacks, 10-12’ morrow rock, etc, etc, etc… It is the boardworks one so it takes very little damage from airlines, but it is super wide…
I also have a Campbell bonzer that is 22" wide… That thing is like a rocket ship. It is soo hard to describe what it does… BUT you KNOW when it is kicking in for sure – just goodness…
I like wide on a board… It does somthing good. 
Those are my wide boards…
My bad, I think you misunderheard me.
I am thinking of a mini-Simmons style thing, y’know… fairly parallel railed. Likee dis,
I was gonna go with 24" wide, but I’m sorely tempted to go a bit further and push it out to the green outline at 25" wide, by figuratively putting an extra 1" of foam down the centre (thereby keeping the same rail line). Especially as I could manage that with a 2 foot wide block (once the rail stringers are added)
I was happy riding my last two fave boards, both 6’06" barndoor fish (see below), both in the 23.5 - 24" range. But now I wanna go shorter, whilst keeping volume and planing area (boardCAD is putting the Simmons within half a litre of my current fish).
As you can prolly tell, I march to a different drummer.
Think Endless Summer, I’m not shy of a little surfwax in my hair!
Bin doing it for years with my longboards.
That’s the craziest outline I’ve seen in a while. Go for it!
I think after a certain point you run into limitations based on the size of your foot and how much leverage you can bring to bear for your turns.
I’m with you on that one… used to have grief with that on my longboards (of the brutalist school of shaping!). Thinner, knifer rails in the back half helped a lot to get some rail in. But I am 6’, 245lb and have size 11UK feet (12US, 47EU)… that helps too.
Why, thank you sir.
The more I look at it, the more I think, “boogieboard for grownups/standups/bulkups”
I’m just interested in seeing how short a lardy old fella can go on mushy English waves.
WHOUAAAAHOUAAAHOUUUUU,
I love this, but I’m just superturtleman at only 190lbs. riding 5’9"x22"x2,?" knify rails!
I like that outline and I’m sure you can make that work for you.
Who says you can’t walk around on a shortboard!!!? I do, just be careful not to step over the nose, that really looks stupid.
I think if you pull in that tail outline a bit in the last foot it will turn better in small waves.
If you put a quadsetup underneath it holds very well in tight turns.
Try folding a bit of V in the center for better control at speed and chop.
And don’t forget to post your riding report!!!
Good fun from Soul
23" is as wide as I go on anything… My classic log is 23". I had a retro fish that was 23". I could barely turn it when it started to go fast, but it went really fast. I think the width in the tail is what made it so stiff, with the fins way out on the rail.
It looks to me like it would be a real alternative in waves where I would otherwise only consider a longboard. Pulling in the tail would help turning, however with a superwide tail you can put your foot right on the tailblock without stalling which may aid in pushing the tail around. Interesting concept for sure.
I tried a 24" wide board with 6'8" length . It was over 4" thick with a deep concave deck. I made it especially for bad small waves here in the Netherlands. Well, this board was too corky, as I heard someone here on sways call it. Instead of cathing the wave real early the wave just went under the board. I really had to lean forward to be able to catch the wave. The nose started to push water when leaning foward that much and that slowed the board down. Maybe it was the combination of too much foam with the wrong nose-rocker profile. Also be carefull with too much foam in the front half of the board .This experience set me off the track of the big foamie boards.
I really liked the concave deck though.
In any case I'm very curious about your experience when you're ready with it.
gr erwin
At the danger of sounding Roy-ish, at the expense of some down-the-line speed?.. chasing those crumbly British sections.
Here, for comparison, is the Simmons outline compared to my last two fave boards,
Comparing the two, much the same thickness and rocker, but the pink one was more of a rocketship, probably due to it’s relatively straight outline (and channels). It is reassuring to see that the tail width, compared to my stance position is not outrageously different from the fish.
Hi Gadgetuk,
This is a Royish subjet! Great isn’t it. But staying polite works for us I hope.
Keeping the rail straight with little rocker works good for the down the line speed,
the trick in these designs is to keep them controlable, I hurt my knees a few times trying to control too much surface.
That’s why I propose the bit of V and a rounded tail, like this idiotic creation of mine. This gets defititively Royishhh…
http://www.swaylocks.com/resources/detail_page.cgi?ID=2014&d=1
This is my experimentation platform.
Longboard without the middle part, the best signification I heard. That’s how it rides. Yes, this is Royish!
But have so much fun on it, the best for mushy crappy Dutch waves, bottom surface and no volume!
El-Cocko, come and try it next weekend at Dutch Swayday in Wijk aan Zee.
Everybody is welcome.
…too corky is a healthy way to know that the board is too big for you…
Hi Reverb,
Which sizes would you make smaller? Length, Width, Thickness, OFO tailwidth or nosewidht, Railthickness or…
Please help the guys on their way to something new.
I for myself know, thickness and railthickness makes a world of difference, combined with the right bottomshape.
But as we say here, there are many roads leading to Rome.
And Rome is where the Romans are!
Do we want to go there or somewhere else? HELP!
Well if the Romans have slow, crumbly, overcrowded waves with long closeout sections to scoot around, then yes, Rome is where I am headed (by default, not choice). 90% of the time that is what I’m surfing, so catching the buggers, before the other buggers do, overrides any other consideration. To be in a position to appreciate how a board surfs one has to first catch a wave. What I’m saying is wavecount is all to this old fella (due to family-related limited watertime). Of course I could go long… and that is what I have done for nigh on 20 years. But I’m over that now… I’m a born-again shortboarder! But I still like to hang out with the longboarders and steal their waves, my wide fish are great for that.
True, on steep takeoffs things get interesting (read sketchy), but I have other boards for that.
