Skimboard design

I’ve checked the Archives and have not found a single post on skimboards. I have made one for my eight year old - my desire is to train a future unbiased waterman - and it works fine. Does anyone know if there are any design features that would impact performance? Shape, rail configuration etc…? Thanks, Magoo Side note, my kid seems to be the only one riding skim at Goldenwest. Any input on the decline of skimboarding in general? M

I’ve checked the Archives and have not found a single post on skimboards. > I have made one for my eight year old - my desire is to train a future > unbiased waterman - and it works fine. Does anyone know if there are any > design features that would impact performance? Shape, rail configuration > etc…? Thanks, Magoo Side note, my kid seems to be the only one riding > skim at Goldenwest. Any input on the decline of skimboarding in general? M Here’s an idea. Let your kid design the next one. I was probably about his age when I made mine. It was round, cut from 1/4" plywood. I coated it with resin and mixed it so hot that I barely got it covered before it went off, smoking. Maybe the driveway wasn’t the best place to do it. The accidental beauty of it though came from the fact that the resin warped the board into a slight bowl. It was my best one. It disappeared under the waves on one sad day after many, many, long, spinning slides. Decline of skimboarding parallels the decline of fun. Kids can’t play any more, they always have to be preparing for something or be driven around to endless organized activities that benefit the adults more than them. Hear’s another idea. Make 4 or 5 skimboards and hand them out to the first kids that come up to yours and ask to try it. Of course if they get hurt you’ll get sued but hey, you tried. Oh yeah, the only design feature I can recommend is to bevel the edge under the board. Good luck…Ross

A skimboard was the very first watercraft I ever made. It was so fun when I was a kid…for a short while. There are still a lot of skimboards out there, but mainly when the surf is lacking. Perhaps one major factor contributing to any decline in popularity is this: People soon begin to realize just how easy it is to break your arm on those things! I quickly gained an appreciation of how hard sand can be. One fall and that’s all. I also think skimboard kids are easily distracted by the popularity of skateboards and rollerblades…if you’re gonna slide on a hard surface, why not go to a skate park? But I sure do miss those skimboard days of sprained wrists and dislocated fingers…

A skimboard was the very first watercraft I ever made. It was so fun when > I was a kid…for a short while. There are still a lot of skimboards out > there, but mainly when the surf is lacking. Perhaps one major factor > contributing to any decline in popularity is this: People soon begin to > realize just how easy it is to break your arm on those things! I quickly > gained an appreciation of how hard sand can be. One fall and that’s all. I > also think skimboard kids are easily distracted by the popularity of > skateboards and rollerblades…if you’re gonna slide on a hard surface, > why not go to a skate park? But I sure do miss those skimboard days of > sprained wrists and dislocated fingers… This is great!! Until 2 years ago, I was still a skimboarder, having made and ridden them for nearly 40 years. I began by saving my hard-earned summer money to purchase a light blue plywood disc blank, to which I also promptly applied a flame-broiled resin coating, which warped my new toy (but it worked better than the flat ones in deeper water), etc. This soon led to lots more plywood, friends who wanted to share in the fun, and the eventual discovery of tapered templates, high to low rail contours and slight vee in the rear 10%… By the mid-60s we were only using the thin water as a launching area before cruising out into deep water and banking off waves and whitewater, sometimes even riding back to shore for a short distance. In highschool, there were lots of kids using skimboards, which became one of the most popular woodshop class projects. 30+ years later, skimboarding (here on the central Oregon Coast) has almost disappeared. As I said, until a couple of years ago, I was still participating, in much the same manner as I always have... introducing it to my sons and a number of the other neighborhood kids by helping them make their own or giving away new ones as gifts. Whenever we would be at the beach using them, people would come up and ask questions and watch... most were very interested, and some just waiting around to watch us fall! Some would even want to try it for themselves. If nothing else, its a brutal form of shoreline exercise, with intense short sprints often ending suddenly (twisting, rolling falls) and on hard-packed low tide sand in a thin glaze of water… consequences similar to skateboarding. But, I still dont know exactly why more of todays kids arent drawn to skimboarding. In this area, the only ones you can still find are sold in surfshops, made of high density foam and fiberglass and quite expensive compared to what we originally experimented with... for that kind of money, todays active kid with a limited income often figures they might as well get a new skateboard or a used wetsuit and surfboard… or more clothes and video games. In my case, I had many older guys (most of them surfers) to watch and emulate. Perhaps that`s what is most needed in skimboarding today.

today`s active kid with a limited income often figures > they might as well get a new skateboard or a used wetsuit and surfboard… > or more clothes and video games. Dale touched on a big point: Today’s younger kids just stay inside more I think, in front of the demon box. And when they do get outside, image is everything. If they don’t see their friends doing it…or worse yet…if they don’t have a role model let them know it’s cool to do your own thing…they simply succomb to whatever the loudest advertiser throws them and their impressionable peers. Then you’ve got a vicious cycle. Maybe I’m generalizing too much here, but perhaps the drop in popularity parallels the increase in boob-tube activities, along with the advent of this thing we’re communicating through right now. If it’s not strongly advertised on either of these mediums, it’s up to the older generation to give longevity to “forgotten” watermen’s activities. So keep up the good role-modeling, Magoo!

Yea, high/low rails, a little rocker, a coat of glass and your ready to go out and get some fresh stinging skimberries!!! HOOT! Man those were the days. Still have a couple of skims out in the shed…They scare me.

Yea, high/low rails, a little rocker, a coat of glass and your ready to go > out and get some fresh stinging skimberries!!! HOOT! Man those were the > days. Still have a couple of skims out in the shed…They scare me. Hmmm, I dont know if Id say scary… the ones resting against the wall up in my loft only make me anxious to use them! It does seem that in this life, with anything of any real value that is worthy of personal effort to aquire, pain is definitely a part of the gain process… and skimboarding is just another one of those little, strict but fun, object lessons. Besides, most kids who become interested in this sort of activity only recognize the positive aspects.

Of all the stunts I used to pull when I was a kid I think my mom was happy when I was “just” skimboarding. I used to build some crazy contraptions that usually involved gravity, pavement and high rates of speed. I believe the phrase I used to use was “Mom, I think I’m hurt.” Now when I watch something like the X-games you’ll find me screaming at the TV, “Try that with clay wheels buddy!!” Sorry about the digression away from the topic but I have really fond memories of my childhood (and none of them involve coaches).>>> Hmmm, I dont know if Id say scary… the ones resting against the wall > up in my loft only make me anxious to use them! It does seem that in this > life, with anything of any real value that is worthy of personal effort to > aquire, pain is definitely a part of the gain process… and skimboarding > is just another one of those little, strict but fun, object lessons. > Besides, most kids who become interested in this sort of activity only > recognize the positive aspects.

Of all the stunts I used to pull when I was a kid I think my mom was happy > when I was “just” skimboarding. I used to build some crazy > contraptions that usually involved gravity, pavement and high rates of > speed. I believe the phrase I used to use was “Mom, I think I’m > hurt.” Now when I watch something like the X-games you’ll find me > screaming at the TV, “Try that with clay wheels buddy!!” Sorry > about the digression away from the topic but I have really fond memories > of my childhood (and none of them involve coaches). Right on, Ross!!! But, sadly, now it`s possible to hear, “Mom, have you seen those papers of mine that showed me how to make meth easier… er, I mean… do my math easier?” Being a father of 3, I agree that “just” skimboarding is one of the least of my worries.

I just broke out the skimboard after quite a long time. I have a foam and fiberglass version made by Riptide in Santa cruz. Man, that thing is so damn fun to ride. It is, however, dangerous. My buddy’s first ride on it resulted in a broken wrist and it has also claimed a collarbone. In SantaCruz, I still se a number of guys out skimming pretty regularly. I think it’s still pretty popular, but as someone said before, why skim when the surf is good? I would second the suggestion of a little rocker, especially on the nose where it will help get into the beach break without pearling. heavier is better to a certain extent, especially if you’ve ever had one catch the wind an blow up and take out your shin. Also, wax is better than deckgrip.

I just broke out the skimboard after quite a long time. I have a foam and > fiberglass version made by Riptide in Santa cruz. Man, that thing is so > damn fun to ride. It is, however, dangerous. My buddy’s first ride on it > resulted in a broken wrist and it has also claimed a collarbone.>>> In SantaCruz, I still se a number of guys out skimming pretty regularly. I > think it’s still pretty popular, but as someone said before, why skim when > the surf is good?>>> I would second the suggestion of a little rocker, especially on the nose > where it will help get into the beach break without pearling. heavier is > better to a certain extent, especially if you’ve ever had one catch the > wind an blow up and take out your shin. Also, wax is better than deckgrip. Ditto the wax… when I was a young kid, skimboarding was for whenever, and as I grew older, earned enough money for a wetsuit, surfboard, etc. it became an activity that I did when the waves were`nt good enough for surfing. Up here, we also learned early on that a little extra weight and a bit of rocker (the veed tail really helped, too) were good things. We often rode the skimboards during stormy conditions, and later on, at night under the multi-colored lights shining down from restaurants high above us on the cliffs. Riding out into deeper water, away from the scope of the lights and into the darkness was an experience!

Ditto the wax… when I was a young kid, skimboarding was for whenever, > and as I grew older, earned enough money for a wetsuit, surfboard, etc. it > became an activity that I did when the waves were`nt good enough for > surfing. Up here, we also learned early on that a little extra weight and > a bit of rocker (the veed tail really helped, too) were good things. We > often rode the skimboards during stormy conditions, and later on, at night > under the multi-colored lights shining down from restaurants high above us > on the cliffs. Riding out into deeper water, away from the scope of the > lights and into the darkness was an experience!.. Skiming is also a great urban sport. After a heavy rain some of those ball parks would have big puddles in the grass… Yeppers, mowin the lawn!

Just another thought… in the mid to late 1960`s, my best friend made a bright red, flexible, tuned, solid fiberglass/resin skimboard, about 42" x 20 x 1/2" (widepoint forward, thin, scooped deck and tail sections), sharing a few vaguely similar performance concepts with Greenough spoons. It worked fantastic, threw very well in windy conditions because of its weight, was really durable, extremely fast and maneuverable. It quickly became the most popular local skimboard ever used, but eventually it was lost in deep water after a long ride ended in the surf and it was buried by the sand (it always sank like a rock). We never made another one because of all the labor and testing involved in fine-tuning the design elements… besides, by then we were enthusiastically peeling the glass off and “re-shaping” (into crudely bizarre shortboards) all the old longboards we could get our little hands on…