“Sorry to hi-jack the thread. I actually have a 6-6 with a very pointed nose and I wanted to cut off the tip the way Greg did. I think I will now…”
Oh boy, here we go! ha ha! Get a saw and some solarez!
My biz partner and I started testing stubbed noses on shortboards that were otherwise unchanged (same outline, rocker, rails etc.) We just made the exact same board off the machine but with no nose. Conclusion: board was definitely more sensitive, it swung around quicker and felt more lively, BUT the board was almost too loose at one point. So, we reduced the tail rocker because the board was already pretty loose and the lower tail rocker would bring back some firmness in turns plus it will for sure go faster! Sure enough, things worked out pretty quickly, lower exit rocker, then slightly wider tail pretty much made the 90’s pointed shortboards almost obsolete, plus they paddled faster. You slide a little forward on them and paddle down into waves better.
“I always wanted the Gemini shape without the two pointed noses. The way I see the gemini is that the front has a longer rail line, but the back has a lot of curve.”
Pretty much nailing it SharkCountry, like Greg Tate is doing, getting a more parallel outline along a shorter length of board, yet keeping the tail loose. If I were to pick a board to “chop” it would be a board slightly too big, chop a few inches off the nose and maybe an inch-plus off the tail, to reduce rocker, widen tail block and tail, and sets the fin set further aft, making the rider surf neutrally further back relative to the “new length” of the board. I’ve been messing with various sized front fins as well. Combine all these things together and performance seems to improve. The toe-side fin is usually run a little larger, check out Bernie’s board for size difference from usual thruster fins…
"from the movie ,“salton sea”.
**maybe we should call you ,“poo bear” ?"
Very clever Herb...
"Poo Bear did so much gack they had to cut his nose off..."
I used to make blunt, wide, rounded noses, as I felt the point was "pointless," but I watched the corner dig on late steep drops, and that bummed me out. I started making more pointy, and veed/bellied noses, and have not seen the nose dig on those drops any more... Granted those occurance were slighlty lumpy reef waves. But I'm happy... Ha!
Might also want to try offset sized fins, either toe side or heel side fin bigger than the other two, even though the board is symmetric. Would make for some interesting tests, I value your feedback as an engineer.
[img_assist|nid=1067649|title=Tail Rocker fix|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=648|height=368]How about the other end! Too much tail flip, not enough drive. A piece of 1/2" d-cell and a little epoxy.
Original board had a kick in the tail. The last foot really increased the rocker curve.
Really noticable lack of acceleration on a take off. Board would just bog at the bottom of the wave, but would work good when up out of the bottom and up the face.
The new tail is much better. It turns better, because it keeps its speed up. Really a good learning experience. The last foot of rocker has more to do with performance than fins do. I previously tried all sorts of fins trying to dial the board in.
To do the change, I stripped the glass off, and sanded the area flat. Then vaccumed the piece of d-cell with a little Cerex between to hold the epoxy. Then shaped the new tail and rocker. Then bagged it with the Cerex - 4 oz - Cerex lamination schedule I’ve been playing with. Set the fins and first try was this morning.
The board is about a year old, ridden many times ant the spot I took it to, so I knew what the old tail would do. It was a surprising difference.
I just cut about 5 inches off my al merick. straight cut. should i just fill the foam with res/hardner before i re-fiber glass it? or should i use q cell to fill in the foam before i reglass it? appreciate any information i’ve never cut a nose off prior.
noob question of a non-shaper: would do cutting off the nose of my battered 8’ mal for about one foot (or two) would make any sense without reshaping the thing?
I guess rocker and general shape speak against doing so, but still curious if anyone did that.
Just spent 24 hours in hospital hAving surgery thinking about this thread…went for a surf in cronulla last night and a from took off on his short board as I was about to duck dive when he lost control and the nose of his board went straight through my thigh and out the other side resulting in a six inch entry and 2 inch exit wound. Luckily it missed bone tendon artery and vein just some minor muscle damage and the rest was just tearing through flesh. All happenend in a flash and paddled in pretty quick before being helped out by some very cool locals but couldn’t help but think if his board wasn’t so sharp…
Cheers huie, I’m a bit sore right now but now have all tools and a workspace so I’m going to ring for a chat and some materials this week. Unfortunately guess I’m on crutches for a couple of weeks or so which is going to put a dent in my planned production. cheers rich
