I’m curious what sort of scale is used to quantitate energy ratings of waves. At any beach there can be dramatic differences in conditions from season to season and swell to swell. Local forecasts (west coast US) currently are calling for wave periods in the 20+ second range in the next few days. I have read of a formula, based on wave periods, that can be used to calculate the speed at which a wave travels. In a nutshell, longer periods = greater speed.
Water is water but the way in which a hydrodynamic planing device interacts with moving water is indeed difficult to quantitate. The rail chart posted earlier demonstrates some, but not all of the possibilities of rail shapes in but one spot on the board.
Generalizations can certainly be made but the possibilities are endless…