To all surf Addicts ,
What makes a surfboard go faster ?
Fat rails ?
Flat bottom ?
Fins placing ?
Jetski+60’Wave
or
Jetski+100’wave+Hydrofoil glued on bottom
Don’t know of anything faster other than a board with the jetski engine built-in… sort of like a surfing jetski
Good wave knowledge and piston legs.
Did I mention a good board? Design relative to conditions.
By far:
-
less rocker
-
more width
AnDi
You have to qualify surfer skill, surfer style, wave size, steepness, and power.
Wide boards work great in small waves.
Horrible in big surf.
Flat rocker great in small waves for speed, horrible in bigger surf.
Flat bottom theoretically the fastest, but tied to above, and don’t work in chop.
Thick rails…depends more on shape, less water wrap, and harder underside, faster.
A super fast board on a fast, big waves = disaster for the rider.
Now, what do you want to know.
Channel hull & less rocker!
AnDi,
Just an add on to LeeDD.
Are you trying to find out what makes a specific type of board faster or just surfboards in general? Kneeboard, fish, shortboard, funshape, longboard? Same principles apply but can change drastically between board types.
…THE SURFER!!!…
Its mostly about reading the wave well, Shaw you can have designs that will make you go faster but…
Its all up to the surfer to see how to smoothly get in the fastest spot on the wave, to see what I mean…
…Watch September Sessions…
In the second last session, rob machado is riding a fat burger BIG fat Burger in the mentawais watch the speed he gets when he reads the wave and perfectly times his array of manuvers…
Josh.
Quote:
AnDi
You have to qualify surfer skill, surfer style, wave size, steepness, and power.
Wide boards work great in small waves.
Horrible in big surf.
Flat rocker great in small waves for speed, horrible in bigger surf.
Flat bottom theoretically the fastest, but tied to above, and don’t work in chop.
Thick rails…depends more on shape, less water wrap, and harder underside, faster.
A super fast board on a fast, big waves = disaster for the rider.
Now, what do you want to know.
Couldn’t agree more. I made a 7’0" X 21" wide, thick, full, hard railed, swallow tail with low rocker, double barrel concaves and a quasi-bonzer (2 + 1 + supercharger) fin setup, board that is a wider and more modern foiled version of an old Skip Frye single fin I got back in 1975 (and still own). I rode the board in solid 10-12 foot faced waves last week that came courtesy of an offshore storm we had here in the Gulf of Maine. The board went so damn fast it scared me! I don’t know if it was because of the thickness or the hard, chunky rails but it almost felt as if I was hydroplaning! The tail is pulled in (relative to the overall width) and with all that fin in the water I was still able to control it (barely) but in thirty years of surfing, I don’t think I’ve ever gone as fast. After a few waves I went in and got my slower, stiffer (like me) 7’4" 2+1 pintail. I only wish I was young enough to have fully appreciated the speed of that 7 footer, which I think I will save for the smaller days that are more common around here! Crikey!
AnDi, Everything said has merit: details to digest and experiment with. I’ll offer a simple, conceptual version.
Convex curves tend to be slower. Examples: Lots of rocker, belly rail to rail, soft egg rails.
Concave curves tend to be faster. Examples: Double concave tails, concave middle rail to rail.
Flat is faster. ie: flat rocker.
The less rail in the water, equals less drag, equals more speed. ie: short board.
Basic concepts, with an infinite number of possible combinations. Doug
“I never eat health foods. At my age I need all the preservatives I can get.” George Burns
A fast wave? Mike
Dear LeeDD ,
Need a 6’8" pin tail for indo surf , 4-6ft fast wave .
What bottom design , concave , rocker do i need ?
I have never ride anything bigger than a 6’2"
Regards …
I haven’t been, but have two buds who have gone about 10 times, and they always regale stories about the place.
Littler guy brings 6’8" and 7’6.
My contractor boss, at 200lbs., brings 8’ and 8’9" Brewers.
Both confirmed OceanBeach SF big wave surfers.
Both say the waves justify at least that board sizing, as you are travelling, the waves long, the paddles longer.
Don’t think bottom contours matter much with juice and size, just need V out the back.
LeeDD ,
I need a board can paddle into wave faster , i tried my 6’2" there … is hell !
What do i need to tell the shaper ? My shaper/friend shape mostly fun board … so gotta tell him wat i really need .
I’m 70kg x 1.75 tall .
Regards ,
AnDi .
I’m 5’10" and 152 lbs. mostly.
Typical 6’8"er for here is 11.5 nose, 18.25 WP 2" forward of center, 12.5" tail, about 2.45 thick, flat deck if you like paddle and float, slightly thick turned down rails if you like no catch speed and release.
Typical bottom contour on a mini gun is either single or double concave to the wide point, then transtioning to a panel V to the back foot, then the rocker makes the V disappear.
The rails go from no catch soft (it’s stable and sucks up the face without dropping out) at the nose to medium tucked at the center to down but NOT hard at the tail, because any hard edge at the tail get sucked up the face and then suddenly releases, causing you do go over the falls. You can have an edge, but tuck it under at the tail, not knife hard like you would have in a small wave board.
Glass it how you prefer, but I’d suggest single 6 bottom, 6x6 deck, Clark blank but maybe epoxy resin. Bring Suncure repair in the tube, either poly or epoxy.
Tri fin, 4.75" fins, spread the cluster for big sweetsport and holding control.
dude…more speed in indo surf? Its about control more than speed…those waves have all the power/speed you need. If youre serious about getting to most of your money from this trip, you need to go to an accomplished shaper that knows how to make gunny travel boards. If youre not an advanced surfer then a good board will offer moderate help. Go to shops with a vast selection of boards and learn from those shapes. I would offer more board design advice but you really are better off going to a good shaper. Its a wise move youre going with a longer board…youre about 75% there already…
Just keep in mind…rocker is by far the most critical design feature…to get in earlier you need more length and a little more width but when youre up and riding lack of control may be an issue…speed vs control…the core compromise…
Meecrafty…excellent advice!
The bigger and faster the waves, the slower board you need to control it.
Speed is nothing without control…oh, I made that up for Kinetic Sailboard’s ad in 1998.
yeah Lee…I think youre a very knowledgeable dude too.
You know they say that “words mean things”…when I hear people talk about slow boards I immediately think of drag…how to get and use it wisely…rocker is the easiest way but makes for delayed entrys which can cause problems. If you look at Bert’s boards he uses fast rockers but dials in control with his thicker larger fins, thin soft rails and lower volumes.
Which by the way inspired my most recent shape I made on friday…a “longboard”…he he…a 7’6 wide gunny board for a local outside overheader low/mid-power wave that peels for about 100+ yards…20.5 wide with vee in the tail…very similar to a Channel Islands Black Beauty…similar outline and rocker but reduced volume (relative to BB) and thin soft rails…see pics…the idea is to compete with the longboarders using the length, width and lower rocker, get in early and use the thinner rails, tail vee and pending fin configuration to control the ride.
That IS flat rockered, once it gets behind the pixie nose.
Might be really good, actually, as the nose turnup allows the paddler to stay well forwards, enabling early wave catching.
Problem here is we never know if the waves are high tide mush, high tide tubes, and the same goes for every other tide and swell, so we have to cover all bases with one rocker setup.
Nice template!