I’m looking at making a SUP, and I was wanting to get the input of those “in the know”.
First off, it will be used primarily for flat-water training. I may get it out in belly-high and smaller waves every once in a while, but anything bigger than that and I’ll still be on my regular surfboards. Most of the info I’ve seen here on SUPs so far seem to be directed towards boards that will be used primarily for surfing real waves, so I thought I’d see how a board would be made differently if it was mostly for just cruising around.
I am 6’ and weigh just over #200 most days.
So, with those parameters in mind, what would be some good dimensions to start with? I’d like to keep it as short as practical, although I know that length is going to give the “glide” on those long runs. Also, I’ve never worked on rocker on a board this long, or this odd, so if anyone has a good rocker profile for this that has more detailed offsets than just the nose and tail rocker, that would be great too.
There are a number of fellows here on Sway’s with hands on experience, on SUP’s. I’m not one of them. However, my guess would be 10’ 0’’ to 10’ 6’’ in length, and 27’’ to 29’’ in width. I would use an ‘‘exagerated’’ natural rocker, for riding waves, and a ‘‘classic gun’’ rocker, if leaning more toward the paddling capability of the board. Hope that is helpful.
two totally different ideas mentioned. flat water training boards are one thing and surfing boards are another. i have a nice 14’ distance board that can ‘surf’ down wind on the open water, but it’s not for traditional surfing. i’d be happy to give you some pics and info on that if you like.
if you’re going to surf it, make a 12’ x 30 x 4.25ish longboard like the surftech laird model.
i rode the laird in some beachbreak on a demo and it was kind of like a longboard but less responsive and less fun. kind of like longboarding without the noserides and carrying a stick.
another thing to consider- i think you’re in texas. if you’re surfing dumping beachbreak, the SUP isn’t your best bet IMO. if you’re surfing reefs and points primarily, then the surfing SUP might be better.
enough rambling. email me if you’d like more info on my 14 footer.
With the Euro classes taking me away from the shop for six+ weeks and no time to build one of my own, I acquired a placeholder Surftech Laird 11’6" in my quiver a few months ago…
I’ve been on it a lot lately…Local lakes and Puget Sound…Flat water, with chop and boat wakes…I’m going out for about an hour and a half every other day…Time to figure out what I want, that the Surftech does or doesn’t have…
Me: 6’3" x about 200# of hard meat and bones…
When I build mine, I’ll keep the rocker about the same as the Laird…The thickness feels fine…I’ll widen it to maybe 30"…The length I’ll pull down to about 10’…I will widen the tail by two to four inches…Flat water doesn’t need a pulled tail…The bottom will have a belly / vee up front, flat before the foot balance points, then going concave through the back, maybe pretty deep right at the tail…Flat water stability…
I’m thinking of adding a fin box under the balance point…If I want, I can add a 3’ long x 4" tapered keel in the center…Straight tracking…
I’m also going to add four leash plugs up front to tie off a small gear bag for those extended sessions…
I’m going to start the board next week…Maybe I’ll post progress…
I'm thinking of adding a fin box under the balance point...If I want, I can add a 3' long x 4" tapered keel in the center...Straight tracking...
that is an awesome idea. worst part of it is the tracking. especially into the wind.
big concave on flat water? AFAIK, the only reason the paddleboard guys put in anything other than belly or flat is to negotiate the bigger swells the guys over in the islands have to negotiate. i’m no expert, but you might want to ask around and get some educated opinions on a concave for flat water.
I put fin boxes just aft of my toes on 2 of my long range boards and have had better luck with rail control. While I had high hopes for the center mount box, pressure on the opposite rail of boards with a vee entry will push the board the other way. Boards with concave through the middle, step on the same side as you paddle keeps it flying straight for me. I did a board with a pronounced entry which rolled into a deep double concave bottom that carried out the tail. It did well in races and went pretty straight… this was in flat water and down wind conditions.
As far as leash plugs in the deck go, Ive done some camping trips with 50-70 lbs on the deck. You want the load closer to your feet than way out front. I figured that out AFTER a 40 mile 3 day-er. But it works awesome for fishing… :))
Check with Probox Larry, they recently designed a fin system for SUP’s that includes a center keel(s) and supposedly you could still surf with them in.
If taking drops, turning and performance maneuvers aren’t planned, you’ll have a better tracking, faster flat-water board by keeping rocker to a minimum.
I’ve been shot down on this before but after making and trying a long double blade SUP paddle, I’m convinced that tracking issues mentioned here are easily remedied. True, the paddles are long and cumbersome in surf but for flat water, they work perfect. Compare paddling a kayak to a canoe and the advantage is obvious.
A stock SUP blank for your specific purpose is available through Ken Ebert at Segway Composites. I believe Ken has 14 stock blanks and his shaping machine can pre-shape most anything you can dream up. Please check his blank listings for reference. An email might also get answers to any specific questions you have.
Cool, I’ll have to look into the double-bladed paddle. Bet that would have to be pretty long, what kind of dims did you use, how many degrees of twist between paddle blades?
As for the blank, I’m going to make my own, so that’s why I’m trying to find some good rocker numbers. I agree about the low rocker, but my perspective on SUP is so novice that I don’t even have a starting point from which to base a “low” rocker.
I have one SUP under my belt so now I’m an expert… LOL.
If your board is 5" thick, depending on nose thickness, you will have a flat deck with 5" nose rocker. Maybe with a beak nose you could go a little less?
My double blade paddle is 131" overall with 8" X 17" surplus carbon blades I got from a kayak paddle manufacturer who went out of business. After pricing carbon shafts, I went with a wooden closet pole that was shaped to an oval for more comfortable grip. No offset or angle to the blades.
Since you are dipping the blades twice as often as with a single blade, you could go smaller with the blades and go just as fast, if not faster. I’m a kook but it seemed like I lost momentum when changing sides with a single blade.
Aside from better tracking and more efficient propulsion, the passenger dog doesn’t get whacked in the head during regular changing of sides with a single blade paddle. Ripley appreciates that!
So, since I’m doing flat water, should I just approach this as if I was making on of those flats boats I see zipping all over around here? Like fairly abrupt nose rocker, maybe a little v in the front to cut chop, zero tail rocker out the back?
Good call on the passenger dog, I’m hoping to be able to talk mine into that as well.
Some of the prone paddleboards are designed that way… almost like a kayak hull up front. Narrow nose outline, flattish rocker all the way to the end with an almost vertical bow. In my brief experience on one of those, it seemed really tippy but the experts seem to have it wired.
I don’t think that would work very well if you ever plan to take it surfing. A wider nose outline with smoother rocker (more surfboardish) might work better as a hybrid paddle/surf SUP. For wave surfing, a flat tail rocker on a board that long will be very stiff. Guys rode the old Blake hollows though, so…? Few designs are ever built with a “no compromise” approach.
I had the dog outside with me as I was building it and he seemed interested during every phase. I laid the blank down on the ground and let him stand on it, etc. Once we got it to the water, he climbed right on.
We use to take these profiles to Kinkos and blow them up to make our templates. I think the scale is 1 to 16 if I recall correctly.
Also another way is to use the the Kingmac 11 ft blank. They come in 27" and 30 " wide.
Here are some of the numbers I work with for the plane shape: Full nose: 20" x 29" x 18", Trim nose: 17" x 29" x 18". Thickness will vary from 4.25" to 4.75". I keep the belly flat and let it flow into a v bottom. Fuller boxy rails make the board more stable. For flat water, a long raked single works for me.
These are just guide lines to prime you. There are no hard and steadfast rules; only fun.
I like a narrow nose if I am going into the wind. I can get a good glide from both wide or narrow nose boards. A good gliding board is more about bottoms and rockers that match the conditions you paddle in.
That fin looks pretty good. About the Clark Foam web site, I would down load the PDF catalog before the site is gone for good. It is a great resource.
