Hello All,
Last year I shaped my first board, a 6’1" rounded tail shortboard, Quad/ Thruster. It rides great and I love it, but it maxes out in seven foot surf so for my next board I am looking to shape a step up board for those head high to well over head days.
I was wondering if a winged swallow tail was a feasible design aspect for a step up board or if I should just stick with the standard square tail.
Also if you have any other major design aspect you think are crucial for an over head board.
Just looking for some tube time.
Thanks Much,
BEL
Rounded pintail, my brother…Timeless. BTW square tails, (with corners), are pretty rare. Mike Diffenderfer made some sweet ones.
Sickdog
For bigger mushy waves, I like the wing swallow set up… Can give longer length with flatter rocker for faster paddeling, but the wings shorten the rail line. But for a true step-up, where you need the board to feel positive in a sketchy situation, a rounded pin is the way to go.
If you are surfing the Cliffs or either side of the Pier regularly,
there are two designs I would consider. The first has already
been mentioned, a round pintail/thumb. I would go 6’4 to 6’6
with a relaxed rocker. Keep your dims close to your 6’1", just
scaled up a little. Make sure the wide point is 2-3" back. You
don’t need much “gun” in the shape, but you need to increase
your paddle-out speed. The second would be a swallow tail
a-la a Merrick Flyer II. A lot of the guys I have shaped for that
surf the above three breaks swear by that design. Size would be
around 6’3-6’4 with the fuller nose design. Both boards do
well with a slight concave starting just before the front foot and
running into a spiral vee starting at the front fins. I am willing
to share more dims if you would like. See ya in the water!
BKB
Thanks a lot surfteach for your knowledge. The dimensions of my shortboard are 6’1" length 13"x19"x14.5" width 2.5" thick rounded pin. So your saying up the length 3 to 4 inches, but I don’t understand what you mean by bringing the wide point back. What is the purpouse/ what is the difference in the way the board rides if you moved it or not? I am new to shaping sorry for the need of in depth explination. There are just so many different things to modify a board and I am trying to learn the reasons and the outcomes (how the board rides) for them.
Thank You,
BEL
I don’t know if you are looking at a design program of your shapes
before you make them (I would recommend the free Shape3D lite) but
to put it in a nutshell by moving the widepoint back you “fatten” up the
back of the outline giving you a bit of a push from the wave helping
with an earlier entry into the wave. You can also time your pop-up
a bit better on the big stuff. All too often guys make a semi-gun for
Cali when they really don’t need it. Someday you will travel to Indo/
Hawaii and know what I mean. In the meantime, you should stay
with your dimensions on your 6’1, and maybe narrow up the nose
just a bit. Keep everything else about the same. If you like the volume
stick with 2.5" or if you are having trouble duckin’ deep, drop this a
bit. I go around 2.3-2.4 in a 6’4 at 19" wide. Your rocker is usually
a lot more important that anything else for 2-3’ OH here.
BKB