I just got a New Al Merrick, custom made MBM model, I find that the tail is quite thick, and I seen other models that are the same, for example the K-step up. I ask the guy at the shop in Santa Barbara and the best answer he got was that was the way Kelly Slater likes his tail and that he designed the boards him self along with Al. Any way, I doubt Kelly Slater boards look that thick in the tail. My question is: What the deal when the tail looks thick?
It’d be nice to check out the tail thickness of your board.
Bobby Martinez, with input from everyone?
Thick catches waves early, paddles good, and works good for surfers who like the feel.
I haven’t seen a thick enough tail in about 6 years now. I like thick tails, there are over 50 CI’s at the shop I frequent, and none had what I consider thick tails.
Does the tail of your board have flat double concaves?
The board has flat to double and vee out the tail. It just looks thich for a 6’3’’ X 18 1/2 X 2 1/4 made for someone that is 167 pounds. I have a k-step up that also looks thick, but weird thick. It seems to me that the rouded pin tails he is done for me look thick and squashes look good.
Seems current competition boards have the blocky, almost square rails, with meat at the peak, but if you measure the stringer for thickness, it’s not really thick.
That could be one possible answer.
Have you tried it yet. Sometimes, the newer ideas are a departure from the old, and you have to adapt to progress.
Blocky tail rails + less drag, less water wrap, quicker turns, cleaner with less rail catching. They get the hold by tucking the rails, sometimes eliminating any sharp edge.
The 6’3’’ I just got and have not tried it yet, but a 6’6’’ K-step up had the same kind of tail thickness and I rode it in the Mentawai’s and felt pretty stiff and hard to turn. I don’t know if the board felt thick because of the tail, but it look thicker that all the boards that I usually ride, so basically I blaimed it on the tail. I will ride the board and will let you know how it goes…
OK, after the second one, log in your memory…NEVER AGAIN!
Sometimes, power of positive thinking can prevail.
I’ve seen guys RIP on mid 7’ funboards.
Heck, TedRobinson rips on a 9’ performance board.
Just believe, turn harder, step farther back, forget trim, and maybe you can turn it on a dime.
Then again, some surfers are front foot rail turn and trim guys, and they always HATE thick, blocky rails on the tail.
Question…when you rode the Kstepup…did you feel you were going fast enough or not fast enough? Where the waves small, average or big?
The MBM and Kstepup are completely different boards and it matters how big/fast the waves are and how you ride.
I felt I was going very fast, I surfed the K-Step up mostly at Macaronis 6-8 foot faces. The board was good in the tube, but I felt it was not responsive enough when I was going for turns off the top. The boards dimensions were 6’6’’ X 18 1/2 X 2 5/16 I thought the board had a lot of thickness all over to be 2 5/16 thick, the tail was very boxy and overall the board had a lot of volume. I felt I was going fast down the line, but when doing turns it would not respond as well and lost a lot of speed. Considering that I was surfing Maccas that is wave with quite a lot of power, it just did not feel right.
Firstly, the K has lots of tail rocker that is designed to give you performance and control in hollow conditions so your experiences in the pocket/tube jives. The top turning symptom could be one of the following:
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your technique (rear foot placement is huge)…do you power surf well? If youre not turning your shoulders aggressively b4 the topturn, the whole turn will lag and feel slow. Do you feel the same going backside and frontside? If not, then its probably technique (Im a better backhand surfer than frontside)
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Fin placement: the fin cluster may be spread a little more than usual…that’s great at the bottom but stiff at the top. Toein also has a huge impact. Also, the whole cluster may be set more rearward and that affects critical foot placement. A safe fin placement for that board may be 11 x 3.5 with 1/4" toein.
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As you suspect, the board may be too long and volumeous for your size & style.
I saw Kelly Slater use the same board in TOH french beach break this year on the ASP…epic surfing in epic surf. Kelly is the definitive POWER SURFER!!! Not everyone can ride his boards which overall, have lotsa rocker…you gotta be aggressive to use his boards.
PS - Congrats on your tripping…Im jealeous!
PS2 - Projection out of turns is Kellys only weakness…he doesnt do frontside figure 8 turns like say Parko, who lives off those longer smoother turns. BTW, 6’6 x 18.5 wont turn at the top like your every day thruster…a bit too narrow for tight turning…unless the waves are DOH+…
Hey, thanks for your feedback. I will go try my new MBM and see how it goes, is a 6’3’’ so maybe it won’t matter that the tail looks thick. I think the 6’6’’ K-stepup just had too much thickness overall and that was the problem. Here is a picture of the tail of the MBM, let me know what you think…
Sorry, here it is
That looks like a huge center fin! Maybe you could go a bit smaller on that. If you got a fin with basically the same rake or length, you’d still hold your line, but a little smaller front to back would loosen it up on turns…
Those are glass-on truelite fins, Al Merrick Template, so no luck on trying to mess up with fins. I personally prefer glass ons over any fin system, I found that a board that I don’t like, no matter what fins I put, I just don’t like it. So I stick to glass ons.
What do you think of that tail? Let me know…I also posted a picture of the kind of waves I was surfing
the stepup is too gunny for that wave but if youre in the hole more often with it who cares…ride it and smile
if you dont like AM boards try JC Hawaii next time or a real custom
That tail is a bit on the thick side for a shortboard but remember that what you feel is a sum of all of its design features. The design may not fit your style. I have surfed several K boards and liked them but they were a bit on the slow side and didnt have the projection I wanted.
No swell, maybe tomorrow I will try the board. By the way, the tail on the picture is of an MBM, I refered to a K-boards I had that had a similar tail and I did not like. Not sure if I did not like it because of the tail or other factors. I had other K-boards and CI that went really good. I’m just surprise to find the tail of this board so thick, like you said for a short board that is 6’3’'X 18 1/2 X 2 1/4 made for someone that weight 167 pounds the tail looks thick. I guess the important thing is how the board goes in the water, but mentally I’m already a bit negative.