I am looking to get a new board shaped but was hoping for a bit of help, i know what i want the board to do but have little idea of what type/shape/bottom/you get the idea.
I am 6ft 2 14 stone and want a board that i can catch waves early, turn and go FAST making sections along the way. The waves are 2ft to 4 ft beach break. I have asked a few local shapers i know and have had varied answers from glider to hull to tri plane hull. My current quiver is a 9ft 4 nose rider, 9ft Hobie classic, 8ft Fish (i know but its the easiest way to describe it), 8ft 2 mccoy nugget (handshape) and a 7ft 6 egg, you might have noticed that i like mid lengths.So with regard to length i was thinking somewhere between 8ft and 9 ft. Oh and did i say it must be fast.
So I was hoping you guys might throw your opinions into the ring and give me some advice.
I'd go with a hull type board. they're super fast, and the tail flexes in and out of turns. The longer the faster, the lower the rocker the faster, and go wider because of the small waves you are surfing. Maybe 23 3/8" wide x18" nose x 16 1/4 in tail depending on how long. Straight outline, one fin.
any thing longer and flatter and straighter than the fastest board in your quiver will be faster!!!
quad, concave, flatter rocker, and then the right tail planshape, bottom contours and tail rocker will allow you to utilise the speed and turn well.....
Sounds like it would be a fun board but just wondered about hulls in beachbreaks, i keep getting mixed reviews. Will they work? Is it a case of they will work but just not to there full potential? Hulls have interested me for a while but they are not to common here so used ones dont come up often so you need to splash a fair bit of cash and i always felt it was a big risk.
Quads go down the line faster, but less vert on the top turns.
Length and flatter rocker go faster, but only if you have time to get your first turn in. What I mean by that is if the wave has a critical take off, and you are riding a flat long board, you won’t have time to get it up and running before the first section.
Fins are a huge issue on speed. Put in some FCS Occys, and you will go faster, but turn less. Little flexy fins and you will turn more but go down the line slower.
Where are you loosing the wave? on the take off, or are the sections beating you?
Also, how good a surfer are you? A lot of speed has to do with technique. How fast can you get to your feet? How fast can you get that first pump for speed? A lot of slower surfers are take their time when getting up, and sort of glide through the first bottom turn. A faster surfer snaps to their feet, and are on the rail in a crouch and then extending their legs through the bottom turn before they even reach the bottom of the wave.
I have a friend who mostly surfs midlength quads. He’s 6-2 and 200#, has been surfing for 40 years and shaping/glassing for 35. His daily driver is 8’0" x 21ish x 3" with a 4" nose rocker and a 2" tail rocker. 17" wide in the nose and about 16" wide in the (squash) tail. He swears by them - says they’re really fast down the line and very versatile across a wide range of conditions.
He surfs boards that are a lot smaller and boards that are a lot bigger, but for day-to-day surf in the beachbreak conditions he usually surfs he sticks with the midlength quads because he doesn’t like spending his time sitting around and bobbing on the inside.
Thanks for the replies, some good food for thought there.
At the moment i have thinking long hull - 8ft plus (although still not sure it will work for me) or an 8ft 6 ish glider “style” board with fin boxes for both single fin and quad. Altenatively combining the two and haveing a hulled out glider style is seeming atractive, has anyone riden something like this?
I have a couple of good daily drivers in the Mccoy and the Egg and they go well but are not quite what i am looking for. Its kind of hard to explain and i am sure my lack of skill does’nt help but i just kind of want a point and shoot style of board.
I'd take everysurfers advice, its your choice but unless you are surfing the right type of waves for hulls, they arent very user friendly, they go great in certain waves but from info you have given, it doesnt seem to be the right choice...keen to follow the thread and see how it goes for you...all the best
Were are you in the UK are you surfing? If it’s mostly East Anglia then the majority of what you’ll be surfing is short period stuff, fun, but requiring a different approach. I would go for thruster/quad over a hull. Something to drive down the line and be able to use any available sections that pop up. Have you tried a short mccoy or CI biscuit type shape?
I have an 8'4 epxy round pintail mini mal thingy. NO rocker in the tail. It is faster than anybody elses board on my beach. It is FAST no joke its about 2 1/2 thick so I cant hang ten but I can do fives. its a 2+1 setup. i have two alaias that go faster but they cant catch early. still fun tho lol :)
Thanks Again guys. I really apprieciate your idea's. I was speaking to a guy earlier who suggested something along the line of the griffin 5 fin rocket http://www.griffinsurfboards.com/rocket.html Anyone used one in the small stuff? Over at surfermag they seem to love them and do look interesting.
I will probaly rule out the hull for a bit and hope a decent priced used one crops up, just out of curiousity would a midi simmons work?
A properly shaped fish is a very fast board. So is a Bonzer. The five fin Griffen looks Ok but I would like to see a slight flip in the Tail behind the fins.
[IMG]http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp114/pridmore73/hanoKritta76FB80SwingerFFinger031.jpg[/IMG] 7'6" x 21 1/2" x 2 3/4" quad, single to dble concaves, flattish rocker ..theses have planty of speeed and still turn well...... hulls are not what you need in the waves you sound like you'll be using it in, but its your choice, plenty of knowledgeable people here suggesting otherwise.....
My brother has a 7’4" Griffin rocket, just like the ones on his website. Griffin’s boards are fast.
I’ve ridden it in small surf… knee to head high beach/reef break, and it was a lot of fun. Paddles great, but I’m only 5’ 6" and 160+ lbs. I used it in solid overhead+ and I didn’t quite like it. For me it was a bit too long. I like to go shorter when the waves are bigger, so that may have been the problem.
My daily drivers were 7’ to 8’ eggs up to 21 1/2" wide and thick so they paddle really good. Some have very little rocker, like only 2 1/2" to 3" in the nose and as little as 1 1/2" in the tail, but they are faster and more fun in small waves. Others have quite a bit more rocker, 4" to 5" in the nose and 2 1/2" in the tail, and they work better when the waves are overhead.
I’ll be 52 in a couple of days, and I’m not getting in the water as much as I would like, so longer and thicker boards are the preference right now. But if the beaches weren’t crowded, I would ride my short boards.
Thanks for all the replies, been a great help. I have been throwing a few idea’s around with a couple of shapers that i have bought boards from in the past and i think we are going to try to get something together along the lines of a 7ft 10 egg low rocker and quad fin set up. Leaving the finer details to him. Also got myself another blank on order to give a nice (hopefully) bat tail quad a go myself with inspiration coming from Mr pridmore post.
