im no expert, but in my opinion you need to carry more width through the tail. The wide point seems far up on that board, which is fine, but i think you need to compansate for that with a little more width in the tail.
I have made a 5’6 eps fish similar to that, and have since stripped it down to reshape because the the wide point was up to far and it felt like it would pivot under my front foot.
Just my 2cents, maybe someone can add to/correct me
I’ve looked at a ton of these things, so I can tell you how yours compares–I’m just relating to you points that I get from all that looking around, and considering your waves, so no offense meant:
The nose rocker is an inch or 1.5" too much for the paddle you want and deserve :). The thinness in the tail and esp. nose are too thin for the look–but you also lose volume. The tail would probably work on its width, but you’d have an easier time of it catching them and planing over dead zones (and get more speed) if it were a bit wider (if it were thicker, you could keep the outline where it is for easier turning without trying to shape V into the bottom). The nose thickness would naturally be greater if you lowered the rocker.
This much is absolutely standard for the fish: The rocker apex should coincide with the thick point and the wide point. The wide point could be back an inch or 2, but if you surf pretty front-footed, it’s probably fine.
Cheers folks…i’ve looked through this forum and the resources section a lot and tried to approximate what i have seen.
I was trying to fit it to a smaller blank than i should to save on the amount of foam to remove, so i’ll up it to the one attached which will give me a lot more foam and the possibility of reducing the nose rocker
looks like a pretty decent size blank for what you want to do with it… just scoot the outline a bit towards the back and you should have a nice rocker…
Just a couple of questions/observations from a retro fish fan…
How much do you weigh?
What kind of fins are you planning on using? Single or double foiled?
What kind of bottom? Flat to vee?
Wide point 3 inches ahead of center is better than 4, and a width of 22" would be enough for that tail width. I’m looking at it thinking it’s a bit too wide, not the tail’s a bit too narrow.
Down rails work well on retro fish. I like to go from 50/50 in the nose, to down and slightly tucked in the middle, to hard and no tuck in the tail. I’v also done the MR twin fin rail on a few fish, which has a tucked, hard edge from nose to tail.
If it’s your first board, maybe you should do a true retro fish… a twin fin. Fins are hard to get right, and attempting a quad on your first board can be quite a challenge. Twin fins are really fast and work great in small/mushy surf, but can still handle overhead waves, plus they give you that true fish feeling.
Vee bottoms on fish are easy to do and increase performance by making turning easier. They put more of the board down into the water, and allow for easier rail-to-rail transitions. Put simply, all you have to do is put your board on the rack bottom up, and in the tail section (back third or so), leave the stringer high, but gradually lower the rails as you move toward the tips. So when viewed from the tail, with the bottom up, you have two panels that slope downward from the stringer to the rail. The vee is usually heaviest between and just in front of the leading edge of the fins. This is called a “panel vee,” and looks like an upside down V. If you dome the panels slightly it’s called a “rolled vee.” A vee ahead of the wide point, found on some big guns or on boards to be ridden in heavy, choppy surf, is called a “spiral” or “reverse vee.”
A vee ahead of the wide point, found on some big guns or on boards to be ridden in heavy, choppy surf, is called a “spiral” or “reverse vee.”
NJ_surfer, I agree with “reverse V” for the V in the front part of the board, but I’m not sure about “spiral V”. “Spiral V”, I believe, is (was) shaped in the last third of a board. Although it might probably be shaped in front -why not?-
A vee ahead of the wide point, found on some big guns or on boards to be ridden in heavy, choppy surf, is called a “spiral” or “reverse vee.”
NJ_surfer, I agree with “reverse V” for the V in the front part of the board, but I’m not sure about “spiral V”. “Spiral V”, I believe, is (was) shaped in the last third of a board. Although it might probably be shaped in front -why not?-
i’m with balsa on the spiral vee. i thought it was back 1/3, in front of the fin, then fading out to flat behind the fin.
I think a lot of the “modern keel” fins out now are single foiled because that’s what surfers today are used to seeing and feeling under their feet.
The theory is that double foiled, straight ahead fins are faster but stiffer, while single foiled, toed and canted fins are looser and more “high performance,” whatever that means. But that so-called performance advantage comes with a price - drag. So they’re slighly slower, but translate into tighter, more powerful turns as the fin tends to suck into the wave more.
Ok…how much toe-in and cant do you run with? I tweaked the design a little given what people were saying although the rocker will probably drop another 1/2" and pulled the middle back an 1"
Where would you put the keels on this? And what size? A subjective question i guess but there seems to be more variation on keels than regular fins. Given a canard or quad set-up i was going to go G5 size + rear set slightly smaller
there are tons of info on fin placement for a fish in the archive. Anywhere from 6 to 12 from the tail, no toe in and double foiled to singel foiled and 1/4" toe. It all works(for different people). Toe in and single side foil is considered an improvement as the old ones would sometimes track(They still do without toe and single side foils, lesson learned the hard way). A bit of vee in the tail is also considered an improvment.
Measuerements are usually close to 16.5" nose and tail, 21.5" WP anywhere from 1 to 6" ahead of center. Traditional it has a flat deck flat deck profile(straight line from tail to nose). Also pretty flat rail to rail, and thick to provide as much floatation as possible. Next to no rocker is key to getting the speed and drive you want, however if you are used to a thruster any less rocker will feel like it give you plenty of speed. Fairly thick rails with a tucked under edge again to preserve flotation and to allow the board to skate freely.
IMHO the org. planshape look a little too curvy. It’s still going to work though, only differently.
Greg