Hello I’m not a shaper but would like an answer if possible to the following question: Does your standard thruster need to come to such a point? What would happen if you just sawed off the first inch of nose before glassing, keeping the exact same shape? Would this step create an inferior board or put NoseGuard Hawaii out of business?
there is no reason in my opinion for incredibly pointy surfboards. I’ve built them both ways and it makes no difference that I can tell, other than you’re less likely to cause injury, and the board is an inch shorter.
Points are sexy. It was worse in the 80’s. Those things were lethal.
That, plus what guy wants to shorten his favorite stick by an inch anyway…
Thanks everyone. As to the “shorten favorite stick” I’d be ordering it that way before it was shaped. I’ve been speared before so this is an issue for me.
A wise decision, and one that more people should be making.
it’s just little boys wanting bigger units–that’s all it is
not sure why, but I cant surf with a nose guard… I think my eyes tell my brain that my board is longer, therefore thicker, or I have no idea what. Maybe its something just wrong in my brain. But I take the noseguard off and I surf fine… Am I alone?
Gee, putting a clear Nose Cone just might solve your visual problem and protect you and your board.
I dunno, i’ve never been poked with my own board before. And unless we can get Kelly Slater to switch to a board without a point - there is always going to be a million groms in the water with 'em.
Surfboards must be pointy because otherwise the flow index is distorted. Flow index and surfboard pointiness are directly proportional. Take a round longboard nose for example: little to no flow index due to the roundness. This does not apply to the tail of the board unless it is ridden backwards (ie a nonpointed tail should not give a flow index reading in the negatives as opposed to a perfectly pointed tail.
I’ve been speared in the head (Hilo Hospital, 8 stiches, exposed skull) and my brother got it twice from other boards (one thigh, one okole, Castle Hospital both times). Now I don’t make the nose that sharp. Lookie: 1. you don’t surf on the last inch or two of board 2. That last inch or two provides negligible lift. 3. Spear yourself, you’ll get the picture. PS. Stickers don’t make you a better surfer either. They are, though, good temporary ding repair if correctly applied.
Reef type boards do benefit from the pointed nose in fast, hollow waves (displacement/flow), but the tip - in and of itself - can be blunted for safety. (sort of). Actually, a lot of the stuff I see in the racks, these days - have exactly that …squared off tips. I’ll never forget one late summer at Ala Moana “bowls”. Somebody dropped in on me on a late take off, and I got drilled into the “wana”. When I came up, I saw my hyper-extended leash and board several yards away. thats’s the last thing I remember (before the darkness!)…accompanied by that whizzing sound…like a plucked long bow. When the boys slapped me to consciousness, the tip of my board had JUST missed my eye and temple… whacking me SQUARELY on the occipital bone - between (NICE crow’s foot)! I was extremely lucky. Hitting with that force, I would have been dead, for sure. With that pointy tip, “all the better to eat you with”…but even a blunted board would have done damage. Maybe we need full on rubber noses. Good project for manufacturers to come up with. Nose guard is o.k., but with real juice, you’re still gonna get hurt badly. I have heard that the squared -off tip, accompanied by the nose guard will reduce the piercing effect upon impact. “Pierce” Brosnan.
Ive got a dive bag for anyone that is really using the first 2 inches of a thruster to surf. You might as well bring up some clams after pearling. If you think that rounding the tip changes the flow I have a tip for you: after youve shaped that needle-nose put a quarter on it and push it forward until the sides of the quarter are even with the rail and cut. I’ll bet you didnt change the rail. If you dont want to do this you might consider putting a disclaimer on every board you sell or getting some liability insurance. Al Merrick learned the hard way and I for one dont want to loose my house to pay for an injury lawsuit.
a blunted tip board does not have to be squared off (personally I think that looks a bit lacking aesthetically). I’ve been making my own boards with an elliptical tip shape or a radius of between 1/2" and 1" depending on the size and type of board. I think it looks just as nice as a point and it’s just obviously less likely to penetrate a human body upon impact. Odd are you are going to hit someone else with the tip of your board, but you may hit yourself too. There is no reason to make them more dangerous than they inherently are. As for flow, I have noticed that if I intentionally paddle the board with the nose barely underwater, I can see a change in flow over the board, but only for about the first 6 inches of the board. The water wraps around the nose slightly differently than it would with a really pointy tip. But then, I don’t SURF with that part of the board underwater, and you probably don’t either.
It doesn’t take much force for the nose of the board to cause damage, since all the force of the blow is going through a very small area (the extreme tip). I popped up after a wipe out only to have my board “float” into my lower jaw halfway between my chin and lower lip. The point of the board went through my face and cut through my gums all the way to the jaw bone. The board had very little speed during the impact and no power or additional weight behind it. The sad part for me was that earlier the same day of the accident, my nose guard fell off in the tip of my board bag. Had it not fallen off, I would have been spared 3 sets of very painful stitches. The human face has a lot of blood vessels and a lot of nerves. So any injuries tend to bleed a lot and hurt more than other parts of the body (except the hands). Nose guards are good but would probably do nothing to protect a person from a head-on nose first collision with a rider standing on the board. Better than nothing, though.
Hey I did an experiment a bit back, took my old 6’6" and cut 2" off the nose, glassed it and rode it. Looks kinda funny, but didn’t change a thing. Still have the board… I was actually thinking about chopping an inch or 2 off the tail next, and make it into a “fish.” …also, those little helgies are always busting the tips off of their boards noses, and they alway seem to rip on them for months afterward. [wink] -Carl
case and point. There is no argument. These are two identical boards. One has 1" removed and rounded. 1". That’s nothing. 