Time to play: Whats wrong with this board?

General Discussion
1

I am sorry. I am not a shaper. I am a copier. And a marginal one at that. Don’t tell the guys I’ve sold boards to. I’ve already spent the money.

OK. I hurt my shoulder a while back. Needed a bigger board. Couldn’t carry a big LB. Didn’t want a mini mal. So I dreamed up this 8 foot long (fits in my 8 ft bag, that’s why), pointy-nose-mal-long-short-board. Epoxy. Very light. I gave it some extra tail rocker to help me turn the big thing, gave it a flatter rocker going forward. Details

Nose rocker: 4.6 in, Tail rocker: 3.0 in, .

Nose width: 12.0 in, Wide: 21.5 about 2 inches back of middle, tail: 16.75 in

I have surfed it 4 or five times. Loaned it to friends. The vote seems to be that no one likes it. Of course they all ride 7 foot and under boards, and aren’t much for longboards.

Seems to bury the nose on take off (is the “foil” off? not enough foam towards the nose?). Rode it yesterday in shoulder high off shore conditions. Even on the drop after I was up and turning, I managed to punch the nose in. But the board was fast.

Aside from the tendency to pearl, it just seems to fall short of expectations. (But it paddles like a dream)

I am searching for a board like this for mushey longboard beach break days that I can carry inside my car and after catching a wave, if it jacks up a little and shows some face, I can turn it on and do some manuvers. Sort of that mystical middle ground surfboard. Not a LB, but not a sinker.

Anyway, if I try this again, what design mods should I consider?

BTW, the quad fins are placed according to the G Griffin school of thought. They were a retro fit using FCS’s new plugs. I like them. I left the rear future box in to confuse everyone. The color is just free-handed tape off with tempra paint. And the blank was cut by the old SFoam guys. Boy I miss them. Perfect outlines and rockers. They are rumored to be coming back.

OK, let me have it.

2

Balance is off. Hard edges in the back? Slow rail to rail? The tail is riding too high. Try it as a three. Soften the tail edges. Just a little at a time with 220 wet and dry. Gotta reduce lift in the tail and loosen the thing up.

3

Balance? Shoulda known. What a great article that was. It is still in the archives if anyone wants to know. Everyone should read it.

Yes, hard edges in the back. Yes, slow rail to rail. I’ll take your advice. Maybe try it with 5 fins to really pull the tail down.

How would you change the design? I may build it again one day.

BTW, I still have one of your old Mileniums. 8-10. I added quad fins and have enjoyed the heck out of it both as a thruster and quad. It really lit up with the quads. I built the 8-0 before acquiring the Milenium. ( I got it from Andy up in CHS. He still had 2 more. That board was such a home run. I took it to Mex last yr at Salidita and got lots of envious comments).

4

That board of yours has a lot of tail for the width of the nose. Building another you may find that balancing the template may help. But I think you can save this one by softening those egdes and adding some more fin in the middle. Larger rail fins will also slow rail to rail which is probably making it stiff. Smaller sides and a larger back with help the balance. I’d do the rails first. Then play with fins. Does it want to spin out at all?

5

No spin out. It is rock solid in the turns. It has a little single concave. Which probably add to the lift problem in the tail.

6

Too many fins, with too much toe-in. Try it as a single, the ‘‘faults’’ may disappear suddenly, and it will increase the boards speed capability.

7

Just lots of lift back there. Get rid of some of it and it’ll be fine. I’ve had boards like this one myself. The rebalancing fixed them fine. Just takes a bit of figuring.

8

I was gonna say that nose looks a bit narrow compared to the tail for an 8 ft’r

You said your coming off a longboard.

you may need to learn to ride the tail a bit more

9

…the first problem is that you designed a shortboard, but long…

a shortboard is intended to ride with the back foot near the tail…not this case,

so you re tried to rides it like a longer board,…but the nose is too thin and narrow to compensate your body weight and forces forward

etc

10

Maybe a bit more tip flip the last 8 inches the next time to correct the tendency to pearl.

11

I concur with Greg Loehr that the fins may be playing a part. The volume balance may be different but it looks workable.

Have you considered trying it as a single? Some longboard fins are designed to keep the tail down. A “hook” in the trailing edge of the outline seems to act as an anchor. Maybe something kinky like a “squirrel” fin or Greenough VI just as an experiment? At this point, you have nothing to lose.

Obviously the shape is a done deal… I like it! I think there is a fin set up that will give you some great rides on that board.

12

My needs are simple. I just want it all.

When I was doing my surfboard shaper impersonation, I thought I would go with a low volume nose so I would have a chance to duck dive it. So the nose does go down easily. ha.

Seriously, I’m going to try it as a single, and try it with smaller fins.

BTW, the toe in is really not that much. 1/4 inch on the front and 1/8 on the back.

If I get anywhere with this I will report back.

Thanks to all. Good ideas.

13

Lots of good recommendations for you to play around with. You might also want to check the toe on those front fins. What happens when you run a straight edge from your fins to the nose?

14
Quote:

Balance? Shoulda known. What a great article that was. It is still in the archives if anyone wants to know. Everyone should read it.

Searched for “balance” by gregloehr, nada. Sounds like a good article, anyone got a link?

15

I think this is it.

http://www.swaylocks.com/resources/detail_page.cgi?ID=546

16

Are those the FCS fins with inside concave? Trade em out for the standard black, like the YU and the GL sidebites. Those fins drag like hell if you’re not pumping the shit out of them ala thruster jocks. If you change out those fins, I’m betting you have a much better board immediately.

Oh yeah and throw a pad on if it gets any better–and if it doesn’t, can I have it? ; )

17

you riding that thing on the gulf coast?

I tried to make the ultimate gulf coast board once, rode just how you described but mine had a 16 inch tail, was 6 foot 6 inches, and had about 1.75 maybe 2 inches of tail rocker… thing would fly down the line but didnt have alot of nose volume so you really had to ride it on the back foot or you were gonna plummet…

18

… is it just me or does everyone hate single fins anymore? Try a 9" - 10" fin. I’ve even used a 8" flex fin on my 9’2" and loved it … I could be wrong, but if you can steer that baby with your front foot it’s not going to give you any trouble. Some times one fin is all you need … and the longer the rail, the softer it should be, shouldn’t it? I use single fins and soft 50/50 rails on my SUP’s - people love 'em (yes they’re for flat water and small waves only)! Great thread, I’ve been wondering what shapers with a lot of expeience think about this …

19
Quote:
Quote:

Searched for “balance” by gregloehr, nada. Sounds like a good article, anyone got a link?

Definitely in the archives.Search ’ theory of balance ’ and it comes straight up.

20

The three things that I see are:

• The rocker seems to have a large flat area in the middle of the board that could be pitching the board forward. It may just be the photo, but there seems to be a sharp transition to a flat spot about a third of the way up from the tail that turns flat… that could be orienting your board to want to dive.

• The profile thickness thins out really quickly at the nose. This could also help with your nose-dives.

• It appears your rails are hard from tip to tail. If the rails are too “down” in the nose, it could be hanging the board up and causing your woes.