Hi all, I am a new shaper to be and an beginner/intermediate surfer in the Virginia Beach area. I am looking to shape my own board soon to have something to tinker with and to have more connection with surfing. My issue is I want to make a single fin groveler in the range of 5’10"x20"x3" (Rough estimates on width and thick). I am trying to understand what bottom contour to decide. I don’t feel I have enough time in the water to fully understand all the feels of different boards (I am in my third year surfing and my first season on my newish funboard). I have tried getting help from salesman at the local WRV but they only want to sell me a board and are not the best at helping me understand. The closest I got to an answer was from surfersteve.com where he said deep fins and flat bottoms take the place of concaved, vee’d, shallow fin quads. So my first idea was a first 1/3 vee, flat to a maybe vee in the tail. I want to make a one board quiver (mainly to build a sturdy board that is a bit pricier but can ride more and last longer). Thanks in advance for help and/or links
-My outline will be similar to the 757Surfboard’s Hadron or 264
My advice, since this is your first board, would be to give it a flat bottom. You’re not making a high performance board so there’s not really much point in getting too technical. Try to keep things as simple as possible.
I like singlefins a lot for weak conditions. But with that said…
I would put the idea of the singlefin groveler using a shortboard shape with a high tail rocker out of your mind. It won’t work. At all. That’s why nobody does them. A sub-6ft singlefin can work in juicy waves when you don’t need to create your own energy, but it takes fins out at the rails to get your mojo going in weak surf conditions.
Aside from that, most functional singlefin designs for small conditions rely on length and surface area for drive. I wouldn’t do a singlefin on any shape shorter than about 6-8 or so, and that would be in the form of an egg or a mini-pig. And surfing one requires a very different approach from surfing a shortboard.
If you want to look at short singlefins that are functional you can check out Geoff McCoy’s designs, but even those are known for working better when there’s some size and energy in the water. He sets his templates and volumes up so that there’s more mass under your rear foot and he runs a fairly low tail rocker with a rolled vee (he calls it a dome). Those are not an easy design to shape, either.
A twin could work on the shapes you’re considering, although better with a lower tail rocker. A 2+1 could work if you ran larger sides and a 6" or 6.5" fin in the center. But no way would I do a single on that shape in those lengths.
By the way, if you’re coming down from a funboard length, I’d keep that board for small/weak conditions and do a board that’s aimed at faster conditions. Many surfers maintain a quiver of several boards, each aimed at different conditions. That way you don’t have to make so many compromises.
hi, fellow VA guy here, i agree mostly, hope i don’t spoil it.
if you want to copy 757 go for the 264, looks like a better shape for you from your info given. from their website sounds like they have a rocker that is good for what you need. caveat: never seen one in person myself.
get someone to help you set it up for 5 boxes if this intimidates you - you will learn more by having the option and get versatility. 4 fins helps you stand and cruise on mush, given an appropriate board shape and size. depending on your style skill and how the board comes out you may end up using it with 3 fins later or with bigger waves. As an aspiring shaper having some options to play with can teach you a lot, also.
it’s true wrv has a lot of models, and you also may encounter a blase attitude if you don’t get help from the right person. that said, the wrv funfish shape or a relative/descendant of that would be worth studying also. i got a board i like recently that is related (i believe), made by mike daniel who shaped for wrv for a long time before starting his own brand (coil). i think the funfish is probably mostly based off this board which is called a flashback fish. wrv website now has a lot of new models, not sure what to make of all of them. havent been in their store for a while.
there are also other good options to study from what is around VAB and OBX too, the gist is a fatter version of shortboard with some extra width in the tail and nose, no heavy bottom contours, not too much rocker but a little more out the tail, and 4 or 5 fin setup. this kind of shape has been developed around here for many years and in FL too, not that there aren’t similar things from elsewhere…
A twin could work on the shapes you’re considering, although better with a lower tail rocker. A 2+1 could work if you ran larger sides and a 6" or 6.5" fin in the center. But no way would I do a single on that shape in those lengths.
So I actually managed to get an associate to give some solid answers and not just try and talk me out (Albiet I left out the part where I wanted to shape from wood). He told me a twin fin with a fat tail would help with the mush and offered the Bangarang as a model to model my board on. I learned alot also when I switched my board’s fins to quads instead of a thruster, and man was it fast and it felt so much nicer to ride, so I was thinking of going for a 4+1, 2+1, Twin, quad futures set-up. I also realized to save weight I could only oil the board and that would allow me to rework trouble areas after testing.
get someone to help you set it up for 5 boxes if this intimidates you - you will learn more by having the option and get versatility. 4 fins helps you stand and cruise on mush, given an appropriate board shape and size. depending on your style skill and how the board comes out you may end up using it with 3 fins later or with bigger waves. As an aspiring shaper having some options to play with can teach you a lot, also.
I have recently switched my thruster to a quad and was amazed at the difference (first time riding quad) I felt much faster and more stable. This was on 6/5 on 1st street.
if you want to copy 757 go for the 264, looks like a better shape for you from your info given. from their website sounds like they have a rocker that is good for what you need
I am still trying to get the AKUshaper to agree with me on contouring the blank to the shape, but the 264 is my goto, just with a diamond tail instead.
BWD and GDADDDY thanks for the advice mates, the more I get this shaping software down the more confident I feel in using my Middle School shop skills on a hunk of cedar or pine. I have decided to go flat on bottom but would I benifit at all from running some minor Vee in the tail or nose for turning and paddling respectibly?