Vee in a fish

General Discussion
1

Hi,

I’m making a fish with the following spec

5’11" x 22 1/4"

Nose 17"1/4"

Tail 18"1/2"

Pins 13"

Rocker 3" & 1"

6" Butt Crack

Wide point 3" forward

Bottom flat to Vee in last 18"

Rails 60/40 straight through with 1/8" Tuck in last 18"

It will be used in less than perfect conditions,

Is the bottom contour appropriate ?

and how much Vee is appropriate given the width of the board and the conditions to be used in ?

Thanks for your help

2

a lotwill depend on the fins and fin foil

3

I think for guys riding fast waves, or lightweight, or small feet, more V, up to a full 3/8th between the feet, is appropriate.

For pure small wave/slow wave performance, slightly less than 1/4" is fine, measure off one rail.

You gotta take into account the most favorable waves you plan to ride with that fish, then make the tail, bottom, and rails accordingly.

No board can be ideal in ALL conditions, so target in what you need, fudge the rest.

4

I Plan on making double foiled 9 X 5 plywood keel fins. Its rare I get clean glassy conditions its usually onshore or a bit of cross shore chop, & I’m about 5’8" 165lbs

5

for onshore and sideshore choppy stuff id consider a twin or quad set-up instead of keels, lot more responsive and i find them better then keels in almost all conditions. a little vee is useful in getting such a wide board on rail. flat is faster but these boards are fast no matter what, and vee will help you convert that down the line speed into cutback speed. also rember if your gonna put v in it for maximum carving style you might wanna consider foiling it out for more knifier rails. just my opinion on fish.

6

With that much width you have to be careful of not having a board that rides like a big slab of foam. With the double sided keel fins you may want to consider a little roll or rolled V in the forward part of the board going into a slight single concave between the fins.

7

Burnsie…unless you are are a big dude that is going to be a big-O hunk of fish meat. …having a good vee might help it though…The vee will help you when going from rail to rail. good luck.

8

Thanks everybody, Looking at the old boards in ‘essential surfing’ It seems appropriate to put in a modest amount of Vee right through, as you say. 1/16" 6" fom the nose to 1/8" at the centre then to 1/4" at the tail and as you say rolled Vee up front to panel V at tail.

Thanks again

9

I’m with Lee, I like 3/8" minimum. For good waves I like a blended mid vee and for slop I like the vee to be all in the tail behind the fins, deepest at the very tail, a Lance/Richy Collins type thing.

10

Vee in a fish is like opening a parachute at the beginning of a drag race.Herb

11

Wouldn’t that depend on the rocker of that particular fish, as they are all different.

Boards with almost any amount of tail rocker, including fish’s, can have almost 1/2" of V between the feet, than faired out to dead flat across exiting the tail. That would keep the speed.

Just how much speed do you need when riding a fish anyways? A good surfer can make that same wave with an MBM full nose and tail kicked, so maybe the rider has a bearing on the speed of the board.

Most waves, I turn and hit the top because the wave is too slow and would be outrun if I pumped down the line.

12

Not in a fish,unless you want it to go slow.

…it’s to short,has alot less rocker especially in the tail,and a whole lot of tail area.Vee will only slow it down.The fins dictate the turn,vs. vee with a single fin.Also vee will keep it from skating correctly.Herb

13

fishes are made to be flat,

but you can put vee in it if you want its your creation

14

Geez, I didn’t know there were so many hardfast rules that come with each shape.

I thought a shaper was free to incorperate any design he deems necessary to alter the performance of a board to his liking.

I thought…speed kills…

15

I mentioned in another post that the beauty of shaping your own boards is that you can incorporate whatever theories you’ve come across and create what you think is right for you. Sometimes it works, other times it doesnt.

In my experiences my instincts have worked more than not worked for me. Good luck with your design.

16

If that helps i have Freeline fish (John Mel) that has some kind of subtle triplane bottom in some areas (specially under the fron foot), and this helps in the rail to rail transition without loosing speed as a V would do.

Anyway, what about a mild V with double concave?

All the fish i’ve seen has some kind of flat bottom with multiple concaves.