In the late 80’s I got a board from my favorite shop. It was what they called pro-sand finish and the first time I got one. It was about 6-2, on the thinner side, and I was in my surfing prime. I was surfing just about every day, and I lived right across the street from several really good spots. Within a year I had imploded the rails on both sides of the board. It was really weird, the rails were caved in with about a quarter inch seam running along the axis. I used clear tape and taped up the board and kept using it, but eventually most of the board had this problem on both sides. I think it was because of the weaker glassing, and the heavy compression I was exerting when I did turns. I used to like to do stomping cutbacks where the board would be shoved into the wave 90 degrees. Kinda like how slalom snow ski riders stick their skis on edge and get all that energy sending them back the other way. Never got another sand finish board after that. I like them glassed strong, and it’s OK if it’s heavier.
When I ride on my belly like with a mat or boogey board, flex is great. It helps you make it through the changing face of the wave. I don’t think it’s the same when your center of gravity is up higher like when you stand. I think the leverage you get from standing up taller fits stiffer boards. You need to be standing in a lower
crouch and have cat like reflexes to take advantage of the modern
flexier boards.
Some really good insights here…considering flex is always there , to some degree ( or maybe it should be called “the natural elasticity of the materials” ) , maybe there’s a better balance to be struck between the current trends of construction for flex , and an adequate amount of bouyancy to prevent the loss of drive through too much flex… I don’t think this is at all a new concept , because there are still quite a few very good shapers that have never abandoned the great advatages of well ditributed bouyancy…maybe I’m biased , because I have always prefered single fins , but singles were dropped far too quickly , when thrusters became prominant IMO , and still have some “unfinished business” to contribute to the whole picture of HP boards …when I watch older footage of Buttons , Larry Bertleman or Michael Peterson (to name a few) I’m seeing power lines that don’t seem to exist these days…
Yeah Kayu, single fin boards still quite a bit of room for advancement. At least half of my quiver are single fins. I add sidebites to some and that adds some insurance when the waves get bigger and more powerful. But that’s on wider tails. The narrower tails are all singles. I think singles work better with thinner rails especially along the last
18" or so. I also like a hard tucked edge then a hard knifey edge in
the tail. Guys were just learning how to add wings to keep wider tails under control with single fins.
I think the early singles kept too much thickness up under the chest and not enough further back. Today’s boards keep more thickness further back because that’s where the rider stays. They are also very short, like right around 6’. That allows surfers to keep one foot on the tail and still have a balanced weight distribution. With thrusters and other boards with multiple fins, you have to stay on the tail. With singles you can change the way a board rides by standing further back when you turn or further forward. That’s why you always see guys stepping back to cutback in old surf movies. With your foot over the fin, you can make very tight turns.
My take on volume is that if you can get away with less, you will have a more responsive board. It will also be a bit better getting into the heavier waves since you are sitting lower in the water. Being lower in the water, the wave won’t have a tendency to want to roll under you. The down side is that you can’t ride junky weaker waves without enough volume in your board. That’s why I tend to go smaller as the waves get better, as small as I can paddle into the waves. But today with the heavy crowds, it makes a lot of sense to ride longer boards and learn how to do all the maneuvers you would do on the smaller boards. I just like the way a solid short board feels under my feet. So much control and less fear about it snapping in half.