im no guru but i always hear people talk about water wrapping, sucking around thicker rails
if it does then isnt it adding drag to the surfboard?
if it does why use round rails at the front of a board?
if it does then why arent shortboard always faster than guns or malibus?
if it doesnt then why arent thinner boards noticeably faster?
Hi Clint,
Keeping it real basic, The water “sucking” to the rail gives control. Control creates drive down the line. Drive down the line is speed. While they do cause friction, the net effect is greater speed than if you had no control.
Speed is aided by release. The rail looses its “suck” toward the tail. That is release.
If you don’t have control, your board would be little more than a piece of driftwood washing to the shore.
Alaias don’t use rails or fins for control. They only have the bottom of the board itself. So it isn’t totally necessary to always use conventional rail designs to go fast. Alaias take full advantage of low friction. But without the “sucking” rail and fins, you are skidding rather than turning.
Generally, thinner boards aren’t faster because they sink.
But I like your questioning.
It isn’t just thicker rails, it’s the roundness of it. A softer (50-50) type rail allows water to flow up and over towards the deck and slow the board. Hard rails (think Hynson) release the water better and are faster. Hard rails to the nose, like the boards in the 70s, were a bit of handful and not easy to control. My favorite rails are what Hynson has been putting on his boards the last decade, down rails the length of the board and relatively hard from middle and progressive to the tail. There are others that have incorporated his rail into their designs. Lopez said that Mike Hynson’s rail design was the most significant surfboard advancement during that early period.
Sharp rails work well nose to tail on you’re sub 5 foot wide fun boards I have tried it with longer boards and they track really bad, you have to have extra rocker to help eliminate tracking.
with the extra rocker needed it will be hard to paddle and catch waves however fin size and placement can also allow you to use less rocker.
as far as hard rails as Chandler(Griffin)
he’ll also remind you that a surfboard is more than just a rail
one of the guru’s of design Tom Morey has two types of rear rails now
his afterburner rails on his swizzles and his new heater rail design
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7c-lIN3f1k
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…so I watched the clips, in the first one, no waves, but the boards do not work actually; in the second the board works, but also I see a middle stringer so I do not know the materials and technique involved. In the last one, actually I do not see anything better than you can do on a PU modern egg; also you can go more radical with a PU shortboard.