What exactly are "Skip Frye" rails?

General Discussion
1

Hey Guys,

 

      I searched the archives, but I couldn’t find anything specific on this topic. We all know who Skip Frye is and the type of boards that he makes, but my question specifically is about his rails. We all have heard of “Skip Frye” rails, but I’m curious as to what attributes make them so special and unique. This topic could go even further into the specific unique designs that go into a Skip board in regards to size, rocker, etc.

 

Thanks!

2

Thin.

3

First I’ve heard of 'em… Heard of his fish though.  

4

Skip's rails morph through time and shapes. Depending on the shape, say an Egg for instance. They will be hard in the tail at the fins and generally soften as they transition to the nose, anything but boxey. His traditional 50/50 rails are a little knifey. I've really studied his rails and use the concept with more belly in the nose. This makes my rails turn up more in the front for a smooth entry.

5

Having touched ,surfed(sadly not for long),studied a few fryes,

i’d say its a unique way of making rails which are thick and thin in the same time,

means they’re thin and knifey close to the apex and growing fast in volume towards the stinger.

And seen from front to back its a subtle transition from up to down to hard.

When done by skip pure magic…

6

i would seriously consider killing to get back the frye egg i had in the late 70’s…it was so dumb to trade that one!    super smooth rider and nothing sudden or abrupt in the shape, pure flow!

7

Great, thanks for the responses… So, when evaluating the thin knifey rails that evolve into more full ones as you move to midline on the board, what kind of ride does that give you? Does it almost become a “hull”-like ride?

8

G-L-I-D-E.

9

I've had a few Frye longboards that had similar rails on each.  I don't have pics of the transitions but they went from hard down in tail to approx. 60/40 pinched egg in the middle to 50/50 in the nose. 

The boards I had all were 10 footers with panel vee tails, fairly deep belly in center with more shallow belly in the nose.  The front 2/3 of each board was nearly identical to a Hobie Phil Edwards Model. 

Here is a pic of the actual rail contour taken at midpoint on one of them...

 

 

 

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