What would you shape for me?

General Discussion
1

Hey guys,

I have been on sways for years now, crapping out my own thoughts in a board format

But now i realize … all you guys together are brighter and smarter than i am alone, so if i tell you what i want, i will surely get some [not all] interesting suggestions…

So, what i ride 75 % of the time is waist to just headhigh waves, Windswell

beach breaks only

in the netherlands

apparantly a bit texan/east coast like

so mostly soft and mellow, sometimes fast and steep, windy, but always fun.

now for what i want… a board that has a little paddling Ease [wind, chop, currents] and wave catching Ease… but still does let me mow those waves down, slice, carve, float, hack, destroy… kill it, i do have a bit of agression and anger that i love letting out when surfing

i weigh 172 pounds, or 78 kg…

can make a compsand.

foot size is EU42, 27 cm, 10.62 inches

i wear 5/4 suit with booties and gloves in winter, 3/2 bare in summer.

the ones i had/have…

thrusters, have had several, the one i like best for better waves is my 6.3192.5/16 coil [duh]

minimal: EPS_EPOXY 7.0*19.5 loved it, should i shorten it to 6.6?

have tried single fins – pretty fun, but i miss maneuvrability

my 6.6, too thin at 1.8 inch, rocker was near flat, bad board all in all.

i also had a 6.6 with thick round rails that i loved, but the lean tail and extra tail rocker made it perform bad… catched waves well thoug, and very very short arcs…

and video, where you see it is HEAVY, slow, hard to gain speed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bBZISD-2KM

My Quad and a UK friend

this board has a 15.67 tail!, 20.67 wide, 2.5 thick, 3.3 kg, lacks drive and vert, does insane 180’s

I made a 6.6 * 22 * 16 tail, single fin, catches all the waves, lacks vert…

no pics, but flat rocker, bottom, round rails, wide wide wide…

Made a 6.0, too little wave catchin ability…

Made a 6.4*19 st… single fin, lots of tail rocker, lacks vert, too heavy, fins not set as thruster… soft rails, -0- hard edge.

and a 6.420.17/3215.5 tail, thin thin rails, concave, flies, does go vert, but not as well as i want to…, not enough float for windy conditions, only cleaner waves…

i prolly forget a few.,. :wink: i threw in the bin…

2

How about a 5’11" x 20 3/4" x 2 5/8" Quad Fish?

I surf mainly the same type of waves, east coast us windy junky short period windswell, and i find the wide planing surface of the fish coupled with 2 fins on each rail is the perfect match for speed in junk and easy release and maneuverability from the weak slop to when it gets good. The board is so versatile it could be a one board quiver for my area.

16 1/2 nose, 16 3/4 tail, 9-10.5 fish tip to tip, 3 1/2 nose rocker, 1 1/2 tail rocker

3

funny you suggested that size quad is exactly what I would surf there too. go be see franky at cellblock at utrect and borrow his 5’11dq try it out. Tell him I sent you to try it

4

Hey Dave,

The Quad board pictured with 6.1*20.75 [wp] *16.27 had a flat bottom, lower volume round rails, tucked edge.

lacked drive and the possibility to bank it hard into a turn with h2 medium fronts and GS backs…

what would your recommendations be for the bottom contours, fins and rails?

slight concave up front, going to Vee/Double concave? For easier front foot direction-giving, and tail sinking possibilities?

Cheers

5

I’d agree on the fish, and second Dave on the rails. I’ve been surfing a 5’5 1/2", 20.5", 2 3/8" quad fish for the last few months, it goes really well in clean surf but is fun on wind swell days too. Single concave and the same radius rails I use on shortboards with a kind of step deck so the volumes mostly under my feet. I’m a bit smaller than you so scale up a couple of inches. I can imagine it’d be good on North sea beach breaks. I’ll take some photos if you want?

6

Although I’d probably ride a fish in those kinds of conditions, I’m not sure that’s what you really want.

You’ve already noted that your previous boards with wider noses don’t go vert well, so if you want to

‘‘slash and bash", you’ve got to keep that nose down under 13’’ to get up the face (and also put it on

a rail quickly for cutties,etc.).

IMO you’d like something akin to my “widerboard”, a wider shortboard that has enough planing surface

to catch waves a little easier, gain speed quickly, yet still retains a lot of the ‘‘quickness’’ of a normal

shortboard. The waves in your youtube vid have pockets of power where you can hit it, but you’ve got

to connect through the flat spots between. We do surf waves like that some of the time here in Florida,

and it breeds a reactive type of surfer who seizes opportunities but is able to “connect the dots” with

ease. If you can rip that stuff, good waves become a playground.

7

Hey Tej,

Yes, i would like to see a pic if it is not too much asked for!

Wouter

8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bBZISD-2KM

“IT MUST BE LOVE”…

Come to Portugal in the spring and I tell you the best places, that you won´t forget…

9

I’m not fond of quads in weak waves. Given what you’ve already tried, I’d consider a modfish type template with a twinzer fin setup. (15" Nose, 20.5" wp @C+2", 15.5" tail, 7" tip-to-tip). Flat bottom with just a touch of vee in the tail, tucked rail all the way through. I’m slightly heavier than you and I use a 5.25" twinnie for the main fin (@ ~9" from the tail) and a 3.25" sidebite at 10* for the front fin. It’s a versatile fin setup that allows you to move a little forward to trim when it’s slow and yet drive off the tail when you want to crank off a turn. For me, a twinzer strikes a nice balance between control and drive in small and/or weak waves. It’ll be more carvy than snappy, though. The downside is a twinzer modfish would max out once the waves get overhead.

10

I gotta agree with Mike Daniels a bit on this one.

If the waves are short, why would you want a 20" inch wide flat board? So you can stand in trim for 3 seconds while the pocket 20ft behind you could have been bashed 4 times?

I reckon the best if you are young and energetic is more towards the performance shortboard side.

maybe lower the nose entry and fatten it as well but you want a responsive board for unpredictable surf

11

Well I said in my first reply that I would use a DQ quad personaly, as tcats my ride of choice, the DQ has high Vee in the nose and a double Vee with it’s apexes around the fins resulting in a single concave through beneath your feet and low rails in the tail. if you can get over to see one at cellblock you will see the bottom and fin layout is quite different than the usual retro quads that are made by the general populace! That’s what we do at diverse. Now 5-10 years ago when I was much younger and surfing much more I would have used a thruster shortboard 1" wider than normal and 2" shorter with a flatter rocker thru the centre and more flipped Nose and tail extremities, a light Vee in the nose and a slight narrow single concave only 4-6" wide running thru the centre. An addition of a concave deck with fuller rails rounds of the key differences of excellent forgiveness and quick reactions. You will find all our boards look quite standard but I add many small difference to enhance the performance. I can’t seem to stop experimenting with little contour changes until I have a real purpose built board that looks acceptable first glance to the mainstream but is essentially diverse

12

This is actually a five fin pro box neo zap shaped by Roger Hinds. Roger is holding the board. Inspired by Cheyne’s first pink railed zap prior to the really wide tails. The board is 6’6’'12 x 20 x 15.5 x 3. You could go smaller. Double flyer. This pic is of the board unfinished. It went to Hawaii.

13

Something like these? Compsand style?

http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=1486633&an=0&page=0#Post1486633

14

Challenge yourself to make a loose single.

15

Greg Griffin’s phone # ?

16
Quote:
Greg Griffin's phone # ?

Please tell us OTAY what is the currently % off Surftechs at the moment.

17

I would go with either:

Quad fish in the 6’0 to 6’2 range, 15x21x15x2.25, flat to vee with some double concave out the back or full double concave (think speed dialer). Down rails, soft tucked edge the whole way, wide point 3 inches ahead of center.

Or… a modern fish, as already recommended. Shaped out of a fish blank, keeping the natural rocker, but adding a shallow single to double concave, and going with a thruster setup. I’d say 13x21x14.5x2.75 with modern shortboard rail profile, but a bit fuller in volume, and a flattish deck. Hard tucked edge in the back, to softened edge in the middle, to no edge up front. Wide point back 3 inches.

18

Hi

Given that you compare the surf to texas and that I don’t see a traditional fish in you quiver, I would go with one. Put in a bunch of fin boxes so yo can use it at a keel twin, a quad or thruster if need be. I’m on a slightly different side of the pond, but in some conditions this is my favorite board. Not the best for vertical surfing, but it’s the board that makes it possible to surf crappy waves when a stock shortboard just wouldn’t do at my skill level and the only alternative would be a longboard. Dims 6’2"x21.5"x2.5"(or thicker if you dare), 16"nose, 16.5" tail. To be able to go vertical more easilly, you could mod the standard fish template ever so slightly, a fraction more rocker, pull in the nose and tail by a 1/4" to 1/2". Slightly more like a betty rocketfish. Maybe add wings or flyers.

19

I have enjoyed reading this thread. I too am looking to better my surfing and really dig Swaylocks. Great idea to get input from so many. Here is my experience in a nut shell:

I ride east coast waves, weigh 188lbs + suit, boots, etc and ride a Rusty 6’4" quad. http://www.surftech.com/…BDS&shaper=Rusty I generally ride this board when it is wasit high+. If it is under waist high, I ride a really thick single fin retro board or a longboard.

Like you, I have tried longboards, fun boards, single fins, twinnies, thrusters… everything. I feel that the quad has really helped me generate more speed, and even get a little closer to vertical on an occasional top turn. (I plan to be improving my top turns by subtracting about 5-10 lbs from my mid-section). Good luck, and let us know what you decide.

20

finally i’m not working and it’s daylight! here’s the pictures.