Hard edged, no tuck sharp sharp sharp, for most speed.
I put like rolled/tucked on most of my boatrd that I most recently made and its suposed to be small waveish… hmm…
Doesn’t make sense to bother to tuck the edges on a board designed for waves under chest high.
Slow, small, no fear waves need the most speed, edge, and planing power, not control in rough conditions or ease of turning without rail catch.
BALANCE the elements of design. Choose which elements you wish to emphasize (in this case rocker, surface area, core and rail volume) and organize these elements to work with the others (bottom contours, rails, template.)
There is almost and infinite number of “designs” that perform well in small, mushy, gutless waves - waves where generating your own speed and power is required. Those designs would include retro fish, twinnies, and single fins; grovel oriented short boards; medium and high volume short boards; and a variety of “hybrids” and LBs. The MOST IMPORTANT element(s) vary in each of these designs.
Ultimately, you can emphasize the elements that work best for you in your favorite little mushy wave - and synchronize them with the other fundamental requirements - and you will have a board that performs just the way you want it to.
release …
maximum release …
good area for planeing at low speeds …
tail area to drive off at low speeds …
hard edges for speed in low power …
bottom contours to a minimum if any at all …
bottom contours redirect the flow of water , redirecting the flow of water takes energy , that energy could be better spent converted to speed instead of control …
flatter rockers …
thinner rails to offset the wider, flatter features of the board which would other wise make it harder to turn if you didnt compensate by thinning the rail …
its one thing to make a board go in small waves , but you want it to shralp as well …
any smaller than this and my longboard comes out …
regards
BERT
What about tail rocker ? The last 12" of the board. How much will make a board loose and want to turn more vertical ? Thanks DR
I think that rocker is huge in the personality of the board esp. the last 6" or so. For small waves, I found that bottom contour is just as big an influence (if not more) than rocker… (assuming you are getting physical to generate speed). If you are relying upon positioning on the wave, then clean rocker and low drag will get the speed…