A friend just finished a new board and launched it this morning in a nice 4-5ft. face rolling south swell. From the first ride it appeared to be fast and knifed through sections surprisingly well, even passing around a few guys caught in the white. Several of us, most of whom are smarter than I, pondered the reasons why it performed so “magically” compared to his other recently shaped boards which are very similar but ever so slightly varying in dimensions and shape.
Though several argued a flat bottom board with more knifed rails is fastest and holds better, the general consensus on this day was that the pulled in nose 17” with rounded point, wide tail16” with 8” block, 23” width at mid, on this 10’4” board was a big part. The first third of the board is a flat hull slightly rounding through the mid section, with the final fourth tail end of the board being more of a rounded “V”. 50/50 rails, 3 ½” tail and 5” nose rocker. The rider is 115 pounds.
I told the guys I would defer to my buds on Swaylocks and bring a new set of ideas when we meet tomorrow. Sooo, generally speaking, what are your thoughts as to the optimum design features / dimensions to give hold, speed, and ability to cut through sections on a longboard.
i reccommend freehanding a 48 x 20 rough outline onto 1/4" plywood and jigsawing the outline with your eyes closed/squinted just enough so u dont harm yourself, but enough to let it be random, glassing it doub 4 deck and bot and then gettin some duckfeet and then go surf it in fast overhead waves and feel the speed and control and see what your friends think
I doubt he’s interested in plywood and he doesn’t do flippers, but I’ll pass on the suggestion. Meanwhile, back to the subject…The point here, obviously not made clear (sorry), is not whether big guys go fast and little guys don’t or what length is best for what size wave, but rather, that this board is fastER than the other boards of same length with the same rider.So, the question again for any interested in commenting, is: generally speaking, what are your thoughts as to the optimum design features / dimensions to give hold, speed, and ability to cut through sections on a longboard.
There’s more than one way to do it no doubt, but one thing is certain: that the greatest speed down the line goes to the setup with the best thrust/drag ratio. . .
I have been using similar bottom contours, flat to sight roll to flat paneled V in the tail for several years. This combo with soft rails in the mid section to modern rails in the tail make for a board that rolls up on rail nice and slices thru white water fast and smoothly. The paneled V has the ability to provide a lot of thrust with out being stiff like a completley flat bottom. Also this type of tail does not need" deck kick" to help it turn as seen by your 115 Lb. rider. You are on a track that really opens up a LOT of design possibilities.
