kneeboard design body to board comparison

[Don]

TC,

All these comments are great but don't forget to factor the wave you'll be riding - hollow; lined up point; short stubby peaks; slow mushy cruizers... all these waves will have your board performing differently.

Stats:
Age - 42
Years riding - 27
Height - 6'0"
Weight - 185 lbs

Waves / boards
- overhead beach break with punch / 5'10" x 23.5 quad fish
- double overhead beach break & points / 6'0" x 22.5 quad pin
- big reef waves / 6'3 x 22.5 tri pin
- smaller surf / 5'10" x 23.5 quad rounded square
- slow small surf / 5'9" x 24.5 quad round tail

These are personal preferences for the waves I typically ride... your mileage may vary. (Mark Robertson makes my quiver look small and he rides boards from just about every shaper I know of!)

Attached is a sample:

[Dunc]

I am 5' 8" and just over 11 stone. My standard board is 5' 9" and 23 inches.
Flexman I disagree with your parting comments. Kneeboarders can get the as much air and deep look at the Simon Farrer, Baden Smith, The Simpson brothers and co. There are a lot more payed stand ups who can concentrate on pushing the limits of the sport, so their new levels are more publicised. Kneelos are pushing and I would say with their own style different to the stand ups. I do agree with you that George Greenoughs designs have relevance today they just need to be thought about and applied.

[stemple]

I am 6'2" 220 lbs

My Boards are;

8 foot or less - Parkes 6'0" 23.25 inches wide, quad fin
larger waves - John Mel 6'2" swash tail 22.75' wide, quad fin
- Blast Tri Fin 6'2" rounded pin 23" wide

Good Hollow six foot surf - John Mel 5'11" 22.25" channeled swash tail quad fin

I had a 5'8" romo but needed perfect waves to have fun on it

[luizO]

Hi TC,

Iam 6'0 and 180 lb

My boards are few.....

1. - 5'9 22 1/2 Australian Syle Tri-Fin FCS G6 template - for all beachbreaker's wave I have in Brazil.
2. - 6'2 22 1/2 Quad ( Made only for my trips to Indonesia where I really need every inch of it in Ulu 7-8+....)

Cheers
LuizO

[DavidW]

TC,
Dons advice and the followups are are correct. You need to have a board that is shaped for the type of waves you are going to ride on a regular basis.
I am 6'1", 190Lbs., 37yo.
I ride primarily beach break waves.
I may be a little different but ride the same board in all conditions:
6'0" X 22 5/8" width X 3 1/4" thickness, 4 fin round pin.
If you are riding a super sucky reef, look at getting a Lis type fish. They are insane in the right type of wave. Also the spoon is a great design if you have a Rincon or Kirra in your back yard. Not so great if you ride a lot of beach break.
Also important but not really mentioned here are deckpads. These will save your board and your knees. Check out Parks site for info. You will waste your money if you do not pad your board.

[Eric Carson]

Tc,
I've been surfing all types of boards since the early 80's and have kneeboarded for only 6 months. 5'11" 200lb.'s and 41y/o.
I started with a used board from Mark Robertson, a Dean Cleary quad. Last month I got a Blast Aussie tri 5'11" 23".
The pics in my photo gallery up to now are all on the Dean Cleary Quest model. It's a big floaty board and for me it has been a great board to learn the basics on. The Blast board is definately faster, looser but they're both fun.

[Beeline2.0]

..

[doc]

Yo TC,
here's the body to board info. for my latest stick.

Body: 6' 2" 200 lbs. 41 Year old geezer.

Board: Romanosky Rounded Pin Quad

Length: 5’ 9”
PS. I'm a wave bigot, only go out in fairly decent waves. Later,
--John

Like John, I'm a wave bigot. Life is too short to surf garbage waves. And when my home break is good ( http://fbates.home.attbi.com/sp2.htm ) it's quite good. When it's bad, it's time to go sailing or fishing or rowing or.....

At 5'10", weighing between 165 ( after a while in the tropics ) and 185 ( after a winter working on deck ) I'm happy with my 5'4" Romos. I seem to be riding the quad a little more these days.

doc...............

[Ler]

Body 6'1" 215lbs.

Board 5'7" Quad.

[stemple]

Ler,

You and I are similiar size. how do ride such a small board in the southland?. I liked my 5'8" romo but because of my size its paddle speed wasn't that great. If the take off spot was consistent no problem but if I had to chase the waves a bit forget it. My wave counts were low.

I started surfing OB in SF much more regularly and would just get so frustrated by the smaller Romo board. Couldn't get to the peaks, paddle speed was not there. When it got big (over 8 foot), I felt totally undergunned, which is very bad on big days at OB. I then started riding longer boards in the 6 to 6'2" range. Much better. I catch way more waves, paddle faster and drop in earlier at will.

I was a careful observer this weekend. I was out at four mile, north of santa cruz on sunday. Two other kneelos were out. Surf was shoulder to head high+, weak to moderate NW swell @ 3' to 4' @ 15 secs with decent shape and hollow section on the inside, low tide rising. One guy, who was maybe 30 to 40 lbs lighter than me was riding a 5'6" tri fin. He had no wave speed. He could only drive off the bottom after the take off and then looked really slow across the wave face. He didn't have speed to dig a cutback and get back into the critical section of wave. I have surfed with him a couple times and he is good, decent ripper, so I don't think it was lack of ability. I was riding a parkes 6'0" quad 23.25" wide, I had way more speed and ability to move around on the wave without losing significant speed. It was so obviously, that he even remarked about the fin placement and design of the board. I would attribute the performance difference to a larger board and fin forward design (thank you Mr. Parkes).

All I can say is I must have a pretty weak paddle stroke. I would love to ride a smaller board but I will seldom ride anything less than a 6 footer in northern CA from now on. Lately, I thinking that a nice thick, floaty, 6'0" that is 23.5 inches + wide would be just the ticket for small summer surf.

Stemple

[Ler]

When I first started my first couple boards were 5'3", then gradually made
it up to 5'7". I don't think I have a problem losing speed. I surf four mile now and again, and really like the wave, fun rights. A 5'7" is just standard issue around these parts, but works well for everywhere. I've done the North Shore, Puerto Escondido, O.B. all the my standard shape. I guess I'm just used to it. Thanks for the input Stemple. Take care.

[Beeline2.0]

..

[fooj]

Bod: 5'6.5" X 150lbs
Boards: 5'10" X 2 3/8"X 21 1/4" OzTri (now deceased,), 5'9" X 2 3/8" X 22 1/2" Parkes OzTri, both ridden in 0-6 feet mush to perfection.
In the works: 6'0" X 2 3/8" X 22" Pintail Quad Blast, for up to 8 foot North Shore or as much as the adrenal glands and gwebs can take.
This will be my first quad and I'm looking forward to something new. I hope you are right beeline, about Buddy being incapable of making a bad board.

[scoop]

my latest board...a Parkes /Friar Tuck has less rocker than the one before(thats what dave suggessted) but i insisted 3" longer...now 6'0"
i find it works well in medium to large waves as its not as loose as the 5'9" it was modeled on (looks the same as dons board in the middle but same colour and spray as his longest one)...though i have the pads don has at the rear up front of my knee pads for elbow rests or hand grips...
im 92kg so a tad over 200lb i think(work it out....2 1/4lb = 1kg)approx
its a quad fin (fcs) with adjustable rear fins
it works for me

good luck with your new board techno

tony