Rocker and Blank Question

[crox]

Hi Headwax

I wish I could say that I had a formula….it would make things very easy to communicate!
My approach is a very incremental one – I don’t have the shapers background of hart & I feel his whole approach is very freeform & intuitive…perhaps the shape evolves throughout the shaping process – I have to just work things out on a technical level!

When I want to change an element of design [which is pretty much each board] I make a complete new set of templates….one shape evolves into another – for example – we had previously designed a 5’ 9” board for Karl Ward which he really liked…but he wanted that shape stretched to 6 feet….but he still wanted the turning characteristics of the 5’ 9” [Karl is 6’ 1”].

I simply took the 5’ 9” rocker template added as much tail lift as I dared & was careful to keep the apex of the spiral v in the right place in relation to Karl’s knees & feet – the added length naturally then slightly flattened the entry rocker.
No measurements used – I couldn’t even tell you the nose rocker in inches on these boards….never needed to know!

He likes narrow boards & didn’t want to go wider than 22 ¾” so I couldn’t get a terrific amount of curve in the outline, so the only element I could really change was the tail lift – this meant that when he put the board on a rail, the lift was acting like a rudder & made very positive & tight turns possible [for a board of those dimensions] – I’m very much into harts school of thought - easy entry & uncluttered exit!
Karl wanted it as a small to medium wave board so to free it up we put a bit of roll under the knees – not what we would do as a rule for a small wave board.

Now if you took the design characteristics of a spoon as a benchmark you would expect that this would be a slow board…..as it turns out, it’s faster than anything…almost to the point of disbelief when watching him recently.
He has ridden the board in a variety of waves & says that it is a true all-rounder, a great mush board but able to handle some power.

It’s all down to the entry rocker…not just the amount of it…. but the curve in it …no belly….just a skimming shape…& the ease of exit …..the boards will not work without both ….& as I’ve said before – these rockers go over white water better than anything because the tail lift allows the nose to rise up – also stops them catching for the same reason in late drops.

We don’t work to dimensions other than overall width & length – we just take the last set of templates & tweak them in the direction the rider wishes to go….& it has worked well so far. [I’ve now got a lot of templates!!]

The tail lift is quite an abrupt one [almost unlikely …. & getting more so!] – from the apex of the spiral V…… Sorry I can’t be more specific HW.
Shots of Karl’s 6’ board turning - album_showpage.php?pic_id=3967