Small boards for big waves

[surfhorn]

As in any natural progression, I've found length to be a good thing. I need the extra foam for paddling purposes since I can't rely on my ankles as much as I did in the past: 35+ years of Duck Feet grinding away...

I've ridden large surf on KBs from 5'0" to 6'0". For years, the 5'6" range suited me just fine for anything that California could throw at you..with the exception of spots such as Maverick's.... and would still be fine for me at our point breaks. I also like little 5'2" pocket rockets for surf in the 4-6 foot range where I could sit behind the bowl and drop in/free fall vertically intop the barrel with just one kick. But I was a lot lighter in my younger days.

But the manuverability, projection, speed and ability to pick up waves easier the longer lengths is great fun for me. I doubt if I'll chase macker surf any more and will just stick to fun surf up to around 8 feet. My 6'0" is a good choice for me and I will be working on a 6'2" or 6'3" thruster for next winter.

Can it BE any flatter...

-Dan

[SFKneelo]

Like Jon, I tend to cap the size. TOH is just fine. 4xOH is a rare, and to me scary experience... although all lot of it depends on where...

That said, at 5'11" 180lb (!), I bumped my short board from 5'7" to 5'10". There are times that I would rather ride the shorter boards. Most times, the glide of the 5'10" works great.

My big board is 6'0", so I do go longer... but not much. Like Red said, it's the shape that changes the most. I go from a swallow to a pin that has lot's of control. It paddles well and isn't too bad for ducking.

Like several said earlier, outer bar Ocean Beach requires a long paddle out and has a wide open playing field... completed by the rips and typical offshores. The waves come in quickly and lurch. It's usually a chase.

Once in the wave, there are many times where I wished I had the shorter board to draw tighter lines.

There's one nasty bowl that shows itself at VFWs that I've been swept into by the rips, only to find it darn near impossible to get into. It's kind of like the Wedge. That type of wave seems to need a shorter board and an in-the-pit take-off.

I'd like to try a 6'3" for comparison. That's the board I never get cuz I'm always replacing the most commonly used short board.

Red, as I'm typing this... I've got Alice's Restaurant going through my head! Thanks for the earworm!

[ScottMac]

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[C.P.Odom]

Scott,

Glad to hear someone finally mention volume. The riders height should have little to do with the design of a board, but the mass of the rider should control the volume. Volume would be the constant parameter with length, width and thickness as the variables.

Curtis

[hart]

Curtis and Scotty make valuable observations.

From what I've seen in the past when guys get bigger boards he volume hasn't been adjusted..particularly thru the rail line and the surfer has to contend with too much 'bulk'.

Hard to sink a rail in those situations..particularly when it gets bigger..and particularly when you want to.

Have to be careful but..

If you continually reduce volume relative to length..you can come unstuck. You can end up with something too low in foil..and this will have a negative effect in larger waves. Too much bite and not enough release.

As with so many things, its a compromise of sorts.

My view is that there should be no 'excess' of volume..nothing thru the foil that shouldn't be there.

An economy of foam relative to the surfer first..and the waves second.

hart.

[Beeline2.0]

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[surfhorn]

Depending of the characteristics of each board, I've always tapered my deck towards the rails so that I reduce volume in the rail area, making it easier to sink a rail into a turn.

[hart]

Hey surfhorn..

Speaking of tapering off your deck..you know, to drop your rail..

Heaps ago, a Carpenter I knew came into my Factory while I was planing a blank.

Now you see, shapers use a tool that is totally 'carpenter'..a 3" Hand Planer..all 36,000rpm of a tool. Carpenters know (read taught) how to use them properly.

After a brief discussion between the Master (him) and the Apprentice (me)..I then began to 'drop a rail' in a correct way.

He showed me how to cut 'into' foam..not just cut 'over' it.

My point?

How important is it to taper a rail in such a way (to create lowness) that it doesn't catch?

When I used to cut 'over' foam..the rails would be fattishly curved down off the deck with a low pinched type curve at the wide point. Guaranteed catchers..particularly off the top.

But to cut 'through' foam..your rails become lower, quicker. Not only less energy to do, but less consequence in the water.

No excessive (or dramatic) curve off your deck (which can hold and trap water)..just a quick, shoulderless portion of your deckline..all relative to the size (or mass..thx Curtis) of the Surfer.

As Shapers..and indeed as Surfers, we need to always be willing to learn new things.

I feel less like I'm old, than I feel like a dog..(which I don't anyway)



hart.

[surfhorn]

I've always been sensitive to the volume of a board - I think that has to do with my style of KBing I developed when I first started KBing ------on plywood paipos. The wood board had zero float (unless you count floating about 1/2 inch underwater!). To catch a wave, I had to hold the board by the tail, with both arms fully stretched out, and just kick - no arm paddle.
That style carried over to foam and fibeglass (those started at 4 feet) and thats the style I still have.

When working with my shaper (I gave up mowing foam many moons ago when I reallized I'd rather have a board that worked than a home-made headache) I would always have John Mel take the board really thin. And when he thought it was too thin, I'd have him take another pass. My KBs were 2 1/4" tp just under 2 1/2".

To achieve a nice rail I had the deck thinned down, tapering out to the rails but had foam left in the area where my chest would be if I were laying on the board and arm paddeling. The would also be a foil coming off the nose into that area.

The entire board is quite a few series of foils and tapers which I approached from the point of visualizing the KB up on edge, biting into a wave. Its not often we ride a board sitting perfectly flat on the bottom.

I think I also had an advantage in that i wa always around boats growing up. My dad and his friends ran boat clubs and buile and raced BUs and small hydroplanes in the 1940s through the 1960's. That is where I learned bottom design/hydrodynamics which I was able to transfer over to surfboards.

I remember it was like pulling teeth to have my nose rails rolled up like a boat bow......board builders just weren't doing that. It was difficult to roll the nose rail and then have it flow into a turned under rail, leading into the spot where there was onctact with the water. But now its standard practice.

In today's world, where everything is mass produced, and you think that ideas are maxed out, along comes the New Wave of Kneeboarding and sparks my spirit. The dialog and exploration of new KB shapes has really rocked my world.

And I'm already working on my new board for next winter!

-Dan

[Jerry]

At 160 lbs. I've become quite comfortable with boards around 5-10 for waves in the 4 to 8 ft. range. But at that length I've found some boards ride "short" and some boards ride "long". For example, this past fall I got 2 new boards, a Blast 2k and a Dean Cleary Gig's model, both 5-10. The Blast rides much shorter, that is, it's much better at late take-offs/air drops, much easier to control going over the ledge on sucking hollow waves. The Gig's model on the other hand feels almost cumbersome on the same kind of late drops and in fact buckled on a late drop on only a 5 ft. wave. Anyway, I guess my point is a board can feel and ride shorter than it's actual length. And vica-versa.

[fooj]

I'd say not all big waves are created equally. Looks like two major classes of them: 1. Big water big waves (Sunset, Waimea etc) they have chop, foam and vast expanses of currented area to cover. Longer board is most fitting. 2. Compact water big waves (Pipe, Teaupo'o) fairly clean faces, tight takeoff zone, curvatious faces. Shorter board most fitting. Simple. Now if only my nuts would grow to apply this.

[Steeno]

very good point.......

[barry]

Here is my observations. I am about 6' 165lbs my usual board is 5'9'' and my 'gun' is 6'1'' these are my current sizes. I usually only get to ride my big board when it is 4'overhead or bigger. around here so.cal. when the swells get up it is usually really lined up and fast (mostly beachbreaks for my area) I love my longer board for getting in early and traveling very fast through the tube. There are usually people in the parking lot telling me how 'walled' it is out there, I don't consider a 100' barrel a wall even if it shuts down at the end. I think the spot you are riding the big surf at will let you know how much foam you need. When in NZ at the worlds in Opunake (Thanks Murray) the trials were DOH big long rights but kinda slow and bumpy. I chose to ride my 5'7'' board so that I would be able to manuever around the chops and the board worked fine. after getting into the wave, I was able to do tighter turns than my longer board would have allowed. I feel that the longer rail line is great for having to go fast. But if the wave is peeling slower (regardless of size) the shorter board should enable a person to adjust and manuever more throughout the pocket. I think that the board size you choose will be relative to the type of wave you are riding. along with the size of the wave, how much water is moving through the take off area. the overall conditions are important to determine the proper equipment needed.

[kneemor]

Headwax- Where did you get the knee grips on your spyder boards. And how do we get them in the USA.

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