What shape to get?
What ever shape you want. Swallow tail, round pin tail. squash tail, single or double winger, no wings. Bottom shape? single concave, double flat....All your choice... I would be glad to discuss any of these design options with you to help you decide on what would work best for you. 1,2,3,4 or even 5 fins? I am big on the 4 fin designs in that it allows me to do (more on that below) but I can shape a board around any fin configuration you want.
I can shape you a board of any shape and size for any conditions. From sloppy mushy surf to classic Hawaii reef brakes, from 50 lbs. groms to big +250 lbs. 'bro's...! ...
If you have not used an epoxy surfboard before I am sure you will like the feel the new material beings to your surfing. More buoyancy allowing you to ride a couple inches shorter. Also try out new designs like the positive feeling concave deck, pinched rails, concaves Quads etc. etc. Everything you would expect from a totally custom board. Don't limit yourself...
I offer all styles from Fishes to long boards offered in three glassing lay-up options : competition super lite - standard - durable.
Surfboard design is something that has always been and continues to be very personal. Most riders know what works for them and what they like. I can work with you to bring out what you like in a board.
The rebirth of the Quad.
The quad was fast on the heals of the thruster in it's original introduction, but it was too soon and too close to the thruster revolution and was over shadowed by the 3 fin movement so it faded away as fast as it came. Riders were not yet ready to move on from the thruster revolution as yet. Now with the introduction of new materials and the quest for a better performance board, riders are starting to entertain new designs once again and are open to experiment with different fin configurations. Twins came back to the drawing board, but the loose and twitchy feel of the twin came back with it. Fun in small surf, but not a solution to push high performance surfing.
A few shapers like Stretch for example, started experimenting with 4 fins again and  with my original goal to find a better surfboard for kiting I started doing some prototypes with a 4 fin set up originally just for kiting. As I was shaping and working with volume distribution everything just seemed to make sense. And the results were encouraging too.. well that started me into a full on look into 4 fins for surfboards. I started flattening out the rocker making a faster board, faster than what the thrusters could handle and allow me to do. I found that I can make a faster board and still have a very controllable feel, yet still have a lot of bite and drive at lower speeds. Having a faster board means that I can maybe go down a size, change some rail shapes, configurations and bottom lines too. It just basically allowed me to re-open the book on what we thought was workable for a surfboard.
It is not just about adding 4 fins to conventional shapes. To get the true potential of this configuration it is best to take advantage of all the other aspects of surfboard design like volume, rail shape and outline profiles to name a few. Here are just a few of my findings with the new Quads.
- More speed. More speed means more wave face accessible. And aerials.
- Less drag. Seems strange that by adding an extra fin, it would be less drag. I always thought that the middle fin on a thruster just added drag as the board got faster. I discovered this riding a thruster behind a speed boat. The middle fin just seemed to be in the wrong place. Not close enough to the underwater rail to really be effective, but not high enough out of the water when the board is on it's rail to be out of the way. A better description of the NEW quad really is a split back fin. They are there for the same reason, to give drive and power, just they are placed in a more effective place and eliminates the drag.
- Shorter board length. Being able to handle speed means that I can have a wider tail and still keep in control. Also allows you to go down a couple inches on your short board without making it harder to paddle and catch waves.. And who does not like shorter?
- More range. Being able to handle speed means that one board can handle a wider variety of surfing conditions. Less boards needed in a quiver. For most of us, this means one board for all conditions.
- More reactive. The way the fins are spread on the tail, your back foot is right over the fins which makes it very reactive to back foot pressure. You can say it has the turning ability of a Twin and the drive of a thruster.
If you get a chance to test drive a new generation Quad, give it a go.
Kite surfboards
I realized that what the kiters were looking for in a surfboard was more of a pure surfing feel and not just the powered up edging found in normal kite boards.They want more glide, more response similar to riding a surfboard and I used this as my goal when developing this line of boards. Even though most regular surfboards will work for strapless riding with a kite, there are some modifications that need to be considered when using straps and this starts with the rocker line. . It has a lot to do with hull speed. Regular surfboards are made to handle a lower hull speed. To better adapt to the faster riding with a kite, the rocker has to be modified to handle a higher hull speed. The outline profile has to be considered as well as riding with straps you will be using the rails more and too much outline curve makes the trim angle unstable resulting in a board that bounces when on a rail. So in general the rocker has to be flatter and faster and the rails more parallel.
My latest development is the new Quad I call the '4' Play. I have spent a lot of time developing this board. At first I was reluctant to go with 4 fins, but I was pleasantly surprised how well it lends itself to kiting. The 4 fin configuration allows me to keep the rails more parallel and keep the tail fairly wide and still have lots of bite that a thruster or twin would not have with such a tail. The 4 fins works better for riding on the rails also. I found that the center fin on a tri fin set up does not offer much when the board is up riding on it's rail. The center fin actually is counterproductive with the forces on the board when it is up on it's rail while riding with a kite. Creating more unwanted drag reducing control at the higher speeds of kiting. Other features included on this board is the faster rocker. It has a gentle nose entry, flattened out with a deep'ish concave that transitions to a clean exit between the fins that makes for smooth rail to rail transitions and can still be as snappy as you want it to be. This mix of characteristics makes for a surprisingly adaptable board for kiting and a ride that rejuvenates the feel of surfing while being powered by a kite...
NOTE: these is a good discussion on the kiteforum 'surfboards' about surfboards for kiting if you want to get more technical info.
^back to top^
General surfboard shape info.
Tail Shape.
The main idea with different tail shapes are Volume. How the volume is distributed in the tail. This can effect the boards performance dramatically. The second important feature in tail shape is personal preference. What the rider is gotten used to.
There are many different looking tail shapes to choose from.. But the two opposites of the spectrum are the pin tail and the square squash tail. All the others are a variation of one of the two. For example, a swallow will perform like a squash tail but with less volume. et c.etc.
Pin tail. Pin tails are better for drawing smoother lines and handling speed better. It allows the shaper to keep a consistent curve in the rail outline from the mid point of the board to the tail. Smooth arcing turns and solid positive feel is what a pin will deliver.
Squash Square tail: This tail is more for a looser feel. THe rail outline will normally be more parallel because the tail is not pinched in from the mid point of the board. This type of tail gives the rider a slash'e feel. Great for smaller waves where you want to brake the tail away and accelerate quickly. Often accompanies a wider tail and thus better for the quad configuration.
Rocker.
One of the biggest performance effects of a board is rocker line. You can surf a door if you have the correct rocker. The are three stages of rocker. The nose rocker, middle rocker and tail rocker...
Nose Rocker. This effects the ability to keep the nose from pearling in. More nose rocker will keep the nose from digging in, but too much nose rocker makes the flow from the nose rocker into the middle rocker too drastic and will make the board difficult to paddle and slow the board down as the water flow hits the sudden curve change from nose to middle rocker. Where the nose rocker meets the mid rocker is known as the 'entry' rocker. And this effects how well the board paddles for waves and acceleration from low speeds.
Middle rocker: THis sets the overall speed of the board. A flatter rocker like that found in a fish is faster. accelerates quickly. Great fro smaller waves where you want speed to get around sections and for catching air. It's disadvantage is on bigger waves, the speed can get uncontrollable and the board can feel erratic and unpredictable in carving turns.. For larger waves where generating speed is not a problem,you want more middle rocker so the board has controllable speed and can make nice big predictable carving turns....
Tail Rocker: This is where the board is fine tuned for the particular rider.. Generally, more rocker makes the board turn easier, and less tail rocker for a faster release. A flatter tail rocker will allow you to make a sharp turn, and still accelerate out of the turn from a lower speed. More tail rocker will help you turner sharper, but too much will cause the board to stall at the slow point and it will been more effort to get it accelerating out of the sharp turn. The biggest sacrifice for too much tail rocker, or called tail kick, is speed.
Fin and fin Placement: Fin placement is very important. If you put the fins in the wrong spot or choose the wrong fins for your baords and riding style, you can totally kill a board. Normally the shaper will place the fins where he thinks it will be most effective depending on the design elements of the particular shape. Volume and tail shape all have to be considered when placing fins. Also the riders weight and requirements. Fin placement is also a function of practical testing. So it is even better if the shaper surfs so they can develop a good feel for the effects of fin placement. Glass on fins are very popular mainly because the pro use them. If you are ordering a surfboard, you will be far better off to have removable fins so you can test different fins to get the most of out of the boards. Remember the glass on fins you see on the pros boards are a result of many many prototype boards that each had different fin positions tested before knowing where they want the fins set up. A process that most of us can into afford to do. So, opt for removable fins and drastically widen the range and increase the chances of getting the best performance out of your board. Once up and running, from time to time after you had a few session on the baord, try some different fins to see how it effects the performance of the board for your style of riding. I recommend once you get the correct fins, stick to them. It is better to get to know your board than to try and match the fins to different conditions and keep changing things. Some guys have different fins for different conditions. Sometimes too much options may not be a god thing.
Here are a few samples of my many shapes before leaving the shop.
    
    
(NOTE: these prices reflect at or below retail web prices from the supplier and are only valid with an order of a board)
|
Epoxy Lite boards are constructed very similar to the regular surfboards, just with newer and more advanced epoxy materials. What we call a wet lay-up over a shaped foam blank. The difference is in the custom (made in house) foam blank core in a tested and proven density. A strong 1/4 inch plywood stringer is laminated down the middle of the blank adding strength and rigidity. The blank is then shaped the same way as conventional surfboard blanks are shaped. Once shaped, it is laminated using the highest quality reinforced fiberglass and UV treated clear epoxy resins. No more yellowing epoxy boards. Board stays clear and bright for the life of the board. Multi layers of combination 4 oz and 6 oz cloth to suit the riders requirements insure that the boards are custom made for your requirements. 
EPS foam core. Expanded PolyStyrene foam is a very low density ( from as low as .5 lbs to 1.5lbs per cubic feet) light weight foam. In this application it is basically used to hold the inner shape of the board while the rest of the strength supplying higher density foam and fiberglass is constructed around the core. It's low density also aids in energy dampening which reduces failure in the construction. It is important to note that there is NO stringer down the middle of the board. This is what makes for a new exciting feel in flex and rebound. 
Most production surfboards are made in Asia from some system of molds using the same sandwich construction technique mentioned above. Some factories do the process backwards. For example, in the mold, they would lay some fiberglass in the mold (top and bottom) , then put a layer of thin PVC foam and then another layer of fiberglass all wetted out with resin, and then a computer pre shaped low density EPS foam core would then be compressed inside and the molded clamped together until cured. After curing, the top and bottom molds would be removed and then the rail will have to be strengthened with fiberglass because the PVC foam and the fiberglass layers were not continuous from the top thru to the bottom. It would then be sanded and painted (I am generalizing for the sake of education, so please don't nail me if one company over the other does thing a little different). While this method does reduce the labor and produce a higher quality construction product, there are a couple drawbacks. 
