Choose your surfboard

How to choose a Board?

 

The Length

It facilitates paddling while increasing the glide and the inertia in surfing. Below 7’0, starting is more complex because the board turns at the slightest change of posiiton and the balance is far too complicated for a novice.

The big questions are:

  • Do you have room to store and transport your board? A 9’0 goes everywhere, a 7’0 fits in a Twingo.
  • Do you want to Surf cool or radical? Below 8’0 boards are very agile while above 9′ they are super mellow.

A longer board (8 ‘0 or more) also increases the radius of curves, hence the need to pitch it up in some turns. This requires a specific technique that can be learned step by step but it also offers an incomparable glide. A long length can also take off very early while paddling without much effort once the board is launched. It is therefore essential to have more length when you begin.

A shorter board allows shorter turns, or even breaking curves for a trashier ride. This is another style of surfing, very much in the pocket of the wave, in the search of energy so you can burn it better.

With a good level, the length is not a big problem even if it slows the turns. It brings stability and allows you to ride any size wave that a small board does not allow because it will be more exclusive within its utilization.

Very small boards, called shortboards, have a very low rowing speed. The balance is precarious because it combines the management of FORE / AFT instability in addition to port / starboard. But by taking the right volume and width, one can consider surfing this kind of board without being a champion. They are ultra reactive, high performance, and transportable.

The Width

With the thickness, it conditions the balance and the lift but also the maneuverability.

You really have to consider the surface area and volume in the beginning. This width brings you incredible comfort. Better to have too much than not enough when you learn.

A 20” surf board is a so-called narrow board. 22” is a “normal” board. A 23″ board is considered to be “wide”. These are good indicators, but you can go much more extreme, in either direction, depending on the needs and disciplines and the users.

Indeed, a narrow board usually goes fast. The Row is flagrant and the shorter the length is more extreme it becomes. But surfing is not so simple. In very fast waves, a narrow board is essential. But in normal or soft waves, the width generates lift and therefore acceleration. The prejudice against width and that it inhibits speed is unfounded in 95% of sessions.

The criticism is identical in the ratio of the width with the maneuverability. Often a wide board is more maneuverable than a Gun style board. The width offers off-center supports that can increase maneuverability if you are able to tame it.

The Outline

This outer curve of the board takes the elements of length and width but the way the shaper will join the 4 “corners” of the board will define everything.

OFO (one foot off) data are often used, measures of width 30 cm from the front and the back. This gives good indicators for the curvature of the outline.

In your marked curves, the back third of the outline is often used for the rocker. As a result, a strong difference between the master ‘bau’ (maximum width) and the rear OFO but also the tail gives a very lively board in the curves. She will really turn very short. The other side of the coin: it will be hard to control. A rear third more “right”, “square” will be less maneuverable curves but more powerful.

Indeed, the wider the tail in comparison to the master ‘bau’, the faster the planning will be and accelerate faster. These are so-called powerful boards which need a lot of heavy back foot.

Similarly, a pinched nose will be more manageable because there will be less length of rail in the water when turning. On the other hand, it will work less for the noserides but will be faster to paddle …

Thickness

Maximum thickness is important. A board less than 2”1 / 2 thick is a thin board.

More importantly is the distribution of this thickness. A very heavy board (with the dome-shaped bridge as seen in section) will often be manageable but unstable. Conversely, a flat deck board will generally be super stable but have a lot of drive and will need powerful foot support.

To get an indicator, be aware that a flat board that is one inch thinner than a board is generally stable.

Note that the distribution of the thickness in the width is very important, but the redistribution within the length is also crucial.

Indeed, a board that has little volume through the tail is often manageable and controllable. When excessive, it is also a board that will be very sensitive to foot placement. Too great of an imbalance with the distribution of volumes will be a vector for parasitic behavior and often this board will prove to be bad and jerky.

And a back half that’s too thick makes the board easier and less sensitive but almost impossible to turn.

The Scoop

You have to be careful about the scoop line (the banana). It is indeed not uncommon to see scoops that are absolutely ineffective.

Often, the initial ideas are good but they sometimes go of the mark and go wrong. For example, it is not uncommon to see surf boards with a big spatula or excessive kick. Good ideas pushed too far often lead to serious mistakes.

A scoop must be harmonious and especially in connection with all the other parameters of the shape.

Volume

Buoyancy is a well-known fact thanks to a certain Archi …

But experience shows that we are constantly making small mistakes that burden and inhibit buoyancy.

The rule is that to float comfortably you need half the weight of the surfer in liters, so If I’m 80kg, I’ll be ok on 40 liters.

It is advisable to cut 20% more than this rule for experts. I’m 65kg, I need 65/2 x 0.8 = 26 liters.

And a good 20% more for beginners: 65/2 x 1,2 = 39L.

Note that the duck dive is not an element within this equation. You must certainly pass the bar to take waves, but a beginner has a hard time duck diving. So, he will tend to take, or think he needs, a board that’s too small just because of this duck diving obsession. Fatal error.

In short, direct yourself to true connoisseurs, and real passionate people. Escape the commercial BS, gadgets and miracle solutions. A real Shaper does not need that to sell his creations.

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