Shaping Design

Shaping and Design


Shape outline 

This is your design template on what you want from your board’s performance. You may want a board for small waves so you will design your board to be a little wider, thicker and shorter. Or maybe you are going to Indo where you will mainly surfing barreling waves so your board will be a little bit sleeker with a narrower tail. Work out what the board will be used for and design your shape outline to suit.

 

Rocker
The rocker goes hand in hand with the shape outline. This is one of the most critical components of the board, a smooth transitional rocker throughout the board will help maximize the performance and prevent the pushing of water which leads to slowing the board and bogging into turns ….the general rule, “the flatter the rocker, the fatter the wave, the curvier the wave the curvier the rocker” take this into consideration when designing your board.

 


Tail Shapes
Tail Shapes are the other main component to consider in your design template, the tail design works with the shape of the overall board it further varies the turning radius, projection and drive features of the design. Tails can be almost any shape you can think of Pin, swallow, square and round tail are the most talked about, each of them have their own pros and cons…. but the main thought is “Reduce the wetted surface area and you will gain more control, add some width to slide”

 

Bottom contours 
Most modern surfboards have variation of a concave as their bottom shape. Concaves produce lift by channeling the water along the board to the tail of the board, this provides lift under the surfers back foot and pushes the water out the back through the fins which provide acceleration from the compression of water from the surfers turns.


Some other bottom contours variable that can be used: channels – primarily designed for clean surf and Vees – designed to guide the board from rail to rail quickly.
 
Deck contours
The shape of the top side of the board. The shaper vary this design from domed to flat with the surfers size, skill, Width and thickness of the board .but mainly for these 2 reasons:-

  1. Domed - less volume or thickness on the rail makes it more sensitive rail to rail turning.
  2. Flat - more volume or thickness on the rail make it more stable and will require the surfer to transfer their influence to the rail to turn.


Rails
 
The edge of the board which helps to penetrate the face of wave as the surfer rolls their weight onto the rail. Most surfboards have a rolled edge rail at the front of the board then slowly transition into a harder edge at the back. Through this transition over the board helps the leverage and acceleration into and out of the turns. It’s important that the rails have enough thickness so they don’t bog-in, this will help with acceleration.


 

Time to measure up at the Conversions Page

 

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