Board Design Basics

[noworrieshawaii]

My 9'6" PSH is EPS with epoxy, no sandwich. Its about 18lbs so pretty darn light. I assume its fairly fragile though. I have been riding it for 4 months or so with not a single ding or dent yet so it cant be too fragile. (course I'm only 123lbs)  No deck pad either. It gets a lot of use. Blane did say it had a pretty tough glass job. Was shipped airfreight from Oahu in only a travel bag with no damage at all.  The heavy Timpone board was not styro and not epoxy which is what I believe made it heavy, but bullet proof.

[Chan]

Hi NWH,

I am pretty sold on this 2 lb EPS / Epoxy construction that Matt and Blane are using for custom.  Neither Randy or I have any chips or dings, and the weight feels correct.  I think your board and Rand's 9'4 are roughly the same weight.  Mine is a bit lighter, but it is 9'1 and downsized all around.  I think it weighs about the same as Blane's 9'2, which is very light.  All in all I like the feel of the custom epoxy the best.

Like you said, your 9'6 from Blane looks pretty much new (except for that strange looking stuff you rub on it daily-what is that stuff called again?).  I am so excited to get the 8'6 Blane is shaping for me!  Randy just ordered an 8'4 from Kazuma, he was so jealous.  This is actually getting rediculous.   

Chan

[noworrieshawaii]

Perhaps since the board is clear and not painted, the rails look perfect... Hummm... I've checked it over pretty closely since I know I wack it pretty hard but it still looks perfect except for all that wierd looking stuff smeared all over.    Kinda like that stuff all over the carbon paddle shaft too... seems to keep it from being too slippery..

(I know there's a joke in there somewhere)

[andygere]

This thread is very interesting to me since I'm about to begin building my first SUP surfboard, and don't want to end up with a board that I'll outgrow in just a few weeks, nor do I want one that surfs like a dog or doesn't have enough glide. See http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=245.0 for some info on what I'm planning to do.

Blane mentions the importance of getting the rocker right, as well as the outline, foil and thickness.  What are some basic parameters a novice board builder can use to help guide the design to get these key elements at least close to where they should be for the board's intended purpose?  I'm not suggesting that anyone can become a master shaper/builder just from reading some threads on the internet, but I'm hoping to avoid some of the big error that often comes along with early trials.  I have some longboards that perform well in the waves I use them in, and so most of my thoughts on shaping come from that.  Since all of those elements don't necessarily translate to good SUP surfing and paddling performance, I'm back at square one and hoping to get some tips from the expert surfer/shapers in this community.

Thanks and hang loose.

[Rand]

I am no shaper, but I do have a thought.

"The first time a man always does too much. And precisely on that account he commits a second error, and then he does too little." -  Nietzsche 
 
Initially boards were just over rockered tandems (or close).  These plowed water, were not stable in consideration of overall girth, and were mostly lousy for SUP. 

In reaction to that, the backlash was way too flat.  The boards were fast paddling, but surfed stiffly (many are still in this phase).

The best boards are using a relatively small area of reduced rocker, coupled with a flat bottom and max width.  If you get this right, the rest should work out.

Good luck, and send pictures of the progress.