General > The Shape Shack

What are the limits of step rails?

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exiled:
So way back in the day, Carl Schaper (2007?) stuck step rails on the old Southpoint Bonga Perkins SUPs, but it didn't exactly take the industry by storm.

The concept got worked into the Jammer from Supsports, but didn't make it into later models.

Sunnova has a super tweaked out version on the Shroom, but not any other model?

Now Portal is using it with all of their models, and infinity is rolling it out in the Blurr 2.0

It seems like such an obvious design choice that I'm wondering why it hasn't been more popular? Why not just shape 5 inch thick boards and step the rails down?

TallDude:
It's kind of a double edge sword. Kings boards have had them for a while. I've surfed a few and found them very tippy compared to a similar width board with 50/50 or tapered rails. The concept is it reduces the at edge volume, which can give you a harder turn with better hold. Aside from the tippyness, I find the board dips or bobs right and left near the nose when I am just paddling it straight. The boards I tried were lower in volume for me. 120l to 140l range.

exiled:
Low enough volume so that the rails were under water?

TallDude:

--- Quote from: exiled on March 24, 2019, 08:31:29 PM ---Low enough volume so that the rails were under water?

--- End quote ---
One of the King's I tried...yes. My short board is mostly under water as well, so it's almost an apples for apples. The other Kings I tried was a longer, maybe 10' x 29", so about the same as my Coreban Icon. That was the one that paddled funky. It's like it slips sideways right and left under water.

Dusk Patrol:
JP Australia uses a step rail on its Fusion line. I  thought the purpose was to keep the deck flat but still have a decent thinness to the rail. The Fusion boards are big enough that the step isn’t submerged any more than other boards.

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