I’m going to start with: I’m not building this, a professional is. I just want the aggregate input of everyone here before I take my design to my shaper so I don’t bug him with too many questions (again).
I’m thinking of a second board the same model as my current one but 6’0" x 22" x 3" (so a foot shorter and 1/2" thinner) and glassed a lot lighter with slightly lighter foam with the addition of a stringer.
Edit: I’m 6’4", 240lbs, and surf east coast waves (southern NC).
- 1.7lb EPS foam with a 6lb L-foam stringer (Marko Foam blank). (I’m trying to save weight with the 1.7lb density foam. At the volume I’m shooting for there’s a half a pound difference between 1.7 lb and 2.0 lb foam. Would I benefit from the denser foam enough that it’s worth the weight?)
- 2oz Innegra + 4 oz S-glass bottom and 2oz Innegra + 4 oz S + 4 oz S top.
- Considering possibly a 4oz S glass tail patch on both sides of the tail and also a possibly 4 oz S-glass fin patch.
I’m fairly certain that between the Innegra and the S-glass it will be durable enough but what about its flex characteristics?
Would changing the deck to one layer of 4oz S and a 4 oz deck patch that’s 2/3 the length of the board be better or worse for the flex? That would save a little weight while making the nose slightly less stiff but would it be of any benefit?
I also had the thought that combining a 2/3 length deck patch with 4 feet of carbon tape on the bottom running from the nose to 2ft before the tail so they effectively overlap would combine to make the nose and tail slightly less flexible than the middle, but that may be overly complicated for no gain. Also, since the board is already 3 inches thick with an L-foam stringer I worry about making it unnecessarily stiff by adding carbon but I want to ensure it has springiness.
A 6ft length x 3" thickness isn’t going to have any flex to speak of, nor will it be be unduly vunerable to snapping. Flex is a function of length x thick. A 9ft length x 2.5" thickness will have some flex, but primarily as a result of the length.
The dimensions you’re giving will usually go with a board being used by rider with a man-sized stature, in excess of 200#. If that’s the case in your situation then you might as well go with the 2# density, especially if you’re already using the high density stringer. As for glassing, doing a standard S-glass layup will be sufficient so long as the glasser does a decent post cure. Even E-glass with a 6oz deckpatch will hold up fine. You don’t need the carbon fiber and you especially don’t need the innegra (which will make the board noticeably heavy).
I’m infamous for overbuilding boards and I’ll be the first to tell you that you don’t need to build a tank in order for it to hold up.
A standard build in epoxy will hold up just fine so long as you take care of the board and don’t handle it poorly. Keep it in a bag when you’re transporting or storing or laying out on the beach to work on your skin cancer. When you are actually surfing it, refrain from running over other surfers or shooting your board out at the 12-yr old grom because he should have known better than to drop in on you.
Save your money on the exotic layups and spend it on a good set of fins. IMO
No offense intended, but I kinda did assume you to be of larger stature from those specs. And to be sure, if you weighed 140# then it might be worth your while to chase a 1/2# difference in board weight but even that assumption is subject to some debate here.
If you can get the rocker you want, it wouldn’t hurt for you to go to their heavier density. It’s not like you’re going to have any problems pushing the board around. By the same token, most guys of large stature aren’t actually trying to do airs, which is where the ultralight boards would come in.
A couple years back one of our regulars (McDing) distilled board building down to 2 basic principles:
Is the L-Foam stringer the grey/green foam? And you mean you can tell whether or not a 6’er flex’s in mushy East Coast surf? Pay close attention to gdaddy’s first paragraph. Length and thickness. And every time I order 1.7 from Marko it is marked 2# when I get it. I never order less than 15 or 20, 3 or 4 times a year. All I ever see is 2#.
OK I read further and saw your pic of the L-Foam. I have a couple of those in my shaping bay now. I have ballooned up to about 230 and even if I was in good shape, I wouldn’t try to paddle or surf a 6ft. 20" board. And I guess you could say that I am an advanced level surfer. I could probably surf it, but it wouldn’t be any fun. And fun is what it’s all about.
Not in my world. Your’re a big guy. The weight saving, would be meaningless. And, what little flex there MIGHT BE, will make no positive contribution to the quality of the board performance.
Stop worrying about the weight. At your stature you NEED the core to not collapse underfoot. 3 layers of 4oz plus a deckpatch over a 2# core won’t weigh any more than an off-the-rack retail PU/PE of similar dimensions. It’ll last 3x longer, though.
If you didn’t already have an EPS blank in hand I’d tell you to just use a PU blank. PU/Epoxy is a good combo.
You mentioned coming down off a 7ft board. Apologies for asking, but what’s your skill and experience level? Are you coming down in length from longboards?
While we’re at it, board design specific to the big guys is a topic that bears consideration. There are some reputable shapers who specialize in that niche, one being Joe Blair out of Encinitas. He uses wide widths and different fin placements than most other builders.
2.0 lb foam with stringer or at 3" thick will it be just as sturdy without one?
I’m a newer surfer and the 7ft board is my first fiberglass board. I’m not ready to downsize yet I’m just obsessively planning my next one already and I wanted input.
So I read that to mean you started off on a soft top? Okay.
It appears that you more/less fit the category of adult novice. When considering the conditions you’re talking about, I’m guessing it will be a while before your skills advance to the point that you can outsurf your 7-0. Where the 7-0 would actually be holding you back in your progression. I would also humbly suggest that going from a 7-0 to a 6-0 might be a tad aggressive for junk conditions. You gots to catch the wave before you can surf it.
If you’re looking for a more nimble surfing experience, one thing you could try is switching up your fin setup. Remove the center fin and swap the fronts out with a larger side fin.
This is the “small” twin fin and has a lot more surface area. Your’re big enough to easily push these around. By moving the center of effort for your fin cluster further forward you’ll be able to better control your turns with the less-than-optimal stance. 'Cause right now it would be very unusual for an adult novice to be sticking the rear foot placement all the way back on the tail as is required for a thruster or 5-fin. It’s more likely that your natural placement for your rear foot is further forward (as is the case for almost all noobs).
If you find the board still rides too stiff you can use smaller rear fins for the quads. The boxes are inset from the rail a bit so that’s more similar to the Rusty placement.
Once you have more leverage over your fin cluster that board will feel looser and be more responsive underfoot.
Try that before you do anything else with a new board.
If you do pull the trigger on a new board, I’d switch the shape up, too. A 6-6 or 6-4 x 22 x 3 version of this board from your shaper’s Insta would be a real versatile shape. Keep a moderate 4/2 rocker and it would work into pretty good sized conditions. Skip the 5th fin, tho. You’re probably not ready for that.
What do you like so much about that model? Here’s a side by side, the plain white is a 6’6" version of the one you posted (Experience) and the one with yellow rails is a 6’6" Whiskey Fish.
I think a lot depends on your style. There are a lot of people who think big fishes are a silver bullet for catching more waves without realizing that it isn’t the fish tail or even the straight rear quarter that is getting them into the wave. It’s the overall surface area and rocker that are doing most of that. What the straighter rear quarter in the template is doing is generating more top-end drive, albeit at the expense of control. That’s good for a long open faced wave but not so good for manuvering short junky sections in weaker conditions. The fish will get you into the wave but it will be stiffer when you try to turn it, especially on your backside.
Sometimes you need more top end speed and have use for that long smooth carving turn (staighter rail line will be faster and more sure footed at speed). Other times you need more pivot and control (more curve in the template), which will usually come at the expense of that top end speed. They’re all compromises, so that means that what’s right for you will always depend in part on the conditions you’re using the board in and in part on what you’re trying to do in those conditions.
