This was a fun one to shape, added a beaknose inspired by McCallum Surfboards which turned out to be very tricky, not sure I got it completely right but it looks kinda cool at most angles and gives more volume and float to the nose. Also made the swallow cut out deeper and shaved a little off the back corners, something I've seen done a lot on Mandala surfboards.
Right before she was sent off to glass. Came out at 5'9"x22"x3"
Final product. #1960stimemachine
You can see here the new tail and the old tail for comparison.
Rocker shot...
I decided to play around with the fin configuration on this one by bringing the back quad fin in from the rail 1" 3/4". my past models were only 1" 1/4". As I spent some time at the Instagram University studying other wide tail shapes I started to notice a lot of guys are bringing the back fin in quite a bit. I got to chat with legendary shaper Gary Wilson after a fun sesh at Dunes Club and learned he brings his in around 2" give or take, so I feel pretty good about my decision to bring it in this time. Hoping by tweaking the tail and fin setup I'll get more maneuverability and top to bottom surfing without sacrificing down the line speed and glide. Speed and glide are the two main things I want my shapes to be known for, (as well as catching waves easily and radical fun colors/art).
Terry Fitzgerald, "The Sultan of Speed" says " There are two types of surfing today, there are people who ride surfboards and there are people who ride waves. The world tour guys, the guys who do stuff you've only dreamed of, are focused on riding their surfboards in an athletic fashion. The other kind of surfing is when you focus on riding the wave, and picking the line that gives you the most speed. You almost can't compare the two. It's a different brand of surfing."
The average guy will probably have more fun on a board that promotes speed, which will probably end up being fatter, wider and flatter. On this type of board you will catch more waves, go faster and the ride will last longer. Depending on your area you might be able to go shorter, but in Myrtle Beach our waves are typically small and slow so for the average guy you might be surprised how much fun you can have on a mini Simmons type board the same length (or longer) as your usual shortboard. When everyone else says it's a longboard day you can still catch as many waves as the loggers without the hassle of hauling your log around.
I'll end with this quote from finless frontier pioneer Derek Hynd "Speed is the beginning and end of surfing."
Stay stoked!
-James
