Alright NSG, prepare to be saved. I'm back at it. As with most things I make, there's always a "what if?" I've been riding that purple and white resin striped board for a while now. It's a great board, but there's been a few questions I've had about it. This will be the third (real) iteration of this design, so I've learned a lot since the first one, plus I've thought a lot about it.
Firstly, what's it like as a quad? I'd never ridden a quad I liked until like two weeks ago, when I rode a 5'9" or 5'7" lost/libtech puddle jumper. All the other quads were too big for me to fairly judge them, and even the PJ could have been smaller. Either way, I got one backhand hit, hit the lip so hard and it just felt right. It goes where I point it and just seems to have drive all the time, with none of that auto centering effect a thruster has. It seems great for destroying small waves and lots of tight turns.
Secondly, what's it like with less rail volume? The rails are quite thick on the purple one. I can probably redistribute the foam to keep a similar but lightly lower volume while also thinning the rails.
Third: it could be lighter, which is a statement ,but it's true. This'll get 2x 4s on top and 6oz bottom. Less overall weight will permit a slightly thinner board to keep the same float, since the density will be lower. I've noticed this effect in a board I just made for my brother, which is similar to the purple one but substantially lighter, as well as other boards that are light and appear to be thinner than mine.
Fourth: it needs a skinnier tail. I've gotten a lot of lefts (my forehand) recently and I've realized that it'd help.
So I'll be changing that stuff, but some stuff I'll keep. The bottom contour, a deep double to vee, will remain the same. The template will gain wings to break up the massive tail reduce surface area. The blank is now a 5'3", rather than taking a 5'4" out of a 5'8" or whatever blank. The overall rocker will be a bit more curvy but still pretty low this way.
The real template is actually a bit different, but this is close. I made the tail wider in real life by a bit, but it's still overall skinnier than the previous iteration.
5'3" EPS blank with a high density foam stringer.
This is a rough idea of how the tail area is being reduced. I've killed the diamond tail too, in favor of the squash. I think the added rail line will help on my forehand. The surface area gained shouldn't outdo the area lost by the wings.
I made a nice masonite template for this one. If you template is shit then you're gonna have a hard time. I tried a paper one at first, traced it on and all and it just looked off. So I sanded that off and did it again with this new one.
I made little holes to poke a fine tip sharpie through to mark the fins. 11.25" fronts, 5" up rears, and I think I'll do 3 or 3.125" up center. The purple one has it at 3", 11" fronts. That board has a surprising range for it's shape, and I think it's partly due to the fin placement keeping it under control. I've gotten some great barrels in a 5mm on it.
I cut the outline with a handheld jigsaw and a long, wide and thick blade, which doesn't deflect or bend as much as a thin, skinny one. the marks are quickly scrubbed off, as are the little stringy bits from melting foam.
These are reference marks for the double concaves.
The fins aren't that long, they'll just fall on that line starting from the back of it.
I cut the bottom band the other night, after a great post-work 3 hour surf session. I rode the orange board in the posts above. It's a fun board. I wasn't even gonna go, but I stuffed my shit in my car before I went to work and said fuck it, I'll see how it is. time from desk/lab to water was about 55 minutes, which isn't bad. Would have been less if I parked closer. It got glassy, the swell built and I caught so many fun waves.
Had to post on insta. How are people gonna know I do cool shit if I don't?
