Board Design

1. ROCKER

The bottom curve of your board, running from nose to tail, combines with the outline of your board to create the primary performance characteristics. The more curve you have, the slower, but easier to turn (loose) it will be.  A straighter rocker will be faster but harder to turn (tight).

2. OUTLINE 

Is similar, curve will create a looser board while a straight outline will yield a tighter ride.  A good shaper will design a board for different types of waves by combining the outline and the rocker curves to produce the most speed and maneuverability possible. At a hollow, pocket type wave, ride a board with more rocker and more curve in the outline because the wave itself will help generate boardspeed.   At a mushy, flatter-faced wave, you would be better off with a flat (low) rocker board with a wider nose and tail that creates its own speed & helps make the most of weaker conditions. 

3.  CONCAVE 

Is the term for the contour running across the bottom of your board from side to side.  Today, almost every shortboard is made with concave, sometimes combined with a bit of Vee in the tail area. Concave helps create speed and can affect board performance in several different ways.  It creates pressure and lift under your board as water is pushed through & across the bottom & very importantly, concave running through a board’s bottom actually creates two different rockers in one board. Concave makes the stringer-line rocker flatter (adding speed) while keeping the rail line (outline) rocker nice and curvy, allowing you to harness that speed into controlled turns. You’ll often find some double concave between the fins of a board, helping to break that area into two surfaces, keeping the board loose. A little bit of Vee (reverse concave) off the tail of a board can help to relieve some pressure in hard turns, making boards a bit more user-friendly & easier to handle. 

4. REMOVABLE FINS

give you the opportunity to change the way your board rides in different conditions. The term “rake” refers to the amount of curve a fin has & measures how far the tip curves back past the base of the fin. The basic rules for understanding rake are exactly the opposite of rocker: straight (less rake) is looser and a curvy fin (more rake) is tighter. Keep in mind that the looser/slower and tighter/faster rules always remain the same. If you want more drive and speed, you’ll need fins that are bigger with more rake with a longer base to push off, but have less flex throughout. If you want fins that offer enhanced turning  characteristics, you’ll need to look for fins that are smaller (less area), have less rake (more upright), narrower at the base, and are more flexible (especially towards the tip).    OR JUST GO HERE  

5. STUBBIES

Today, people are riding shorter boards, shorter, wider, and slightly thicker designs. Most of the boards meant to be ridden in small to medium sized waves feature a flatter nose (entry rocker) for easy speed & faster paddling. These designs typically have wider nose & tail measurements than your standard shortboard. They need to be a bit wider than your shortboard to help compensate for the loss of volume that comes with the lack of length. Loss of length causes boards to lose a lot of drive, feeling too loose, widening up the nose & tail, the boards have a straighter, more parallel outline, which tightens up the board & adds drive back.