Types of Surfboards

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Yeah that Oogle is prolly better than the short Broadcast. I will look into that this summer thanks.

[techsledder]

Yeah my deal is that with the Squirt it was cheaper and from what I've read so far, Inland Surfer is a good company. I really don't want to spend $500-$600 on a hand made surf board being a beginner. So as far as I can tell Walker's are out. I can't justify their $$ right now. I still have to get some ballast system rigged too for the ol' SS. Everyone else in the family that'll be using the board is heavyer than I (bros 200lbs+), except for the wifey and sister-in-laws, they're all smaller. Will a bigger board, 5.0+ length, for the guys be hard to ride for the ladies in the group? What's the comfortable range on these things?

[techsledder]

On the Squirt the description says: "The Squirt comes with two Delta 6.0cm Speed Line 4Skim fins". WTF does that mean? Is the longer the fin better/more stable thus better for the beginner?

[ScottnAz]

The small fins are fine with the squirt, and that actually looks to be a good board out this year. Similar to the broadcast and other entry level boards, but at a better price, and you can't go wrong with anything made by Inland.

There is no need to look at Walker/Shred/etc hand made boards until your riding progresses. By then, you will also have a better feel for what you want out of a board. I can tell you, these Walker boards are very delicate and heel dents happen the first time you ride them. I think the life span of these boards is only a couple seasons, depending on how hard you ride them and treat them. It was very hard to drop the $$$ on a board I knew I'd want to replace after a couple seasons. But, no regrets.

Having just skimmed this thread, and not really formulated my thoughts, here's what I believe to be some basics with boards/fins. The production models are flatter (less rocker), and have a hard/sharp rail to them, and that is essentially what holds the board on track and gives it forward drive. So the small fins are a good fit because they just help with some of the tracking of the board, there would be no real need for larger fins. The hand shaped custom boards have more rocker and a softer rail, and therefore have essentially no tracking in the pocket. For tracking they need the large fins. The larger fins actually create more drag on the board, but give the board more stability and speed for airs. Here's a quote I read on wakeoutlaws a while ago from surfdad,

A common misconception about surf style fins in wakesurfing is that the depth of the fins somehow provides more drive. That isn't the case - visualize for a moment two really stiff yard sticks attached to the bottom of the board - they offer stability - making it harder to roll rail to rail but there is nothing to push against and so the increased area only adds drag slowing the board down - NOT increasing drive. They also stiffen the tail up, making it harder to slide the tail (which is basically the failure of the fin to hold).

Typically, for surf style fins, that are used behind the boat, that do have more depth - say 4.5" deep they also have a longer base. It's the length of the base that increases drive not the depth of the fin. The added length provides a lateral surface to push against without a significant increase in drag, which is associated with more depth. If you've got a bench grinder, try cutting down a 4.5" fin to 3.5" depth. Same drive, but it reaches failure much easier so it allows the tail to slide.

Factors that increase drive are less rake, less toe, less cant and more base length. There are also trade-offs. Changes in these attributes negatively impact the way a board turns.

[ScottnAz]

I didn't mean to deter anyone from picking up a custom board, or imply you have to be a great rider to own one, hopefully no one took it that way.

The custom boards are a lot more work to ride, and even more difficult to learn the basics on. The first dozen or so times I rode my Walker custom, it was a different feel. I couldn't just stand there and surf, I had to constantly be pumping and moving the board to ride the wave. There was also less tolerance for recovery from the back of the wave. On my other boards, if I got too far back on the wave I could hang on and adjust my weight and do a little pumping and get back in the groove. The Walker board responds a little differently, and until I was able to figure out what this board wanted me to do, I'd just fall out if too far back. There was no gray area to the back of the wave, one second I was riding it, the next I was swimming. With that said, once you start to get comfortable on the board and learn what it takes to get it to respond, it's a thrilling board to ride. Very fast and responsive, and I'm still learning how to ride it.

The Walker Project does make another great line of boards called the Composite X line.

A true hybrid concept in wakesurfing. The Composite X Series offers the drive and speed of a surfboard and the thinner more responsive characteristics of a skim model.

There were a couple for sale on wakeworld recently:
http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=778973
http://www.wakeworld.com/classifield...g.php?view=455

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Great post Scott. I have an ocean surfboard at home that is hand shaped and although it's not shaped for wake, it still rides much different then my other boards.

Tech, like Scott said, there is not any bad Inland Surfer board. They are one of the oldest companies who have been refining and releasing improved shapes for years. Their epoxy boards are very durable and fit in a standard board rack (except the blue and red boards). They are a little bit flat on rocker, which (at least for my board) means that dunking the nose is a little bit easy.

You might want to consider that 90% of wakesurfers are for riders 180lbs and under. A quick search for the Squirt says 'riders up to 200lbs'. Your board is 5.0'. My inland surfer black pearl four skim is 4'5". I have friends about 180 that can ride it, but it's not easy. So for you it should be better, but still I would recommend a dedicated big-guy board for anyone above 180lbs.

I recently bought the Asylumboardz.com Mojo Grande rated for up to 240lbs rider! Also got their SkimSkate - the rocker design is patented and they claim the board does not nose dive - their videos show riders sinking the nose and pretty easy recovery.

[techsledder]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mQ2Q...yer_embedded#!

Price tag of $ $240 is pretty nice as well!

[87SunSportMikeyD]

I just got an email from Larry the creator and he told me they have made several improvements to their first epoxy boards and they are a pound lighter now at 5lbs (before traction though I THINK). He said because they are a small company and times are tough he has had to delay final production while he focuses on the Fresh Air Exhaust. He said he expects to get going on the final production in the next month. I hope so because the time is ripe to get new boards!