SHAPE WITH VEC

Here is a fellow Hawaii boy Jonah shaping his first board with Vec! Come "shape with me" 

SICK FALL

Here is Vec on his 5'7 Yana! This wider shorter shortboard is our our teams board of choice when not hunting big barrels on a round pin. Photo Ryan Chartrand

NE PIPE MASTERS

Vec and some of tje boys had a dream season last week! Here is Vec on his 5'9 answer. Ple ty of hoʻd but still manuverable in the barrel! 

Board of the Day: Chubby Chaser

With this unexpected swell from yesterday and today the Board of the Day is the Chubby Chaser.  The Chubby Chaser is a typical short board. But, it does have a little more volume than a tuned up short board so it can be affective in mushy sections. It has a little less rocker in the nose so you can still fly through the small sections. There is a good amount of tail rocker so you can still make tight turns. The Chubby Chaser is an everyday board. Works in waist high waves to well over head.  Team Ripper Max Hirsh rode this board earlier today and said it was super fun and fast and good for ripping some turns in the shoulder to head high surf.

Simon Gunnel does some great color work

Here is Kiwi Emma's first board she ever shaped! Not only did she do a amazing job shaping it with me but Simon gave it some great color work!! 

South Carolina grom makes finals in grom fest!

The youngest on the Vec team "Jazzy" was the youngest competitor to make the finals in the Geom feast held in North Carolina this past weekend! He took 4th! Congrats Jazzy!

Rocker

The rocker of a surfboard is the combinations of curves that make up the shape of the board. The bottom rocker of a surfboard is often referred to as the backbone of the board. It is one of the most critical parts of how the board will perform in the water. The bottom rocker can be seen when you look at the profile of the board. If you were to lay the board down on a flat surface, finless of course, and the board touches the surface at almost all points, it would have a flat rocker. However, if the board were to touch at only one point it would be a curved rocker. Although a flatter rocker can generate more speed and drive, it is more likely to pearl (nose dive) on steep drop-ins. A board with more bottom rocker can handle the steeper drop-ins with more ease because it is shaped more to the contours of the wave. More rocker also means the board can make turns with a tighter turn radius but can’t generate as much speed. The aspects that go into the bottom rocker are the nose and tail rocker along with straight or continuously curved rocker.

The nose rocker, also known as entry rocker, of the surfboard is the amount of curve from the midpoint forward. The purpose of this rocker is to keep the board from digging into the wave. Surfboards that have little to no nose rocker will generate more speed because there is more planing surface. However, it is also likely the nose will catch, or pearl, in steeper surf. As a result, boards with little nose rocker are typically long boards, fishes, or boards for small mushy days. Boards with large amount of nose rocker are good for steep and hollow waves. This is because the board fits better with the shape of the wave. However, more rocker generates less speed because the nose flip of the board creates drag. Boards with a lot of nose rocker tend to be high performance and big wave boards.

The tail rocker of the surfboard is the amount of curve from the midpoint back. Tail rocker controls how responsive the surfboard will be. The trade off is that the more tail rocker means the less power generated. More curve in the tail will loosen up the board to make more pivot like turns. It will also help the board on steep waves because the upward lift of the tail won’t force the nose into the water as it would with a straight tail. However, because the lift in the tail reduces the amount of planing surface, the board will not have as much drive. As a result, generally, more tail rocker means more control and less tail rocker means more speed.

Bottom rocker doesn’t stop at the amount of nose and tail rocker. A surfboard can have a continuous or a staged rocker. Continuous rocker has no flat spots in the bottom of the board. Think of a banana. This makes it so that the surfer can shift his/her weight smoothly between front and back foot and surf rail to rail. A flatter rocker lengthens out the turn radius and allows for more projection out of turns, while an increased continuous rocker allows for tighter turns but has less projection out of them. A staged rocker is flattened in the middle of the board and curved in the nose and tail. This helps drive and down the line speed. It also helps catch waves earlier. Like with continuous rocker, staged rocker can be tweaked to have more or less nose flip or tail kick.

The bottom rocker of the surfboard can have any number of different curves to create the ideal board for any individual. Nose flip can be increased for steep waves or decreased for speed. Tail kick can be increased for snappier turns or decreased for more power out of turns. The rocker can also be continuous for rail to rail surf or staged for more power. All in all the bottom rocker is the board’s backbone. As a result, the type of wave the board is intended for should be well thought out before deciding the amount and type of bottom rocker.

Next we will discuss concave and how they affect different rockers in order to create different results on a wave.

outline

Surfboard Outline

There are many important aspects that go into creating a surfboard. However, one of the first and most valuable steps is the outline of the board. The outline is a schematic drawing on the board that has its entire plan. The outline, or template, is the lines drawn on the blank that encompass the surfboard’s dimensions. The outline also shows how the board will perform. For example, if the board has a rounder outline it will perform rounder, tighter turns. However, if the board has longer straighter curves it will perform longer more drawn out turns. The outline of a surfboard is a crucial part of the board that plans the nose width, wide point, and tail width along with shaping the type of curve throughout the board.

The nose width of the board is key to what type of board you want to ride on what type of day. The nose width is measured about one foot from the tip of the board. A wide nose is typically easier to paddle and catch waves. As a result, it is often ideal in small surf. However, a wide nose can be very fun if the surfer is someone who likes to make long, drawn out turns. The wide nose is good for this because it has more surface area of the rail in the water at all times. The issue with a wide nose tends to appear in large surf. On large, hollow waves a board with a wide nose tends to catch on the upper rail. As a result, wider noses are typically found on fishes, funboards, retro boards, and shortboards made for small mushy waves. A board with a thin nose has a more curved outline. This means that the board can perform tighter turns. It also means that they can handle steeper, later take offs and tend not to catch in large, hollow waves. However, the downside is that they are harder to paddle and catch waves.

The wide point of the board is the widest point on the outline. Although it is the widest point it is not always in the direct center of the board. It is the pivot point on which the board turns. A forward wide point puts more rail in the water during turns. As a result, it causes longer, more drawn out turns while maintaining speed. These type of boards are usually surfed with weight concentrated on the front foot. A forward wide point allows for more paddling power and can get on waves earlier. They are used with retro boards, fishes, and guns. Boards with behind center wide points are usually surfed off the back foot. Because there is less rail in the water, they can perform quicker and snappier turns.

The tail width is measured about 1 foot from the back of the board. The tail width is not the tail shape. However, the shape can influence the width. Wide tails are generally for smaller and weaker waves. A wide tail generates more speed and is more maneuverable. It doesn’t dig or bite at the wave as much as on a narrow tail. But that means it has less hold on steeper waves. A narrow tail has more hold on steep, hollow, and powerful waves because it can still dig and bite at the water. However, it has less turning ability and are slower than wide tail boards.

The lines between those three points of the board are also very important to the type of board desires. Parallel outlines run almost parallel to the stringer of the board. The outline of the board will have almost straight curves. These cause more surface area up and down the board. This results in long drawn out turns and a fast surfboard. Parallel lines are not desired in a board if the rider wants to do snappy turns. Extended parallel lines are used on classic longboards. They promote nose riding and down the line riding by extending the amount of rail in the water. Continuous curve outlines reduce the amount of rail in contact with the water. This promotes a more rail-to-rail style of surfing and is common on modern shortboards.

The outline of a surfboard is like the blueprints to a building. It is the initial plan on exactly what kind of board a rider wants. The combination of each type of nose, tail, and wide point width along with the general curvature of the board is crucial to what type of wave the board should be surfed on. The outline should include every detail and dimension of the board so that the best possible board can be made for the intended type of wave and person.

Fins?

Fins...... Ever wonder why when you change your fins it makes you board work completely different?? It's not just about the size or the shape of the fin but the placement, cant, and pitch of the fin. Front fins facing to straight and the board may go super fast but may not turn. Front fins facing to far in towards the stringer and the board may turn way to sharp. Fins that stand straight up May be super fast but may lock on the face and not release. Fins that are to canted may not have enough hold and may wash out on turns. You can't change your fin placement and angles therefor your leaving that totally up to your shaper, but you can change your board by changing up your fins.