Do I bother with another Shortboard?

[themathteacher]

Update on new board: Finally took it out in good size/shape waves, last thursday at OB it was overhead fast and steeep.

Good stuff: no problem catching waves, the less thickness with the same lenght and width is much easier than the board I had made last year that has the same width and thickness but 3 inches shorter. So, I think if I am asked about getting smaller boards I will have to recommend going thinner, not shorter. Good stuff. Good glide, good paddle, and much easier to duckdive.

Bad Stuff: strangely enough, the board slid out on after the drop on some waves. I thought a thinner board would be easier to dig in the rail and thus hold up better, but I slid out while making hard cutbacks that I usually have no problem with in my regular board. If I had to guess, and this is pure conjecture, the thinner outline means less board to hold up my fat ass, so I think it's my actual weight that is pushing it out. I'm going to try different fin template to counteract the slip.

[naniekso]

how big of fins are you using?

[themathteacher]

I was using FG5 lgiht weight epoxy fins, have used them before so thought they where a sure thing.

Update: so today I went out in overhead bowls and stormy windy conditions. Swapped out the fins and put in GMB's and that took care of my slidding problem. Got in fine and rode fine, so much for the slipping problem.Today the stormy weather did cause for a lot of duckdiving, and, honestly, it was easier than my old boards but still not easy.

So Pro's with going thinner: easier duckdive, same planing and catching ability.

Con's: One problem, due to the board sinking down it took me longer to get to the outside, I guess because there is less board I sink more and it's harder to paddle my fat ass through the water LOL. Second, and this was an unexpected problem: I swallowed water, three times! That doesn't happen to me any more, my surfing is better than that, but I guess I got used to the float of my board my body and mouth are lower so I gulped water LOL.

Anyway, keeping it, good choice. Gonna sell the shorter one that is harder to use than this one. Final post, go get wet!!!

[naniekso]

is this the end of this terrible thread?! ;D

[themathteacher]

Nope, might sell it in the summer, just got slammed by uncle sam. taxes are killing me, but later I'm going to have the same board done in epoxy carbon fiber. Will check back then...

[themathteacher]

Update: so, I can surf a 2 3/8 thin board, dropped in no problem, performance no problem, and much better at duckdiving.

But I had an un-anticipated problem: it was so far underwater that I struggled to paddle to the lineup! I actually swallowed water a bunch of times, it was insane. It surfed great, but I got tired just paddling back out to the lineup, I lost too much paddle glide. Not for catching waves, I could still burst into them, just the long paddle backs after catching a wave, it took me forever.

So, gonna go to my shaper and have one made, exactly like the one I aready have but in fiberglass instead of epoxy, and using the same exact 6'5" template I'm going to have him chop off an inch and from the nose without thinning the nose, to reduce the volume a little bit. The nose will be slightly stubbier but still a shortboard.

[ChrisDallat]

I already had a 6'2" x 19.5 x 2.5 epoxy made and it paddles and duckdives about the same as my 6'5", which is why I'm thinking thinner rather than shorter.

i have a 6'0 X 20 X 2.5 which should be roughly the same volume as that but fibreglass. but i weight only 68kg and i can duckdive that under double overhead surf, surely with your weight you should be able to duckdive that no problem. i dont want to be a cock but maybe its your duckdiving technique

[themathteacher]

i have a 6'0 X 20 X 2.5 which should be roughly the same volume as that but fibreglass. but i weight only 68kg and i can duckdive that under double overhead surf, surely with your weight you should be able to duckdive that no problem. i dont want to be a cock but maybe its your duckdiving technique

To explain two things better, my 6'2" shortie is easier to duckdive, yes about the size of yours, but for 200lbs it's not good for bigger surf for me, I mainly take it out in chest to overhead beach breack, usually take out the 6'5" for everything else up to almost doubles, gun after that. It's a big guy thing. Also, I have no problems duckdiving, what I want is a board that duckdives easier but is still good for 10ft faces. This all started in baja, I was surfing overhead and a half waves and getting pounded on the inside, the 6'2" would have been too small to paddle into the waves, the 6'5 was perfect for catching but a pain to duckdive big huge walls of water, hence looking for the same performace but slightly less volume and float.

With that in mind, going back to my shaper and going old school. No epoxy, no carbon, just a fiberglass board the same size as my epoxy board, and same template, but going to chop off an inch on the nose and thin the deck to reduce volume . Should plane and paddle the same as my current board but also duckdive easier since it's not epoxy and am reducing the volume . Also getting fiberglass to keep it cheap since it will be more of a backup board for when duckdiving is a bear, I still love my current board.

[themathteacher]

Nope, decided to stick with my boards. After trying other thicknesses I discovered that I can either work hard at duckdiving or hard at paddling. Since I really don't have a problem getting out to the break I am going to opt for easier paddling than duckdiving, so case closed. Boring thread anyway...