Is your summer/small wave board the smallest in your quiver, and if not, does it make it hard to go back to your more pulled-in shapes in fall/winter?

I worked to feel solid on a 1.2 l/kg, 8 x 28 Blurr V2 (love this board). Kind of scheming on getting a used board for summer that would have a similar level of stability. Worried if I surf my 29.5" wide JL Worldwide this summer I'll lose my balance and have to work to get it back during our best season, fall. I know I'm prob overthinking this but would be curious to get people's insights on optimal size for the summer/small wave shortboard in quiver. For me summer waves often ~6-8s period and ~knee to waist high. Thanks for any insights.

Super hard to answer as there are so many variables.

Super flat rocker boards are more stable, wide tails and nose are more stable = smallest size you can surf in small waves.

I tend to go up in volume for a small wave board as it gives a bit more buoyancy/glide and a thicker rail is fine on low power waves. Thus, I would tend to go lower volume on the bigger wave boards where surf ability and rail thickness is important.

I'd look at boards like a Hypernut or a JL Super Frank which both rip in small stuff. It's then just a surf or 2 to be used to your bigger wave shape again.

Your weight might tend to be a factor....

Select to expand quote

Kisutch said..
Is your summer/small wave board the smallest in your quiver, and if not, does it make it hard to go back to your more pulled-in shapes in fall/winter?

For short period waves, I like my boards as short as possible, and with extra volume for wave catching ability. Around 1.20 / 1.25 l/kg for summer boards, 1.10 / 1.20 l/kg for winter boards.
For small summer waves but with a bit of punch (> 7s period), I go for the lightest board possible, and this means less volume, 1.05 l/kg.

The most fun I had was on a mini-Simmons shape: 6'10" x 125L volume, rounded nose, hyper square tail. First session on the narrower ones needs a bit of adaptation, but it is no big deal.

However, what I found hard to adjust is changes in the volume distribution for my smallest boards. Some boards have the stability in front of the handle, some in the back, and I have had a very hard time switching between both. To the point where I resold my beloved volume-in-front board as I got accustomed to volume-in-the back and could not manage anymore switching to volume-in-front, which demanding changing my ingrained reflexes rather than just adjusting them.

PS: note that when I say volume-in-back, it is relative. For me I consider the Gong Alley as volume-in-back, but it definitively has volume more in the front... but less than the Fatal 2016 I had to re-sell...

The one I resold was the center one, with its very pulled-in tail, even though it had 5 liters more than the one to its right (110 to 105 l):

Select to expand quote

Hoppo3228 said..
Super hard to answer as there are so many variables.

Super flat rocker boards are more stable, wide tails and nose are more stable = smallest size you can surf in small waves.

I tend to go up in volume for a small wave board as it gives a bit more buoyancy/glide and a thicker rail is fine on low power waves. Thus, I would tend to go lower volume on the bigger wave boards where surf ability and rail thickness is important.

I'd look at boards like a Hypernut or a JL Super Frank which both rip in small stuff. It's then just a surf or 2 to be used to your bigger wave shape again.

Thanks! I see a lot of hypernuts on used market so that'd be an option probably. I'm intrigued by the JL SF since it seems kind of like my WW but with the width redistributed to the nose and narrower tail, but maybe that's just shape at end of tail and the area not that different. I don't remember actual measurements, but when I compared the Blurr and JL WW width 1' in front of tail it wasn't as big a difference as I expected.

Select to expand quote

LeeD said..
Your weight might tend to be a factor....

I need to jump on scale in a damp wetsuit, but figure I'm about 83kg'ish with the suit

Select to expand quote

colas said..

Kisutch said..
Is your summer/small wave board the smallest in your quiver, and if not, does it make it hard to go back to your more pulled-in shapes in fall/winter?

For short period waves, I like my boards as short as possible, and with extra volume for wave catching ability. Around 1.20 / 1.25 l/kg for summer boards, 1.10 / 1.20 l/kg for winter boards.
For small summer waves but with a bit of punch (> 7s period), I go for the lightest board possible, and this means less volume, 1.05 l/kg.

The most fun I had was on a mini-Simmons shape: 6'10" x 125L volume, rounded nose, hyper square tail. First session on the narrower ones needs a bit of adaptation, but it is no big deal.

However, what I found hard to adjust is changes in the volume distribution for my smallest boards. Some boards have the stability in front of the handle, some in the back, and I have had a very hard time switching between both. To the point where I resold my beloved volume-in-front board as I got accustomed to volume-in-the back and could not manage anymore switching to volume-in-front, which demanding changing my ingrained reflexes rather than just adjusting them.

PS: note that when I say volume-in-back, it is relative. For me I consider the Gong Alley as volume-in-back, but it definitively has volume more in the front... but less than the Fatal 2016 I had to re-sell...

The one I resold was the center one, with its very pulled-in tail, even though it had 5 liters more than the one to its right (110 to 105 l):

Thanks for all the insights, that mini simmons is wild! So cool how different all the shapes are in that picture. Really interesting about the weight forward/back being hard to adjust to.

Select to expand quote

Kisutch said..
Thanks for all the insights, that mini simmons is wild! So cool how different all the shapes are in that picture.

It really was a blast in weak (period < 7s) waves, my favorite for these conditions.

Either clean:



Or crappy:




As you can see it allowed me to be alone in Summer in Hossegor, which is quite a feat!

But I have now sold it, I use a tad more length (7'6") for more paddle speed to get away from the crowd to tackle more fickle peaks, and a bit more pulled-in tail to handle more power are conditions here (Hossegor) are changing so fast. Plus as I am now retired and living near the spot, I do not have the motivation to get out when it is crappy, unlike when I had to drive 500 miles to get there :-)


But it was not difficult to adapt to/from other boards, as long as I had some "meat" in the rear sections.

I think keeping close to your current center width and not too much extra volume but going very short, and wide in the nose/tail would be a fun experiment that would keep your balance similar to longer pulled in board. Fastest turning board I ever tried was my friends 6'10 looked like a rectangle but somehow worked great. More of a skatey feel to that board though, and not much glide or paddle speed. Personally if the waves get weak I like the feel of a longboard, and would rather use a short wide in better shaped small waves with some speed.

Select to expand quote

colas said..

Kisutch said..
Thanks for all the insights, that mini simmons is wild! So cool how different all the shapes are in that picture.

It really was a blast in weak (period < 7s) waves, my favorite for these conditions.

Either clean:

Or crappy:

As you can see it allowed me to be alone in Summer in Hossegor, which is quite a feat!

But I have now sold it, I use a tad more length (7'6") for more paddle speed to get away from the crowd to tackle more fickle peaks, and a bit more pulled-in tail to handle more power are conditions here (Hossegor) are changing so fast. Plus as I am now retired and living near the spot, I do not have the motivation to get out when it is crappy, unlike when I had to drive 500 miles to get there :-)


But it was not difficult to adapt to/from other boards, as long as I had some "meat" in the rear sections.

That looks fun!

Select to expand quote

slsurf said..
I think keeping close to your current center width and not too much extra volume but going very short, and wide in the nose/tail would be a fun experiment that would keep your balance similar to longer pulled in board. Fastest turning board I ever tried was my friends 6'10 looked like a rectangle but somehow worked great. More of a skatey feel to that board though, and not much glide or paddle speed. Personally if the waves get weak I like the feel of a longboard, and would rather use a short wide in better shaped small waves with some speed.

My surf buddy just got new 9x28 Kalama I'm excited to try this summer, also I got a 8' prone mini longboard for messing around with kids that I wanna try.

What's the skatey feel folks mention- is it like doing a power slide on a skateboard? Like when you push hard it skids out? cheers

Kisutch,

Exactly. Sits on top op water and slides about.

For me a skatey surf board is one with a lot of fin drive and rail release, quick to pump back and forth for speed, kind of like pumping a skateboard. Boards for better and bigger waves the rail is longer/thinner and tends to stick more for control and carving.