Here's some pics of the new 6'9" subx. Also some words from Grant on how he interpreted my jibbering about a new board into a new board. Ha I think actual pics are in the gallery dunno how that happened:-
Hi Steve, you mentioned when you picked up on Saturday that you were very impressed with the look of the new 6’9” SUBX, and interested in how I had interpreted what you told me at time of ordering into the design of the new board. Things at the factory are always a bit hectic on Saturday mornings so I couldn’t really go through it all with you then. I’ve thought a bit more about your comment since then and have made a few notes here which may be useful to you.
We were replacing your existing 7’0” X 23 ¼” X 3 ¼” SUBX with a new 6’9” SUBBY. Both boards are set up as 2 plus 1’s with a 10” fin box and Quad plugs. You had been extremely happy with this board and just wanted some refinements. You told me that you wanted the new one to be a bit looser and maybe a bit more sensitive rail to rail. Also that the deck on the old board was maybe a bit too rolled under your chest and you wanted that flattened out, and also that at times the tail felt a bit too corky (hard to sink)at high speed. You were also interested in trying the new board as a Thruster, and lastly, still wanted the same paddle out of the 6’9” as you had with the 7’0”. I think that’s all.
Changes: Adding volume. New dimensions are 6’9” X 23 ¼” X 3 3/8”. I wanted to give you as close to an identical paddle as possible even with the reduction in length and so I increased the overall thickness by 1/8”. That might not sound like much extra Steve, but when carried over the majority of the board it all adds up. I also flattened out the area under your chest as requested which has the effect of adding volume in the rail/deck foil to that area as well. To blend that extra deck thickness in nicely I also increased the thickness of the nose foil from the tip back to the chest area.
Losing volume. To make the new board a bit looser I increased the outline curve slightly by narrowing the nose and tail relative to the wide point. Some people might have just moved the fins forward, but that sacrifices drive, and while increasing outline curve also reduces drive a little, the SUBX has plenty of drive to spare because of its very fast bottom shape. There is also a good argument that a looser outline enables you to generate more speed by winding the board up through the turns more easily. More sensitivity rail to rail was addressed by giving you a slightly finer rail foil (thickness) while the corky-ness in the tail was reduced by thinning out the tail a little. As with adding volume, all these little reductions in foam add up and had to be balanced by the extra thickness as described earlier.
Lastly, so that you can use the new board as a Thruster (with an FCS adaptor in the 10” fin box), I moved the fin box back closer to the tail. The box is still long enough to give you the necessary adjustment range when using a single fin, but also close enough to the tail for a legitimate Thruster back fin position.
Steve I really enjoy the challenge of working with you to give you what you want in each new board. Refinement of variables and careful record keeping is definitely the way to go, rather than jumping from one design to another as many surfers do. I hope this breakdown helps you to link up the dots a little as I know how interested in surfboard design you are. See you in the water.
Grant