I have recently embarked on a new journey, building an extra wide board for my love one. This will be our second summer together, and her second surfing season. Last season she learned to stand up and was going down the line (without any control though) on a 7´0 x 21 x 3 PU funboard. She is very athletic and she´ll be riding nicely quite soon I believe. Specially because we are going to build a board just for her.
And when I say we, I mean everyone that helps me out on this project. Yes! I´m looking at you.
It will be my 13th board. Did my first one in 2005 (5´5 x 19 3/4 x 2 1/2 round nose single fin) and my last one a few years ago, 2014 if I´m not mistaken.
Anyways... I´m very open minded and experimentalist, I´ve got a 6´7 x 24 x 3 1/4 eps blank that I wish to make her board with. I´m thinking something very square, not much shaping involved. A crazy wide round nose, straigth lines, a nice single to double concave (becaming almost two channels at the end) and a crazy wide bat wing tail.
Remmember this is a board for someone that is learning. So I wanted it with lots of volume and width. I´m thinking something on the 5´9 - 6´1 range, but may go a bit bigger for more volume. The reason I´m making it short is because she didn´t like at all the longboard (9´2 x 22 x 3) she used a few times, and althought she was not complaining about the 7´0 funboard she was not satisfied either. Well, actually she did complain about being too long. And on the few times she tried to use one of my regular shortboards, she almost got up on them (5´9 range). We are talking about a black belt judoka that competed (world level) and also ex- ironwoman triathlete. So she´s got the muscles and will power. She also has the mind set, unfortunatly she doesn´t have much afinity with the ocean. But she´s getting more and more used to it.
Back to the surfboard... I´m thinking wide, very wide. Huge tail, lots of area everywhere. Nose, midsection, tail. Something she can stand up and stay up. I´m not worried about turns. But it would be nice to have something I could ride as well and have some fun (as a twin for sure). I want to compensate the straight lines with a nice single concave that runs from the very nose almost like an entry channel, then becaming more subtle on the mid section and again almost like a channel at the end connecting with a crazy double concave on the tail. Something that I could probably ride finless (Derek Hynd style) but I will be using a 3 fin set up (fcs plugs). The center plugs just for the heck of it, at the very end. But mostly thinking about a twin fin. But if she finds the board too wild, the center plugs are there already.
We go out only once a week, she doesn´t have much free time, which is making the learning process quite slow. Hopefully this board will speed things up, or make it more difficult but a lot more fun. Always on very small waves, 1-2 footers, ankle high. But always good conditions, offshore little beach break peelers.
Well, thanks a lot for reading. I´ll wait your input
cheers